aaa@link.UUCP (Wale Akinpelu) (05/01/85)
Before colonization started in African countries, there
were native people (called traditional doctors) who heal
sick people. Unfortunately, most of these techniques were
lost during the colonial period. Now, there is a strong
attempt in most African Universities to see if they
recover the lost knowledge. So far the attempt has been
quite succesful. I should say here that, I am not
advocating that we should ignore the current Western
approach of medicine. The point I like us to share
is, Can we learn anything from the ways African
Doctors treat sick people? For example, it has proved
that the reason why african people have less dental
people is because they eat more calcium food and because
they use a combination of chewing stick and brush to
clean their mouth. As a matter of fact, my dentist ask
me to bring a couple of chewing stick when next I visit
any African country. Is this theory true?
African method of treatment depends heavily on herbs.
However, there are no dosage and no proper documentation
to pass knowledge to the younger generation. Does anybody
have any knowledge on how to pass these knowledge to
the western countries without any distortion?
Wale Akinpelu
{allegra!ihnp4,hou2a}!link!aaamfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (05/02/85)
Just two related notes: 1) African (or "natural") medicine often prescirbes the same medicine, just in the form found in nature, rather than the form manufactured in sterile factories. The feeling of ingesting or absorbing a part of one's environment, a part one can see is alive and thriving in that environment, must help the psychological state of the patient. Since mind set is such an important of healing, African medicine thus holds an andvantage over the "magic" Western approach of "take these two white pills and call me in the morning" 2) In India, some rich man died and left money in his will for a hospital on the condition that a wing of that hospital use only naturalistic medical practices. Both are doing fine. After some initial hostility, the westernized doctors started to exchange information with their naturalistic colleagues. The result has been better dosage, better understanding of naturalistic practices, and generally better patient care. Every body wins. Marcel Simon
tjs@cbdkc1.UUCP ( Tom Stanions) (05/03/85)
<<<<<>>>>> Artical repeated for the benifit of net.med readers... In article <315@link.UUCP> aaa@link.UUCP (Wale Akinpelu) writes: >Before colonization started in African countries, there >were native people (called traditional doctors) who heal >sick people. Unfortunately, most of these techniques were >lost during the colonial period. Now, there is a strong >attempt in most African Universities to see if they >recover the lost knowledge. So far the attempt has been >quite succesful. I should say here that, I am not >advocating that we should ignore the current Western >approach of medicine. The point I like us to share >is, Can we learn anything from the ways African >Doctors treat sick people? For example, it has proved >that the reason why african people have less dental >people is because they eat more calcium food and because >they use a combination of chewing stick and brush to >clean their mouth. As a matter of fact, my dentist ask >me to bring a couple of chewing stick when next I visit >any African country. Is this theory true? > > >African method of treatment depends heavily on herbs. >However, there are no dosage and no proper documentation >to pass knowledge to the younger generation. Does anybody >have any knowledge on how to pass these knowledge to >the western countries without any distortion? > >Wale Akinpelu >{allegra!ihnp4,hou2a}!link!aaa I was very pleased to see a subject near and dear to me show up this early in a news group. There is certainly much to be gained by studying any form of natural medicine. Some of us have been contributing to net.med our natural approach to problems and we receive lots of responses telling us we should not be giving un-proven information to people. There are people who are very interested in the historical uses of herbs. Its takes a person a great deal of time to learn their many uses and therefore few are willing to invest. There are doctors which prescribe herbs and homeopatic medicines, however it takes some looking to find them. As for trying to pass this information to the USA good luck. There are many people in America who have a wealth of information that few want. When I advise people to see a naturalpathic doctor they usually make jokes. We would love to pass our information on to the general public but most don't want it, and most doctors are usually unwilling to give the information to their patients so that they can decide for themselves. There are some of us on the net, and I would be very pleased to hear anything, from any culture, on natural healing. The best way to pass on this information seems to be "one person at a time". The Natural Foods Association has been doing a very good, but painfully slow job. And natural doctors must be very careful because they are watched closely by the AMA and other groups. I haven't heard of this "chewing stick" but would be interested if you can supply more information. The herb, Black Walnut, has historically restored tooth enamel. Perhaps there is a connection. Anybody with information please contribute to this very important discussion. {allegra|ihnp4}!cbdkc1!tjs
jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (05/03/85)
> Can we learn anything from the ways African > Doctors treat sick people? For example, it has proved > that the reason why african people have less dental > people is because they eat more calcium food and because > they use a combination of chewing stick and brush to > clean their mouth. As a matter of fact, my dentist ask > me to bring a couple of chewing stick when next I visit > any African country. Is this theory true? > Chewing sticks are in fact very effective, especially when combined with the charcoal-based tooth powders that are used in parts of Africa. The chewing sticks that I know of are chewed until they are all mashed and brush-like on the end and then this "brush" is rubbed all over the teeth and gums. It cleans the teeth and keeps the gums healthy, as well as having an antiseptic effect. There are a couple of large, weighty books written by public health physicians and biological researchers about the medical uses of plants in Africa. They go into quite a bit of detail about chemical structures and why certain plants are effective in particular ways. I don't recall the titles but they can be found in the Q-R section of the library in the Library of Congress filing system. -- jcpatilla "'Get stuffed !', the Harlequin replied ..."
