In some parts of the world when people think of traditional medicine they often envision some ancient cultural practice that is heavily based in myth with minimal practicality within modern day health systems. However despite its ancient roots, traditional medicine is the most widely practiced medicine of all time (World Health Organization) and it continues to play a important role in communicating culture, spirituality, and philosophy across generations. Recent demands worldwide for more sustainable practices both in terms of health and the environment has lead to a growing economic market in alternative medicines (i.e. non-Western based medical practices) and in an increased interest among the governments of developing and developed nation-states and academic communities (World Health Organization) to invest in traditional medicinal practices.
The continued use of traditional medicines worldwide is due in part to restricted access to mainstream medical services as a result of poverty, class, and gender disparities; in addition to the growing need for cultural preservation in response to increased globalization (World Health Organization). Some countries such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Vietnam, and China have already responded to the growing importance of traditional medicine by fully integrating their mainstream medical care systems with traditional medicinal practices. Yet these countries are in the minority in terms of fully legitimizing the practice of traditional medicine, while another 70 countries worldwide have only begun to introduce legislation for herbal medicines and plants (World Health Organization).
An Example of How Illness is Diagnosed
Traditional Chinese medicine diagnoses illness according to 4 principles:
1. Visual: looking at the tongue, complexion, and skin, and observing the patient’s behaviour. 2. Listening and smelling: listening to the quality, pitch, and tone of the patient’s voice; smelling body odours. 3. Questioning: asking detailed questions about the patient’s symptoms, complaints, lifestyle, etc. 4. Touching: the TCM doctor is trained to assess the patient’s pulse (at the wrist, through the radial artery) in a highly complex fashion, which can yield as many as 21 different pulses.
Information was retrieved from the “CANADIAN AIDS TREATMENT INFORMATION EXCHANGE”
An Example of Treatment via Traditional Medicine
Treatment of Illness among Canadian Aboriginal Peoples
Some Canadian Aboriginal communities use a sweat lodge to treat illness at both the “physical and spiritual” levels of the sick individual. This traditional medicinal practice incorporates spiritual beliefs, cultural values, and Aboriginal ideologies about the connection of all three to the spirit of the individual, which signifies the central focus of this practice in terms of restoring balance to one’s life. However under this tradition, illness does not necessarily indicate an imbalance but it may also act as a biological signal that some other source (spiritual or physical) has contributed to an imbalance in health that has resulted in illness. In addition, while sickness may originate in an individual, treatment of that illness can only occur through the involvement of the community, which is exemplified in the Canadian Aboriginal example of the “sweat lodge.”
Information was retrieved from the Angeline Dee Letendre’s article, “Aboriginal Traditional Medicine: Where does it fit?”
What are the benefits and drawbacks?
Benefits
• One quarter of all mainstream medicines are currently being derived from the same traditional plants used in most traditional medicines. • Traditional medicinal practices such as “Acupuncture” have been shown to relieve severe pain, nausea, panic attacks, and even insomnia. • Another traditional medicinal practice that has been shown to reduce illness such as asthma and phobias are “Yoga,” and “Tai Ji”. • A Chinese traditional medicine “Artemisia annua” has helped prevent the levels of infections related to many highly resistant forms of malaria. • Medical studies in South Africa, have found health benefits with the medicinal plant “Sutherlandia Microphylla” in treating AIDS patients who suffer appetite loss and low energy levels.
Drawback
• When traditional medicines are used without adhering to country specific health regulations, their use and consumption may result in negative and even dangerous consequences. One example of this has been documented for the Chinese herb “Ma Huang” (Ephedra) used to treat respiratory problems. However since its release worldwide, consumption of this medicine has resulted in several deaths, heart attacks, and strokes in the United States with many more side effects appearing in other parts of the world.
