Traditional and Herbal Medicine: Definitions and Terminologies II

Question 1

Mention 4 different names of TM

Answer 1

1. Indigenous Medicine
2. Complementary and Alternative Medicine
3. Native Medicine
4. Folk Medicine

Question 2

What are the methods by which TMPs are trained in African ethnomedicine?

Answer 2

1. Apprenticeship
2. Divine selection or in answer to a call by a deity
3. Family inheritance

Question 3

Discuss and compare the terms CAM, native medicine, folk medicine and indigenous.

Answer 3

• The term CAM is used interchangeably with
  TM in some countries. It refers to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country’s own tradition and are not integrated into the dominant health care system
• Native medicine is a derogatory version of traditional medicine passed down from colonial
  era (the word native meaning any thing not foreign or not introduced by the colonial masters)
• Folk medicine is a more acceptable reference to the knowledge, the mode of treatment or traditional beliefs that are common to a group of rural people.
• Indigenous medicine is the extended definition of traditional medicine in Africa which includes a phrase such as “while bearing in mind the original concept of nature which includes the material world, the sociological environment, whether
  living or dead, and the metaphysical forces of the universe”.

Question 4

What is Juju?

Answer 4

This is a term applied to the kind of TM which includes some supernatural or magical implications.

E.g. few palm leaves placed on a bundle of firewood laid beside the road by the owner while he fetches some more fire wood is a sign that juju (a curse) has been placed on that bundle. The curse will not affect the owner or other authorised persons.

• the term is commonly used in the eastern states of Nigeria to refer to any form of medicine that casts an evil spell.

Question 5

What is the botanical source of the small gourd (calabash) often associated with juju?

Answer 5

Lagenaria siceraria Seringe

Question 6

What are ritual rites?

Answer 6

These are procedures and/or sacrifices necessary to appease gods in particular form of treatment or situation. Could include dances, sacrifices, eating only a certain kind of food etc.

Question 7

What are incantations?

Answer 7

Incantations are a form of play on words written or delivered orally in poetic form to conjure up forces (efficacies) into a medicine.

Question 8

Example of incantation and translation…

Answer 8

Ohun ti a ba wi fun ogbo ni ogbo ngbo
Ohun ti a ba wi fun ogba ni ogba ngba
Ohun ti a ba wi fun iwo lagbaja ni ki o ngba

Translation:
Whatever we tell ogbo (the leaf of Parquetina nigrescencs Baill), it hears
Whatever we tell (a fenced compound) it accepts
Whatever I tell you (any individual named here), you must accept

Question 9

An example of traditional recipe that does not require incantations is

Answer 9

Azadirachta indica for Fever
Zanthoxylum xanthoxyloides for toothache

Question 10

Mention 5 methods of preparing herbal remedies.

Answer 10

1. Concoction
2. Decoction
3. Infusion
4. Tisane
5. Tinctures
6. Maceration

Question 11

Explain concoction.

Answer 11

It is a preparation (soup or drink) usually made from many ingredients

Question 12

Explain decoction.

Answer 12

Prepared by placing the plant drug in cold water, bringing it to boil, simmering for about 15mins or longer (up to 1 hour) and then allowing the mixture to stand for a further 15 mins.

The aqueous extract is decanted or filtered when it is needed.

The preparation is often left in the pot and reheated before use in traditional preparations at home. As a result it gets darker and probably more concentrated with prolonged contact with the plant drug.

This type of extraction may result in the alteration of many active constituents, which are readily decomposed during boiling e.g some glycosides

Question 13

Explain Infusion.

Answer 13

An infusion is prepared by pouring boiling water on a specified quantity of plant material and allowing the mixture to stand for 10 –15 minutes.

Question 14

Explain Tisane.

Answer 14

An aqueous preparation or tea made by decoction or infusion.

Question 15

Explain Maceration.

Answer 15

This is prepared by placing the plant material with the whole of the menstruum (extraction liquid) in a closed vessel and allowing to stand for 7 days, shaking occasionally.

It is then strained before pressing the marc (plant material). The liquid extracts thus obtained are mixed.

The preparation is clarified by subsidence or filtration. In the traditional way subsidence followed by decantation is more common.

Question 16

Explain Tinctures.

Answer 16

A tincture is an alcoholic or hydroalcoholic extract of a herbal material, typically made up of 1 part herbal material and 5–10 parts alcoholic solvent (e.g., ethanol or wine).

Tinctures can be prepared by extracting herbal materials with ethanol of a suitable concentration (ratio of water to alcohol should be recorded)

Tinctures are usually prepared by either maceration or percolation using ethanol, wine or a hydroalchoholic mixture or by dissolving a soft or dry extract of the herbal material in ethanol of the required concentration.

They may be filtered if necessary.