carter@gatech.CSNET (Carter Bullard) (05/06/85)
In article <954@cbdkc1.UUCP> tjs@dkc1.UUCP ( Tom Stanions) writes: > > As for trying to pass this information to the USA good luck. > There are many people in America who have a wealth of > information that few want. When I advise people to see > a naturalpathic doctor they usually make jokes. We would > love to pass our information on to the general public but > most don't want it, and most doctors are usually unwilling > to give the information to their patients so that they can > decide for themselves. There are some of us on the net, and > I would be very pleased to hear anything, from any culture, > on natural healing. The best way to pass on this > information seems to be "one person at a time". The Natural > Foods Association has been doing a very good, but painfully > slow job. And natural doctors must be very careful because > they are watched closely by the AMA and other groups. > > Anybody with information please contribute to this very > important discussion. > Actually, modern medicine is extremely interested in African traditionalist medical techniques. The NSF( the national science foundation ) has made research money available to investigating African medical techniques in the form of direct and indirect grants to African medical schools. Also most if not all of the large pharmaceutical firms have ongoing investigations into African and South American herbal therapies. The reason is very simple. Less than 15% of the plants on this planet have been characterized for their pharmaceutical properties. Everybody knows that there are going to be new drugs to come out of traditionalist's therapy, and its just a matter of time before the compounds are researched and made available. The problem that I have with the statement of Mr. Stanions above, is that he thinks that traditionalist African medicine is "natural healing" whereas western medical practice is some sort of black magic. There really isn't any difference between the two. Carter Bullard School of Information and Computer Science Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia 30332 CSNet:Carter @ Gatech ARPA:Carter.Gatech @ CSNet-relay.arpa uucp:...!{akgua,allegra,amd,ihnp4,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!carter Please reply with facts, not opinions. -- Carter Bullard School of Information and Computer Science Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia 30332 CSNet:Carter @ Gatech ARPA:Carter.Gatech @ CSNet-relay.arpa uucp:...!{akgua,allegra,amd,ihnp4,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!carter
aaa@link.UUCP (Wale Akinpelu) (05/07/85)
In article 492 Carter Bullard writes: >>> >>>The problem that I have with the statement of Mr. Stanions above, is that >>>he thinks that traditionalist African medicine is "natural healing" whereas >>>western medical practice is some sort of black magic. >>> >>>There really isn't any difference between the two. >>> >>> I disagree with you completely. First there is a difference between Arfican medicine and Western medical practice. In African medicine, while attempt is made to relieve you of your pain, they also try to find the cause of the problem which sometimes could be related to a dispute between people. Second African medicine is "natural healing". Here is a story to convince you. Mr. XYZ King is from one of the African countries. He is highly respected and has a high post in the goverment sector. About 5 years ago, he was told to have terminal cancer of the stomach from a localized Western hospital. He decided to have second opinion by checking in into one of the best hospitals in England. The results of all analysis confirms the earlier diagnosis. He came to U.S. to seek for another advice based on his son's recommendation. They tried several hospitals and the results confirmed the initail diagnosis. He was suppose to have part of his stomach removed to stop the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. While the serach was going on, a friend of the family asked the family to consider using a "native doctor" back at home. Mr. King decided to go back home and use the native doctor since the Western doctors told him that he only has about five more years to leave. Mr. King was with the "native doctor" for 6 months using herbs which I do not know. He did not have any part of his stomach removed and he has been bak to normal life since then. The point here, is that African medicine could not only heal but also perform better than Western medicine. I must say that both of them should continue in parallel. The problem I have with African medicine is that, the practice is not well documented and there is no assurance that you are dealing with an honest man who knows his profession. I am glad Mr. King is still alive. Wale Akinpelu {ihnp4,allegra,research}!hou2a!link!aaa
