SLC S21 Week 1 - A Comprehensive guide to Herbal Medicines

Sometimes I wonder why those in rural areas depend solely on leaves to prevent illness, and they get even healthier and stronger than most of us in urban areas who depend on drugs are.

I call them herbalists because they know all types of leaves capable of curing severe headaches, stomach aches, piles, and many others. They do leaves, and it works for them.

In my country, we call drugs white medicine and call herbal green medicine. We see green medicine as the root source of white medicine because it's modified from green to white, which sometimes alters the effectiveness when chemically produced.

Sad to say, these white drugs aren't effective as before. You'll need to take 4 tablets of paracetamol, which is an overdose, as two can't suppress your headache. Many have come to see life and light in leaves. Answering the questions below will give you an insight on some herbal medicine in my country.

Note: The word herbal shouldn't confuse you, as it is not only leaves that make that word. The word is obtained from Herbs and herbs have different categories: leaves, roots, stems, backs of plants, rhizomes, etc., all channelling their attention to plants and plants produce

Soursop leaves	Aleo Vera
Plant's stem	Vinegar leaves

RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT

If you're a Nigerian and you love watching Nigerian movies, you'll see to it that in those days before the advent of new innovation, herbalists, or native doctors, as we call them, were the centre of most movies. This is to show that Nigeria as a country has this longstanding history of using herbal medicine, of which knowledge was passed on from these herbalists. How did it start?

I'll tell you from my research. The exact name of the first person who found herbal medicine in Nigeria wasn't recorded, but folklore has it that it started this way. There was this hunter who stumbled on a wounded animal eating some leaves before the animal laid down to rest. The next day, he discovered the animal was fully healed. So he tried the leaves, as he has been having frequent aches. In less than 2 hours, he felt relieved from those aches. From there, he started observing the leaves and carrying out lots of experiments.

It's no news that herbal medicine in Nigeria has roots traced back to the earliest method of survival, where humans survived on nature. The knowledge of plants that heals was passed on from generation to generation, as knowledge never dies. From this knowledge, people took it as a course of study and became doctors of herbs, titled as Herbalists.

They experiment with the effectiveness of these plants on humans and animals and then come to a conclusion.

In Nigeria, many tribes believe in the dual nature of illness, which can be physical or spiritual, and varying tribes combine herbs with spiritual rituals to treat patients. That's why you see most of these herbalists incanting. This holistic approach helps them heal the mind, body, and spirit. Since this origin and history weren't documented, the knowledge was preserved and taken as our cultural heritage for venture.

• Pre-colonial Era [1500 AD]

They pass on knowledge from generation to generation to preserve this survival through traditional means. This was during the pre-colonial era where there were no books and knowledge was passed orally. Like I said, different tribes in Nigeria, such as Yorubas, Igbos, and Hausa, have their own extensive knowledge of plants that work for them.

• Advent of colonial masters [1500 - 1960 AD]

The advent of colonial masters in Nigeria brought about a major change as colonialism introduced western or white medicine commonly known as white drugs by us. This introduction of western medicine suppressed traditional herbal medicine at first before there was a blend.

	Blood Tonic and drugs introduction

• After colonization - Post colonial Era [From 1960 till Date]

The independence Nigeria gained in 1960 brought back that traditional herbal medicine to life, which was researched, experimented on, and documented. Its documentation gives rise to a discipline called Pharmacy where the study of medicinal plants is carried out and experimented with to bring about the known modern drugs today used in many healthcare systems.

Those who study this course at the university get to know what medicinal plants are used, their effectiveness, side effects, and measured dosage, and how the pigments from these plants can be used to produce modern drugs when chemically combined.

Reference since it's a research work.....

Iwu, M. M. (2014). Handbook of African Medicinal Plants. CRC Press.

Comparison Task

In everything, there are always advantages and disadvantages. As much as herbal medicine is effective and good when taken in the right proportion, modern medicines are good too, as they derive their source from herbs. But they also have side effects, which would be demonstrated in the table below.

Now, you may wonder. Which herbal medicine is used for headaches and cold relief? Which modern medicines are used for headaches and colds? Modernisation has shown that 80% of people take paracetamol as the modern way of relieving themselves of headaches. Some take panadol if the headache is extreme.

Those in rural areas that can't afford drugs for ordinary headaches boil sour sop leaves or lemon grass to cure their headaches. The table has everything, though there's a specification as to headache and cold in terms of benefits and Side effects

Herb Identification

Three herbs found in my kitchen are onions, ginger, and garlic**. These three herbs are essential herbs in the preparation of malaria concoctions. These three herbs are used for medicinal and cooking purposes. They are very strong herbs capable of acting as spices and curing headache and malaria with typhoid when combined with other herbs like scent leaves[mints] etc.

