Content

Introduction.................................................................................................................................4

Traditional Versus Modern Medicine.........................................................................................5

Traditional doctors ‘curandeiros’ Knowledge of curative Herbs...............................................6

Prescription of herbs...................................................................................................................7

Cure Mental Problems................................................................................................................7

Advantages and disadvantages of traditional medicine and modern medicine..........................9

Conclusion................................................................................................................................10

Bibliography Reference............................................................................................................11
Introduction
Medicine is a science and practice of intervention, manipulation, and control concerned with
curing sick people, caring for sick people, preventing maladies, and promoting health”.
Throughout human history, different cultures in all parts of the world have had their own type
of medicine. In Western countries and cultures, conventional, biomedical-based medicine has
been developed, rooted in the natural sciences that had developed since the Middle Ages. In
many non-Western cultures but also in Western cultures, several types of whole medical
systems (WMSs), that is, complete systems of theory and practice that have evolved
independently over time in different cultures and apart from conventional medicine or
Western medicine, have been developed.

3
Traditional Versus Modern Medicine
The value given to traditional medicine (TM) is a function of public health and drug policies
at a national level. Its potential contribution to conventional allopathic medicine can be
characterized by how it is defined, the motivation for its use, and country-specific integration
strategies.

The World Health Organization's (WHO's) definition of TM recognizes that it predates

Western medicine. WHO describes TM as “… the sum total of knowledge, skills and
practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that
are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and
mental illnesses.” 

In some countries, the terms complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are synonyms

for TM. Together, these terms refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not
integrated into a country's primary biomedical health care system. For example, the French
health care system defines TM or CAM as unconventional health care practices that should be
regulated.

Traditional medicine is the ancient and culture–bound medical practice which existed in
human societies before the application of modern science to health. The practice of traditional
medicine varies widely, in keeping with the societal and cultural heritage of different
countries. Every human community responds to the challenge of maintaining health and
treating diseases by developing a medical system. Thus, traditional medicine has been
practised to some degree in all cultures.

Modern medicine developed very quickly and made major contributions to disease control in
the past century. Interestingly, despite a rapid growth in knowledge and techniques in modern
medicine, the end of the last century also saw a dramatically increased interest in traditional
medicine. The increasing public demand for its use has led to considerable interest among
policy–makers, health administrators and medical doctors on the possibilities of bringing
traditional and modern medicine together.

4
Traditional doctors ‘curandeiros’ Knowledge of curative Herbs
Oral interviews are sometimes used by some traditional healers to find out the history behind
the sickness, where they have been for treatment and how long the person has been in that
condition. This approach enables them to know how to handle the matter at hand. In some
cases, the healer might require other family members to speak on behalf of the sick person in
cases where the patient is not able to express him/herself. In modern times, after the healing
process, they also advise their clients or patients to go for medical diagnoses to confirm that
they are healed, and the medical reports sometimes serve for record keeping for future
reference and are a way of assuring other clients of their ability and credibility. Due to the
holistic approach of the healing process, the healers do not separate the natural from the
spiritual or the physical from the supernatural. Thus, health issues are addressed from two
major perspectives spiritual and physical.

Herbal medicine it is the oldest and still the most widely used system of medicine in the world
today. It is used in all societies and is common to all cultures. Herbal medicines, also called
botanical medicines, vegetable medicines, or phytomedicines, as defined by World Health
Organization (WHO) refers to herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations, and finished herbal
products that contain whole plants, parts of plants, or other plant materials, including leaves,
bark, berries, flowers, and roots, and/or their extracts as active ingredients intended for human
therapeutic use or for other benefits in humans and sometimes animals.

Herbal medicine is a special and prominent form of traditional medicine, in which the
traditional healer, in this case known as the herbalist, specializes in the use of herbs to treat
various ailments. Their role is so remarkable since it arises from a thorough knowledge of the
medicinal properties of indigenous plants and the pharmaceutical steps necessary in turning
such plants into drugs such as the selection, compounding, dosage, efficacy, and toxicity. The
use of herbal medicines appears to be universal in different cultures. However, the plants used
for the same ailments and the modes of treatment may vary from place to place. The plants
used for medicinal purposes are generally referred to as medicinal plants, i.e., any plant in
which one or more of its organs/parts contain substances that can be used for therapeutic
purposes, or in a more modern concept, the constituents can be used as precursors for the
synthesis of drugs.

5
As a result, there is limited consultation with traditional healers because there is a fairly good
knowledge of common curative herbs especially in the rural areas except in the case of
treatment of chronic diseases. Even where consultation is done, there is lack of coherence
among traditional healers on the preparation procedures and correct dosage of herbal
medicines. However, according to WHO, at least 80% of people in Africa still rely on
medicinal plants for their health care. In Nigeria, and indeed the entire West Africa, herbal
medicine has continued to gain momentum, some of the advantages being low cost,
affordability, availability, acceptability, and apparently low toxicity.

