Traditional Healing Techniques Research Articles

Cultural Parallels and Unique Features Kyrgyz and Native Americans: Comparative Analysis

This paper examines the cultural parallels and unique features of Kyrgyz people and Native Americans, shedding light on the remarkable similarities and differences that define these two distinct indigenous groups. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this study examines the historical, social, and cultural aspects of both Native Americans and Kyrgyz, seeking to unravel the complexity of their traditions, beliefs, and practices. The study reveals striking parallels between spiritual beliefs and reverence for nature that are deeply rooted in both cultures. The symbolic significance of animals, the spiritual connection to the earth, and the practice of traditional healing techniques reflect a shared appreciation of the natural world and a harmonious relationship with the environment. Moreover, oral traditions and stories from both groups serve as vital channels for preserving cultural heritage and passing ancestral wisdom from one generation to the next. On the other hand, the unique traits of each culture are revealed through the study of their artistic expressions, linguistic diversity and social structures. The nomadic heritage of the Kyrgyz has shaped their customs and folklore, while the diverse linguistic traditions and artistic skills of Native American tribes demonstrate the richness of their cultural traditions. In addition, the impact of historical and contemporary influences on both groups is examined to elucidate the resilience and adaptation of their cultural identities. The enduring legacy of colonialism and the persistence of indigenous knowledge in the face of contemporary challenges provide a critical backdrop for understanding the dynamic nature of Native American and Kyrgyz cultures. By contrasting these cultural characteristics, this comparative analysis aims to foster a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of global indigenous communities while respecting the distinctiveness of their heritage. Ultimately, this study aims to stimulate intercultural dialogue and promote mutual understanding by highlighting the richness of human diversity and the enduring spirit of resilience of indigenous peoples.

Herbal Healing Traditions: A Study of Folk Medicines Used by Traditional Healers of Sonamukhi Block, Bankura District, West Bengal, India

This ethnobotanical study aims to dive into the traditional medicinal practices used by tribals in Sonamukhi Block, Bankura district, West Bengal, India. Focusing on the use of medicinal herbs, the study carefully investigates the intergenerational wisdom kept by traditional healers, who play an important role in healthcare administration. Through conversations with traditional healers and patients, a thorough list of medicinal plants used to treat various diseases has been developed. The study demonstrates that traditional healers successfully use these medicinal plants to produce herbal medications, offering insights into the painstaking process of herbal medicine preparation that was explored in depth during the investigation. These findings highlight the significance of joint efforts to preserve indigenous knowledge and encourage the incorporation of traditional healing techniques into contemporary healthcare. The research study focused on the complicated junction of scientific methodologies and traditional beliefs, indicating the possibility for effective collaboration between scientific institutions and indigenous populations to improve healthcare practices. The studies' thorough examination of medicinal plant usage and herbal medication manufacturing emphasizes the importance of preserving, recording, and using this unique traditional knowledge for the benefit of world healthcare.

CONTROVERSY ON COMMUNITY ASSESSMENTS TO TRADITIONAL MEDICINE OF IDA DAYAK FROM THE ANALYSIS OF TAFSIR AL-AHKAM

This paper aims to examine how the analysis of tafsīr al-ahkām of the controversy over the community's assessment of traditional healing techniques in the style of Ida Dayak medicine. This research is included in the type of qualitative research that is deductive in nature. The data collected comes from library data which comes from books, articles and online data. The data is presented in the form of a description. The chosen research target was the style or technique of treatment which gave birth to controversy in the community which was conducted by Ida Dayak. Data and information about Ida Dayak were obtained through online sources. Ida Dayak's treatment system as viral through social media has drawn controversy because it has unique methods and techniques. Its uniqueness is reflected in the visualization of Mrs. Ida's movements which reflect the typical dance coupled with traditional Dayak women's costumes. Ida Dayak uses Allah's name in the healing process by saying basmalah, and according to Islamic theology, believes that He is the Great Healer. In the perspective of Islamic law, treatment that does not carry elements of shirk, according to Islamic law, the treatment is valid. The healing that was produced through traditional medical techniques was born from a form of endeavor for both Ida's mother and the patient. The Indonesian government has supported the traditional medicine system through a number of regulations in creating healthy human beings.