rbg@cbosgd.UUCP (Richard Goldschmidt) (05/07/85)
In article <317@link.UUCP>, Wale Akinpelu (>) replies to Carter Bullard (>>) >>The problem that I have with the statement of Mr. Stanions above, is that >>he thinks that traditionalist African medicine is "natural healing" whereas >>western medical practice is some sort of black magic. >> >>There really isn't any difference between the two. >> > I disagree with you completely. First there is a difference between Arfican > medicine and Western medical practice. In African medicine, while attempt > is made to relieve you of your pain, they also try to find the cause > of the problem which sometimes could be related to a dispute between > people. Second African medicine is "natural healing". > > Wale Akinpelu > {ihnp4,allegra,research}!hou2a!link!aaa I was not convinced of the difference between "African medicine" and "Western medicine" by the example Wale gave here. A common class of drugs used in chemotherapy (which block cell division) are related to either colchicine or vinblastine both of which are derived from plants. The herbal treatments provided may have had a similar mechanism. You'll have to find a better example ... -- Rich Goldschmidt {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax,allegra,seismo} !cbosgd!rbg ARPA: cbosgd!rbg@seismo or cbosgd!rbg@ucbvax
sdyer@bbnccv.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (05/08/85)
This kind of discussion crops up regularly in net.med, but it's
worth reemphasizing here. "Western" medicine is a profession
rooted in humanistic values of service and aid to the sick and
dying, but its strongest tool since the 19th century has been
the scientific method--a therapy must produce repeatable beneficial
results in order to be accepted by the medical community. Like it
or not, a sample size of one is useless in predicting a therapy's
value in Western medicine--there are too many uncontrolled variables,
all which may influence a therapeutic outcome, to give it any
predictive value.
Medicine, because it deals in such a precious commodity as human
life and health, is fundamentally conservative. It prefers to
treat patients with therapies it knows to be of value, or at least,
as the maxim says, to do no harm. This means, for example, that
effective folk remedies might take a while to be used; they are
given the same scrutiny as other, less "natural" treatments.
--
/Steve Dyer
{decvax,linus,ima,ihnp4}!bbncca!sdyer
sdyer@bbnccv.ARPAjhull@spp2.UUCP (Jeff Hull) (05/14/85)
In article <397@bbnccv.UUCP> sdyer@bbnccv.UUCP (Steve Dyer) writes: >"Western" medicine is a profession rooted in humanistic values of >service and aid to the sick and dying, but its strongest tool since the >19th century has been the scientific method--a therapy must produce >repeatable beneficial results in order to be accepted by the medical >community. ... Medicine, ... , is fundamentally conservative. It >prefers to treat patients with therapies it knows to be of value, or at >least, as the maxim says, to do no harm. With all due respect to Steve, & to the many honest & dedicated medical practicianers in the US & elsewhere, this is not my experience with Western medicine. The US physician's first interest is to avoid running afoul of the AMA, then to avoid malpractice suits (which is inextricably intertwined with the first), then to help the patient (as he sees fit) while making money. I am not belittling those dedicated people who work long hours for low pay; I am taking aim at the medical establishment in the US & the policies it has set up. One example of this is the current state of pre- & post-natal care for women & current birthing practices in the US. Another is cancer treatment. The basic orientation of natural medicine is to prevent disease by keeping people healthy; the basic orientation of the AMA seems to be alleviate the symptom & ignore the disease. -- Blessed Be, Jeff Hull {decvax,hplabs,ihnp4,scdrdcf,ucbvax} 13817 Yukon Ave. trwrb!trwspp!spp2!jhull Hawthorne, CA 90250 34o3'15" N by 118o14'28" W