These are the benefits of these herbs for both cooking and medicinal purposes. I'll be specifying their health benefits either in pure form or when combined in the food we eat.

These medicinal herbs are almost synonymous, as they are roots-related herbs. I once used it in the preparation of malaria concoctions. I made use of

• garlic, ginger, onions

• pounded mints, water, and a little of sour sop.

	Mixture of two leaves
	Scent leaf

I ground everything at once and filtered it without boiling it. The scent was more of garlic, and I drank it cold, morning and night. In less than 3 days, my malaria was gone. That has been my recipe. It has been working perfectly for me and has helped not just in malaria but my cardiac system.

Forms of Herbs

There are various forms of herbs that can be helpful to man and taken in different forms. Just as roots. There are some medicinal roots that are needed dry to be active, while there are some roots that must be wet to be effective. These forms of herbs include;

• Fresh herbs or green leaves: These herbs are gotten from plants leaves, stems, or flowers, and they are gotten fresh while the leaves are still fresh and not dry. These fresh herbs contain pigments and vitamins that are rich in medicinal purposes, including cooking. Examples of such fresh herbs are thyme, soursopand vinegar leaves. These leaves are used in making teas, cooking, and medicine. Examples are basil, mints, etc.

• Dried herbs are fresh herbs that are air-dried to remove moisture from the leaves, preserving them and making them concentrated. They are mostly used in making teas and for cooking too. Such dry herbs are thyme, rosemary, etc . These are dried herbs and are used essentially in cooking, which also works well when taken into the body.

• Herbal Tinctures, a form of herb concerned with the soaking of herbs in alcohol and contained in a bottle to pull out their benefits. One of such is commonly seen in my country, where roots and leaves are contained in a bottle and spirit is added to concentrate it. We call the alcohol Ufofop. These are very effective for use to cure stomach upsets and other ailments.

• Herbal teas are herbs that are dried and soaked in hot water or warm water to bring the tea out. An example of such is green tea, where the medicinal product is contained, which is taken in the form of tea.

Safety Report:

Lemon grass is a common medicinal product used extensively in my region. It is taken so often to cure colds and malaria. It is usually taken as a herbal tea because of its health benefits. It is known for relieving anxiety. As much as lemon grass can be used in curing cold and malaria, it has side effects that can lead to other medical or health complications. One popular side effect is weakness and dizziness.

This is one observable side effect of drinking lemongrass, as it causes feelings of dizziness. This is because it helps in relieving stress and has this relaxation sedative effect. If taken too much for some people, it can cause this dizziness. It's not as if taking this lemon grass tea is bad, but too much of everything is a disease.

How to avoid it?

One must avoid taking high doses of lemongrass grass, especially if he plans to drive. A considerable amount is okay, and it's mostly taken when one wants to sleep at night and not taken in high quantity when going to work.

Stomach Upset

Lemon grass stimulates the digestive system and can be very detrimental to one's health if taken in excess, as it could lead to cramps, discomfort, triggered ulcers, and diarrhoea because of the compounds in the leaves. It should be taken in considerable amounts. This actually depends on the type of body system one has, as what you may consider as small may turn you badly. Some put it in their foods and take it to avoid direct exposure.

How to avoid?

One must avoid taking too much of lemongrass tea. You can start small to see how your body reacts to the tea. Then you limit yourself to one cup daily. If you want to go out in a blow, you may end up causing problems for yourself, and your stomach ulcers may likely trigger. I know of someone who fainted drinking lemon grass because the effect was just too much in its pure form. You can also try putting liptop and milk inside the tea to reduce the direct effect.

Another side effect increased the risks of miscarriage in pregnancy. This is mostly for women to take note of, as small things like this can be the cause of their miscarriage. How? Lemon grass stimulates menstruation in females, which increases the chances of a pregnant woman miscarriaging. This can be bad when taken even in small and large quantities.

How to avoid? Women that are pregnant are advised to avoid taking lemongrass tea in their medicines or even in food to avoid triggering menstruation. It may look harmless but can cause a lot of damage. Tell all pregnant women out there.

Conclusively, herbal medicines give birth to most modern medicines, and they both have advantages and disadvantages. Your life is very important, and we are always prone to ailments. Our use of either herbal or medicinal can prove effective.

Note: It's not advisable to use both medicines as it may cause your life.

I invite @whizzbro4eva, @dove11 and @fantvwiki

Cc,
@afzalqamar