Achanakmar -Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve: Development and traditional knowledge of Baiga

An anthropological survey was carried out in the core area of the Achanakmar Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve (AABR) for the study. Three villages Sarasdol, Tilaidabara, and Chhirhatta having maximum Baiga population were selected and interviewed to compare changes in the traditional knowledge with the present time. The survey was indicated that indigenous knowledge and tradition has altered by the influence of outer culture and new technologies, which introduced in their area through various governmental schemes. Governmental schemes deteriorated the traditional knowledge of the Baiga tribe. The results of the study were shown a significant change in the age-old traditional practice of the Baiga tribe of the core zone due to the interference of the outsider and the conversational gaps between the two successive generations. The new generation was not ready to adopt their traditional knowledge as they have found the ease of life through modern culture, leads to the loss of the knowledge of traditional healing technique and identification power of various valuable plants were not passing to their next generations.

Morphological characters of hydroponically grown lettuce (Lactuca sativa) treated with Pranic Agriculture

Pranic agriculture (PA) is a traditional healing technique. It includes the projection of prana to the soil, seeds, water and seedlings to improve their growth. Lettuce plants were grown hydroponically and exposed to pranic energy. The study aimed to investigate the effects of PA treatment on the growth of lettuce plants grown hydroponically. Lettuce plants were grown in two different hydroponic sets. For both treatments, seeds, nutrient solution, lighting and all other conditions were same. One set received PA treatment, while the other set which did not receive any treatment was referred as control. Lettuce grown with pranic energy were significantly (p < 0.05) larger in terms of vegetative growth [number of leaves (11.5±1.2), leaf length (16.8±0.9 cm), leaf area (1501±293 cm2), and root length (14.9±2.4 cm)], when compared to control having values of 9.5±1, 14.3±1.4 cm, 1004±387 cm2 and 11.8±1.4 cm respectively. The Pranic energy influences hydroponically-grown lettuce plants. Pranic energy can be used as an alternative approach to improve plant growth and yield. PA treatment can be implemented by farmers to increase their crop growth. The exact mechanism of how Pranic energy affects plant growth needs to be investigated further.

Exploring scraping therapy: Contemporary views on an ancient healing - A review.

Gua sha is a traditional healing technique that aims to create petechiae on the skin for a believed therapeutic benefit. Natural healings are mostly based on repeated observations and anecdotal information. Hypothetical model for healing does not always fit the modern understanding. Yet, the mechanisms underlying Gua Sha have not been empirically established. Contemporary scientific research can now explain some events of traditional therapies that were once a mystery. It is assumed that Gua Sha therapy can serve as a mechanical signal to enhance the immune surveillance function of the skin during the natural resolving of the petechiae, through which scraping may result in therapeutic benefits. The current review, without judging the past hypothetical model, attempts to interpret the experience of the ancient healings in terms of contemporary views and concepts.

Народная медицина кочевников Внутренней Азии: логика приемов исцеления

Goals. The article seeks to analyze healing techniques developed in nomadic culture and reveal the logic of such actions. Methods. The study employs the comparative historical method which proves instrumental in identifying common features of understanding and interpreting natural and cultural phenomena by Turko-Mongols; fruitful enough is the method of cultural-historical reconstruction which reveals the logic of archaic views. Materials. Mongols tend to view any deviation from norm in human body as disease, the latter divided into obvious and non-obvious ones, i.e. those the nature of which was unknown to people. Origins of most diseases were reduced to harmful activities of supernatural beings living next to humans. Thus, such personification somewhat facilitated the healing: a deity or spirit of disease could be frightened, persuaded, or appeased. Conclusions. The key idea underlying a significant number of traditional healing techniques was the intention to scare disease.

A Framework for Knowledge Capture in African Traditional Treatment of Malaria

This study developed, implemented and evaluated a framework for the means of knowledge capture in African traditional medicine (ATM) practice. This was with a view to enhancing the preservation of knowledge and hence the continual exploitation of African traditional healing techniques in malaria therapy. The methodology adopted involved knowledge elicitation by means of an interview scheme administered on a number of African traditional medicine practitioners (ATMPs) in Ile-Ife and its environs. The data taken from the practitioners were analyzed using the general architecture for text engineering (GATE) software. The resulting information was structured and the knowledge based system (KBS) was implemented using Javascript and PHP programming language. Sample cases of malaria were posted to the KBS for diagnosis and treatment of malaria disease. Also, fifteen ATMPs were required to provide diagnosis and therapies for the same cases of malaria in groups of five. The output from the KBS and ATMPs were then tested for agreement using Fleiss’ Kappa qualitative analysis. The diagnosis and therapy agreement between the groups of ATMPs and the KBS gave an average kappa-measure of 0.854 which indicates an almost perfect agreement between the KBS and the ATMPs. Therefore, the framework can be said to be complete for knowledge capture of malaria. In conclusion, knowledge in ATM practice could be structured, formalized and implemented as found in this work. This could be useful for capturing, storing and preserving knowledge in the domain of African traditional medicine practice.Keywords: African Traditional Medicine, General Architecture For Text Engineering, Knowledge Based System

Perceived Causes of Mental Illness and Treatment Seeking Behaviors among People with Mental Health Problems in Gebremenfes Kidus Holy Water Site

This study assesses the perceived causes of mental illnesses and treatment seeking behaviors among patients who attended the holy water sprinkling religious practice in the holy site of Gebremenfes Kidus holy water around Axum town. The data were collected from 25 participants who were sprinkled by the holy water at the time. A case study method was employed in order to collect detail and in-depth information from the target participants of the study. The researcher used available sampling method and collected the data using semi-structured interview from the patients and their caregivers. The participants were with full of insight about their health problems. Most patients in the holy water attributed the mental illness to different social evil practices and traditional beliefs as well as to the punishing hands of the God as a result of disobeying to the religious principles and social taboos. The treatment seeking preference of most patients was spiritual practices like, holy water sprinkling, praying and other traditional healing techniques such as herbal medicines with no dose limit and no scientific proof for the effectiveness of the medicine. Generally, participants had negative attitude towards the effectiveness of the modern medicine or professional help to the illness. A research conducted in Uganda revealed the same result. In some Ugandan communities, help is mostly sought from traditional healers initially, whereas western form of care is usually considered as a last resort. The factors found to influence help seeking behavior within the community include: beliefs about the causes of mental illness and the people’s lack of awareness about the scientific cause and treatment approaches to the illness [1].

