The Effect of Using Nutritional and Herbal Supplements on Uterine Fibroids as an Alternative Community Based Management in Kisumu

Susan Aruwa,Francis Owino Rew,Andrew Opondo Otieno

doi:10.13189/ujph.2017.050101

Abstract

For a long time, community based alternative methods of treating illnesses/conditions has not been given much weight that it deserves, as it is also contributing considerably towards health care and many people in the communities are using the alternative ways. In Kenya nearly 80% of the populations including the Maasai are still dependent on herbal medicine; it remains an important source of treatment, particularly for rural communities. The World Health Organization's global strategy includes popularizing and incorporating herbal medicine in the national health systems of member countries. However, knowledge on community based alternative management of fibroids is still not well understood by many in the population. The purpose of the study was to determine the various methods of alternative fibroid management using nutritional and herbal supplements at community level and their effectiveness at eliminating uterine fibroids. The main objective of the study was to find out the types of community based nutritional and herbal supplements that women use to manage fibroids. There was therefore the need to find out the activities of the alternative medicine practitioners with specific interest on nutritional and indigenous herbal supplements treatment and determine whether the supplements and herbal medicines being administered were effectively eliminating uterine fibroids. There was an existing gap in the naming of the local herbs being used, quantities of drug being administered, the ratios of different drugs mixed in a given concoction, effectiveness and documentation of the local herbs used for alternative management of fibroids in this country.

Highlights

In developing countries with poor infrastructure, traditional healers are located in nearly every rural village setting as well as in the busy urban areas
Requires a measure of respect for indigenous medicine and African culture generally. It requires the shedding of stereotypes of African traditional healers [18] most important of all, is the search for a common ground between western biomedicine and traditional healers and building upon that common ground
The exclusion criteria were those women with fibroid like symptoms in the communities but had not undertaken a confirmatory diagnosis at the health facilities for fibroids, while the inclusion criterion were women diagnosed with uterine fibroids at the health facilities or had a history of fibroids and had been diagnosed at the health facilities

Summary

Introduction

In developing countries with poor infrastructure, traditional healers are located in nearly every rural village setting as well as in the busy urban areas. They are a godsend to Africa’s cash-strapped health ministries since they are already on the ground. Requires a measure of respect for indigenous medicine and African culture generally. It requires the shedding of stereotypes of African traditional healers [18] most important of all, is the search for a common ground between western biomedicine and traditional healers and building upon that common ground.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion