Traditional Treatments of Some Incurable Diseases
by Lalit Tiwari & D.P. Agrawal
Diseases are the bane of humankind ever since its advent on this planet. Humans
have been battling a variety of diseases since prehistoric periods. Eventually
man developed an indigenous pattern of medicines, which tried to resist the
effects of the diseases. This indigenous pattern of medicine is specially characterized
by the impact of cultural traditions and experience of human and animal bodies
in relation to their surroundings.
Generally, the rural people believe that diseases are caused by supernatural
powers and they treat them through natural products like plants, herbs, trees,
and soils. Indigenous systems of medicine are specially conditioned by cultural
heritage and myths. In the Central Himalayan region, large sections of the
population still depend on these local medicines.
History of Indigenous Medicines
Primitive human societies have been depending on plants and plant products
for various remedies. In certain areas these folk medical prescriptions are
endemic and have survived through ages from one generation to the next through
the word of mouth. They do not exist as written texts. Generally, these systems
of medicines depend on the experience of the elderly. The person prescribing
these medicines has no so-called scientific knowledge about the disease. For
example, they may use a mixture of leaves in their treatment, but they are unaware
of which specific leaves have the disease fighting properties.
Healthcare and Indigenous Pattern of Medicines
Central Himalayan Traditional Medicine System has cures for many allopathically
incurable diseases such as cancer, leucoderma, snakebite, diabetes, rheumatism,
and asthma. They also includes methods for family planning. They use plant
decoctions, metals, soil-minerals, as well as diagnosis and tantra-mantra.
Diabetes: Diabetes is a disease of metabolism due to a deficiency of
insulin. It is a form of imbalance of the endocrine glands. The body’s nutrition
is affected because the sugars and starches in the body are not adequately utilized
by the tissues.
1. The wood of Pterocarpus marsupium plant is placed in the water for
overnight. The next day this water soaked wood is applied on diabetic patient
(Shah and Joshi, 1971)
2. The root paste of Ficus bengalensis plant is mixed with salt (NaCl)
and filtered. This paste is given twice a day, in the morning and at night
3. One teaspoon of seed powder of Azadirachta indica is given with water
twice a day for three months (Singh and Ali,1998)
4. The leaf juice of Cissampelos pareira is mixed with seeds of Plantago
ovata (isabgol) and juice of Cynodon dactylon (dub). This juice paste
is given once a day for three months (Singh and Ali,1998)
5. Two grams of stem paste of Tinospora cordifolia are given once a
day for three months (Singh and Ali,1998)
6. The mixture of 40 grams of seed of Syzygium cumini (jamun), 30 grams
of Gymnema sylvestre (gudmar), 3 grams of turmeric and 50 grams of fruit
of Terminalia bellerica (bahera) are given thrice a day for 15 days (Singh
and Ali, 1998)
Lucoderma: Lucoderma are white patches that occur at any part of the
body. It is not infections. No specific treatments are available in allopathic
1. Bark and leaf paste of Holoptelea integrifolia plant are applied
externally on the white patches (Maheswari and Sing, 1990)
2. The mixture of Withanina somnifera root, bark of Embelia ribes
(vaibidang), leaves of Plumbago zeylanica (chitrak), seeds of Croton
tiglium (jamalgota), and fruit pulp of Cassia fistula (amaltas) with
cow's urine are applied on white patches for 2-3 months (Singh and Ali, 1998)
Snake bite: Traditional medicine systems have many cures for the snakebite.
Traditionally, healers have lots of therapies (tantrik, etc.) and medicines
which cure the late infection of snakes poison but in modern system of medicines
it is a very difficult task.
1. 5 ml juice of the bulb of Drimia indica's plant bulb are given orally
alternatively with powder of the seed of Strychnos nux-vomica (kuchla)
to induce vomiting as a way to expel the poison (Singh and Ali, 1998)
2. Juice of Oroxylum indicum is given every 30 minutes until the patient
regains consciousness (Singh and Ali, 1998)
3. Fruits of Sapindus mukorossi plants are ground and powdered and given
at the rate of 5-10 gm at frequent intervals until the patient regains consciousness
(Singh and Ali, 1998)
4. Seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica are ground and given with water to
the patient frequently (Singh and Ali, 1998)
These are some Himalayan indigenous medicines, which cure diabetes, leucoderma
and snakebites. Please don't use these medicines without consulting a herbal