Information was retrieved from the World Health Organization
Cross-cultural connections to traditional medicine
Oriental Medicine • Practiced for over 3000 years • Used all over the world • Combines medicinal herbs, Tai Chi/Oi Gong, acupuncture • Effective in the treatment of some cancers, allergies, and heart disease • Corrects causes of imbalance and disharmony within the sick individual Aboriginal Medicine • Health and wellness is determined by the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual elements of an individual • Practices include: sweat lodges, sweet grass ceremonies, smudges, talking circles, and teachings from Elders • The medicine person restores balance within a sick individual by focusing on the mind, body, and spirit from the perspective of physician, psychiatrist/psychologist, family counsellor, and spiritual advisor all in one • Aboriginal society is revealed, and the expression of Aboriginal culture is exercised, through the practice of traditional medicine • This form of medicine is not static but remains a dynamic tradition that is passed on from generation to generation Tibetan Medicine • This approach to nature, health, and illness has existed for thousands of years • Synthesis of physical and psychological medicine integrated within a Buddhist understanding of well being • Relies on the belief that both health and sickness originate from the mind and body, specifically in terms of how they connect people to the natural world and their spirituality Ayuryeda • Has been practiced in India for the past five thousand years • Emphasis in terms of wellness is placed on the body, mind, spirit, and a restoration of harmony between these elements within the individual and the environment • Treatment to restore balance within a sick person follows a system of health that includes diet, exercise, yoga, meditation, massage, and herbs specific to the treatment of a given illness
Information was retrieved from the “Institute of Traditional Medicine,” and Angeline Dee Letendre’s article, “Aboriginal Traditional Medicine: Where does it fit?”
Sustainable health and sustaining environmental integrity through traditional medicine
Even with all the benefits of traditional medicine, its growing popularity worldwide has made its practice deadly to the proliferation of biodiversity around the world, which provides the bulk of the raw materials included in most traditional medicines. The risk to biodiversity is so great that the loss of biodiversity as result of increased herbal use can potentially lead to the extinction of many of the world’s endangered plant species and the destruction of rare and natural habits (World Health Organization). For example, “syngnathids” have been used in traditional medicines (i.e. Chinese, Brazilian, Malayian, Vitemanese, Japanese (“Kanpo”), South Korean (“Hanyak”), and Indonesia (“Jamu”) traditional medicine) for thousands of years to treat respiratory problems, sexual dysfunction, and overall health. However, since 2004, several species of seahorse used within the traditional medicinal practice have been listed in the “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora,” as endangered; and since then international recommendations have been made to protect sea populations and habitats in an effort to promote the sustainable use of seahorses for medicinal purposes (PROJECT SEAHORSE).
Since May 2001, the “Living Bridges Foundation,” a non-profit organization based out of Amazonian Ecuador has been committed to training and educating youth ages 15 to 30 on the traditional medicinal practices or “ethnomedicine” of the Indigenous Amazonian community in Ecuador. In contrast to the mainstream medical practices common to urban Ecuador, Living Bridges Foundation offers youth training in traditional medicine approaches to illness from a spiritual stand-point that reinforces our connection to nature by first understanding the healing properties of various plants and by practicing the application of “nature’s cures.” The ultimate goal of this project is to equip Indigenous Amazonian youth with the training and understanding needed to carry on the practice of traditional medicine and the application of natural cures when treating various forms of sickness.
Definitions
Syngnathids = are marine organisms such as seahorses, seadragons, pipefishes, and pipehorses that have a curved trunk (body) and a prehensile (grasping) tail
Sweat lodge = a sacred ceremony where a human comes into contact with the spiritual world
Tai Ji = a martial art and a Chinese philosophical concept
Traditional medicine = refers to diverse health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs, incorporating plant or mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to maintain well-being, as well as to treat, diagnose or prevent illness; and it is based on indigenous theories, beliefs and experiences that are handed down from generation to generation
Yoga = A system of exercises practiced as part of this discipline to promote control of the body and mind
REFERENCES
CANADIAN AIDS TREATMENT INFORMATION EXCHANGE www.catie.ca
Letendre, A.D. (2002). Aboriginal Traditional Medicine: Where Does It Fit? Crossing Boundaries, 1, 78-87.
PROJECT SEAHORSE http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/pos-tm.html
Institute of Traditional Medicine www.institutoftraditionalmedicine.com
The Living Bridges Foundation http://www.livingbridgefoundation.org/medicine.html
World Health Organization www.who.int (
wiki)
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