Successful Outcomes Of An Infant Sickle Cell Clinic In Luanda, Angola

BackgroundSickle cell anemia (SCA) is a significant, under recognized contributor to global childhood mortality, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Early diagnosis is critical to enable timely access to care and education, before severe and life-threatening complications develop in the first year of life. Unfortunately, such early and comprehensive care remains largely unavailable for many infants across Africa. In an attempt to reduce the high early mortality associated with SCA, an infant SCA clinic was developed and implemented in the capital city of Luanda, Angola. We describe the early experiences and successful outcomes for infants enrolled in this clinic. MethodsInfants were enrolled in the clinic if the diagnosis of SCA was made in the first year of life. The clinic was established in the major public pediatric hospital in Angola, Hospital Pediátrico David Bernardino (HPDB). The vast majority of enrolled infants were diagnosed by newborn screening at local maternity hospitals, while some were diagnosed due to clinical suspicion or known family history. Initial clinic visit included intake of demographics such as contact information, family history, and details of basic housing conditions. A dried bloodspot was collected and the diagnosis of SCA was confirmed by isoelectric focusing. All families received sickle cell education and confirmed infants received penicillin prophylaxis (125 mg by mouth twice per day), pneumococcal vaccination series (Prevnar-13), and an insecticide-treated mosquito net for malaria prophylaxis. ResultsIn the first twenty months of the HPDP Infant SCA clinic, 301 infants were enrolled. Eighty-one percent (244/301) were identified through the associated newborn screening program, while the remaining fifty-seven infants presented due to clinical symptoms or known family history. Families live in the urban and poverty-stricken Luanda. The average household has 6.4 people with 2.8 people per bedroom. Only 34.2% of families reported access to water within their household. Despite poverty and difficult housing situations, continued follow-up was extraordinarily high at 97.3%. After the initial visit, only eight families (2.7%) chose not to follow-up – four preferred faith or traditional healing techniques, and four chose follow-up care at a private clinic. With a concentrated effort to track and enable timely follow-up care, there were zero babies truly “lost to follow-up.” For the 167 babies who are now at least one year of age, the calculated infant mortality rate (under 1 year of age) is 6.6%, which compares favorably to the nationally reported infant mortality rate for all children (9.8%). Upon reviewing the 11 deaths, in nearly all cases the families sought appropriate medical care as instructed, and most deaths were likely preventable if appropriate and timely emergency care were available in the community. ConclusionsEarly mortality associated with SCA can be significantly reduced through early diagnosis and access to care and education, even in countries with few health resources such as Angola. These experiences with a newborn clinic in the urban city of Luanda demonstrate that simple, lifesaving care is feasible and that follow-up and survival is excellent. Although the survival in this Angolan cohort was even better than the national infant mortality rate, the few deaths illustrate gaps in the understanding of emergency SCA care among the healthcare community. It is critical to include education and training of healthcare professionals at all levels of care in any national strategy, so that children with SCA can be promptly triaged and adequately treated for emergent and life-threatening complications. Disclosures:No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Gua Sha, an ancient technical management, for certain illness

We were attracted by a news in Washington Post talking about the effects of Gua Sha (刮痧) on pain relief in the United States. Once there was a film telling culture conflicts between Eastern and Western world derived from Gua Sha in 2000, in which the Chinese parents were sued as child abuse evidenced by the appearance of petechiae and ecchymosis (Sha) on the child's back. Now about 12 years later Gua Sha has been one of the complementary therapies widely accepted in the United States mirrored by more and more clinic-visits and several evidence-based studies published in peer-reviewed journals. Gua Sha is a traditional healing technique popular in Asia and Asian immigrant communities, which is by means of scraping and scratching repeatedly and unidirectionally with a smooth edge over a lubricated area until Sha blemishes appear (Figures 1 and 2). (1)

WHO moves to classify traditional medicines

The World Health Organization (WHO) will create a web-based classification system for traditional medicines to help bring them out from “the dark side of the planet of health information.” The project will hopefully lead to greater recognition of traditional healing techniques and more

Traditional indigenous healing: Part I.

Traditional indigenous healing is widely used today, as it has been since time immemorial. This article describes the following areas in regards to traditional healing: (a) an explanation of indigenous peoples, (b) a definition of traditional indigenous healing, (c) a portrayal of traditional healers, (d) health within indigenous culture, (e) traditional healing techniques, (f) utilization of traditional healing, (g) how to find a traditional healer, and (h) comparing traditional healing principles with mainstream ways. It is important to have knowledge about this method of holistic healing so health care providers and nurses can integrate it into the health care for individuals and/or families that choose traditional indigenous healing.

Psychological Mechanism of Traditional Healing Technique Performed by the Healing Robot : through the life information field (Special Lecture 2) (Without Peer Review) (The Seventeenth Symposium on Life Information Science)

Psychological Mechanism of Traditional Healing Technique Performed by the Healing Robot : through the life information field (Special Lecture 2) (Without Peer Review) (The Seventeenth Symposium on Life Information Science)

The new world of medicine: prospecting for health.

