FOLK MEDICINE

DEFINITION
Folk is the common people of a society or region considered as the representatives of a traditional way of life and especially as the originators or carriers of the customs, beliefs, and arts that make up a distinctive culture. Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness.

Folk medicine is the method by which human beings have been trying to eliminate pain and promote good health since the beginning of time. Folk medicine attempts to solve or lessen both physical and mental ailments by focusing on harmony and balance within the body. Many of the methods used in folk medicine are ones that have been passed down from generation to generation. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines folk medicine as: "the health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being."

Origin of folk medicine In the written record, the study of herbs dates back 5,000 years to the ancientSumerians, who described wellestablished medicinal uses for plants. Ancient Egyptian medicine of 1000 BC are known to have used various herbs for medicine. The Old Testament also mentions herb use and cultivation. Many herbs and minerals used in Ayurveda were described by ancient Indian herbalists such as Charaka and Sushruta during the 1st millennium BC. The firstChinese herbal book was the Shennong Bencao Jing, compiled during the Han Dynasty but dating back to a much earlier date, which was later augmented as theYaoxing Lun (Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs) during the Tang Dynasty. Early recognised Greek compilers of existing and current herbal knowledge include Hippocrates, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Dioscorides and Galen.

All cultures and societies have knowledge best described as folk medicine. Like Ayurvedic(Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine), Unani medicine(Unani-tibb or Unani Medicine (in Arabic, Hindi-Urdu and Persian) means "Greek Medicine", and is a form of traditional medicine widely practiced in South Asia. and Chinese medicine, whose origins can be found in the Neolithic period. Here, daily treatment of wounds and common illnesses were treated in accordance to their religiomagical beliefs. Chen-jen, were the only ones in the tribe who were able to make diagnoses and prognostications. Pasma refers to a "folk illness" unique to the Filipino culture.

CLASSIFICATION

Folk medicine is classified into four categories: PNSS The patient world is concerned with illnesses caused by factors that the patient has some control over, such as diet, smoking, drinking, and other lifestyle behaviors. The natural world includes problems related to animate and inanimate factors, including those caused by microorganisms and viruses; animal bites; and environmental factors such as pollution, pollens, poisons, and natural disasters.

The social world covers interpersonal conflicts, including conditions caused by physical injury inflicted by one person on another, the stresses of daily living, and witchcraft and sorcery. The supernatural world includes illnesses caused by spirits, ancestors, or gods who have been offended through sinful behavior, the breaking of taboos, or other breaches of proper behavior.

ROUTE OF ADMISTRATION Oral, inhalation, topical, enema

FORMS OF FOLK MEDICINES

Preparations may be offered in the form of (i) powder, which could be swallowed or taken with pap (cold or hot) or any drink, (ii) powder, rubbed into cuts made on any part of the body with a sharp knife, (iii) preparation, soaked for some time in water or local gin, decanted as required before drinking; the materials could also be boiled in water, cooled and strained (iv) preparation pounded with native soap and used for bathing; such "medicated soaps" are commonly used for skin diseases, (v)pastes, pomades or ointments, in a medium of palm oil or shea butter, or (vi) soup which is consumed by the patient. Preparations may also be administered as enema.

FOLK PRACTIONERS These practitioners go by many names, including shaman, curandero, root doctor, spirit medium, herbalist, native healer, medicine man, kahuna, and other related terms. Each has specific treatment approaches, which may include prayer, dancing, medicinal herbs, massage, sweat baths, coining (a process of rubbing the skin with a metal coin), cupping (a treatment used to draw blood to the surface of the skin by means of a small heated vessel made of horn, ceramic, or bamboo), hot and cold foods

CATEGORIES OF TRADITIONAL HEALERS

1.Herbalists: Herbalists use mainly herbs 2.Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs): a person who assists the mother at childbirth and who initially acquired her skills delivering babies by herself or by working with other birth attendants. TBAs are of the female sex only are usually old and experienced women.

3.Traditional Surgeon: (i) the cutting of tribal marks: traditional surgeons usually cut tribal marks into the cheeks, bellies, etc. and charred herbal products are usually rubbed into these bleeding marks to effect healing, (II) male and female circumcision (Clitori dectomy): traditional surgeons carry out these simple surgical operations with special knives and scissors; blood-let ting operations and wounds that result from these operations are usually treated with snail body fluid or pastes prepared from plants.

(ili) removal of whitlow: diseased toes or fingers are usually cut open and treated. Piercing of ear lobes: particularly in the youth to allow the fixing of ear rings. Extraction of tooth: infected teeth or teeth with holes that bring pain to the mouth are removed and treated with herbal medicines prepared in local gin. 4.Bone Setters: Traditional bone setters are those knowledgeable in the art and skill of setting broken bones in the traditional way, using their skill to see that bones unite and heal properly.

MATERIALS USED IN FOLK MEDICINE

Medicinal plants or parts of such plants-whole root, stem, leaves, stem bark or root bark, flowers, fruits, seeds, but sometimes animal parts, small whole animal snails, snakes, chameleons, tor toises, lizards, etc; inorganic residues - alum, cam phor, salt, etc and insects, earthworms, toads, bees, black ants etc bird nests are used to prevent headaches, the tooth of a mole may be worn around the neck to prevent toothache. In Native-American and Asian cultures, prayer is used to cure soul-loss or ghost sickness. Prayer has been scientifically studied to determine its effects in helping people to get well or to feel better

EFFECTS

The placebo effect can, however, play a part in the efficacy of a treatment. A strong belief in a certain treatment can yield a positive outcome, even with a treatment that has been shown scientifically not to work. At the same time, some folk remedies can have serious, and sometimes fatal, side effects.

Plants gathered to treat an illness may have been prepared improperly, or the wrong plant may have been picked along with the correct one, tainting the remedy. Some preparations may be too strong for some patients, particularly infants or those weakened by serious illness.

A Wide Variety Of Cures: The blood of a black chicken rubbed on the affected area will cure the shingles. Black chickens are also good to bring out chickenpox particularly if you go out to the chicken coop after the sun goes down and let one fly over you. Tea made from hot water and corn silk will cure bed wetting in children. The root of rhubarb worn on a string around your neck will prevent stomach aches. Tie a big red onion to the bedpost and it keeps the ones in the bed from having colds. Boils are caused by impure blood, you should eat sorghum molasses, raisins and onions.

A dirty sock worn around your neck when you go to bed will cure a sore throat. (My grandmother had a dog that had tonsillitis, and she did the above and the dog got well.) Don't let the moonlight shine on your face while your sleeping, it will cause you to go crazy. A buckeye carried in the pocket will cure rheumatism. Don't cut your hair in the dark of the moon or it may cause you to go bald. Tea made from sumac leaves is good for and can cure asthma and hay fever. An iron key pressed to the back of the neck will cure a nosebleed. To stop a toothache in your left jaw, tie a string around the little toe of your right foot.

Health is the most precious of all things and it is the foundation of all happiness.

Thanks