Prescription of herbs
Herbs are prescribed to the sick person according to the nature of the illness. Each
prescription has its own specific instructions on how to prepare the herb, the dose, dosing
regimen, and timeframe.

Cure Mental Problems

(Bagadia et al, 1979). Thus, various shrines and religious centres have evolved therapeutic
programs (rituals and lifestyles) where patients (or pilgrims) seek religious help for their
maladies. When a mental illness is deemed to be due to the planets, an astrologer will
recommend rituals as treatment (Bagadia et al, 1979)).

Mental illness may also be caused by evil spirits (pischachis) possessing the patient.
Traditional healers (Mantarwadis and Patris), treat mental illness on the basis that the ailment
is a divine punishment for the patient’s misdeeds, either in the present or a past life.
Treatment may involve penance, a pilgrimage to a shrine, talismans and a monetary fee.

A study in Liberia described that mental illness was traditionally believed to be caused by
breaking taboos, offending ancestral spirits and deities, being possessed by spirits, being
bewitched or having a curse applied by a witch doctor (zoe), or was inherited through the
family (Hales, 1996). Some of the beliefs in Arab societies, where illness is due to devils,
sorcery, jinn (demons), the evil eye or ill-wishing from others, also apply to South Saharan
Africa (Hales, 1996) and to the Indian subcontinent (Littlewood & Dein, 2013). Treatments
include confession to doing wrong (e.g., breaking taboos), animal sacrifices to deities and
spirits, and paying fees and exorcism, usually through physically beating the patient. Some

6
inherited mental illnesses are deemed incurable and patients may be restrained or left to die
(Hales, 1996).

In the Arab world, there is common belief in Jinn possession, sorcery, witchcraft and the evil
eye as causes of mental illness. Treatment by traditional healers, the Motawwa, is often
sought first, with patients seeking psychiatrist’s help after traditional treatments prove
unsuccessful (Kronfol et al, 2013). Traditional Arabs may seek out traditional healers to
exorcise jinn (Fakhr ElIslam, 2008). Other treatments include purification ceremonies and
herbal treatments. Charms and markings are also used as prophylactics. Traditional healers
include: Dervish healers, who treat mental illnesses with religious and cultural rituals,
including exorcism; amulet writers, who produce amulets to ward off evil spirits; fortune
tellers, who predict the future or diagnose by reading the dregs in patients’ coffee cups; and
Koranic healers, men who treat patients who have been attacked by evil spirits by using
religious principles based on the Koran (al-Krenawi & Graham, 1999).

7
Advantages and disadvantages of traditional medicine and modern medicine
Advantages of Traditional Medicine

The herbal medicine is “holistic” in the sense that it addresses issues of the soul, spirit, and
body. It is cheap and easily accessible to most people, especially the rural population. It is
also considered to be a lot safer than orthodox medicine, being natural in origin.

Disadvantages of Traditional Medicine

Some of the disadvantages include improper diagnosis which could be misleading. The
dosage is most often vague and the medicines are prepared under unhygienic conditions, as
evidenced by microbial contamination of many herbal preparations sold in the markets. The
knowledge is still shrouded in secrecy and not easily disseminated. Some of the practices
which involve rituals and divinations are beyond the scope of non-traditionalists such as
Christians who find it incomprehensible, unacceptable, and difficult to access such services.

8
Conclusion
Traditional medicine will continue to exist as a separated medical system for some time. It
was noted that many users of traditional remedies also use modern medicine at the same time.
Many medical doctors apply both traditional and modern medicine. Harmonization of
traditional and modern medicine will, therefore, ensure that the two approaches work
effectively side by side properly, on the other hand Conventional and complementary healing
methods are very hard to compare, because their results depend of the way they are practiced. An
unprofessional use of therapy methods should not too easily incriminate the method, but rather his
user. It would be also more appropriate to judge the utility of one or the other of these therapy
methods in each individual case, because, for example, it is more likely to successfully treat a
trigeminal neuralgia with competent acupuncture than with allopathic drugs, while acute peritonitis
has probably no safer cure than conventional surgery.

9
Bibliography Reference
Al-Krenawi A, Graham JR (1999). Gender and biomedical/ traditional mental health
utilization among the Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev. Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry.

Eighth General Programme of Work covering the period 1990-1995. Geneva, WHO,
1987:149.

Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group, Anonymous. Evidence based medicine. A new

approach to teaching the practice of medicine. Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group.
JAMA 1992;

Fakhr El-Islam M (2008). Arab culture and mental health care. Transcultural Psychiatry

Hales A (1996). West African beliefs about mental illness. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care

Liu C, Douglas RM. Chinese herbal medicines in the treatment of acute respiratory infections:
a review of randomized and controlled clinical trials. Med J Aust 1998;

10