Throughout past millennia, human beings have shared the common goal of improving health for longevity. However, different cultures around the world have developed their own approaches to achieve this goal. Various traditions have emerged, rendering distinct medical systems such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Chinese-Japanese medicine, shamanism, and Native American healing. Traditional medicine involves a holistic approach to the human body to integrate healing with culture, environment, and tradition. Modern allopathic medicine originated from Greco-Roman Medicine and Northern European traditions and is built on the science of anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry and the structure-function relationship between cells, tissues, and organs. This foundation focuses on diagnosis, treatment, and cure for acute illnesses via potent pharmaceutical drugs, surgery, radiation, and other treatment modalities. Within this past century, we have doubled the life-span of human beings. Genomic medicine, including stem cell research, cloning, and gene therapy, will increase our capability to treat even more diseases. In the new millennium, we face more chronic illnesses related to aging, environment, and lifestyle, such as cancer, diabetes. osteoporosis, and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, health care providers face the challenge of prospecting for health and disease prevention. Modern science and medical advancements provide the rationale for the integration of various traditional healing techniques, which have been termed Alternative and Complementary Medicine, to promote healing, health, and longevity. Advances in medicine must include the holistic approach of traditional medicine to face the current challenges in health care. Therefore, the New World of Medicine must fuse the antiquity of ancient healing with the innovations of modern medicine to increase life-expectancy and improve quality of life throughout the world.

Ethnopsychiatry: Counselling immigrants in France

The plight of immigrants in France and the United States bear a striking similarity. This article highlights the struggle of immigrants in the French society and the discrimination they face. A French academic discipline calledethnopsychiatry has arisen to help immigrants in France. It appears to be very similar in purpose to cross-cultural counselling, but draws more heavily in practice from traditional healing techniques used in Africa. The pioneeringstrides of ethnopsychiatry in the cross-cultural counselling paradigm are discussed.

Culture in treatment, culture as treatment. A critical appraisal of developments in addictions programs for indigenous North Americans and Australians

Indigenous people in Australia and in North America have been creating innovative interventions in the addictions field for several years now—incorporating traditional healing practices and cultural values into otherwise western programs—although this process is more developed in Canada and the U.S. than it is in Australia. Through a process of cultural diffusion, Australian Aborigines have incorporated many ideas from Native Canadian treatment models. As a result, residential treatment utilizing adapted forms of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is being promoted by indigenous Australians. This paper examines comparative material on the uses of culture as a form of healing and traces the rationale for the argument that cultural wholeness can serve as a preventive, or even curing agent in drug and alcohol abuse. This is a qualitative leap from the now universally accepted notion that treatment and rehabilitation for native people should be culturally appropriate. There are, however, certain dilemmas confronting native treatment directors attempting these syncretic approaches, given aspects of cultural contexts which can serve to foster drug and alcohol use rather than discourage it. Additionally, North American Indians have at their disposal a rich heritage of communal healing techniques; some (such as the sweat lodge) have been adapted and incorporated into the treatment both of solvent abuse by adolescents, and alcohol abuse by adults. In Australia on the other hand, traditional healing techniques have been less amenable to adaptation. On neither continent are indigenous people attempting to adapt recent mainstream models of intervention to suit their needs (such as Brief Intervention) which is currently receiving international attention in addictions research and treatment.

Some preliminary considerations on the sobada: A traditional treatment for gastrointestinal illness in Costa Rica

Although Costa Rica has one of the most effective national health systems in Latin America, popular medicine still persists. The sobada is a traditional healing technique which involves rubbing. Used principally to treat pega, a folk-diagnosed gastrointestinal condition which mainly affects children and old people, it was used by 70% of a random sample of families from the poorer barrios of San José. In recent years Costa Rica's health system has been under great strain because of increased costs and numbers of users. The prevalence and possible resurgence of the sobada may be an adoption of poor people to national health services which have grown suddenly very large and impersonal and to the recent introduction of oral rehydration in hospital settings.