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←Created page with '{{short description|Formalized folk medicine}} 250px|thumb|Traditional medicine in a market in [[Antananarivo, Madagas...'
{{short description|Formalized folk medicine}}
[[File:Market Pharmacy Tana MS5179.jpg|250px|thumb|Traditional medicine in a market in [[Antananarivo]], [[Madagascar]]]]
[[File:Botanica.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[Botánica]]s such as this one in [[Jamaica Plain]], [[Boston]], cater to the [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Latino]] community and sell folk medicine alongside statues of [[saint]]s, [[candle]]s decorated with [[prayer]]s, [[lucky bamboo]], and other items.]]
{{Alternative medicine sidebar |traditional}}
'''Traditional medicine''' (also known as '''[[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]]''' or '''folk medicine''') comprises medical aspects of [[traditional knowledge]] that developed over generations within the [[folk belief]]s of various societies before the era of modern [[medicine]]. The [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) defines traditional medicine as "the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness".<ref name="WHO">{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/medicines/areas/traditional/definitions/en/|title=Traditional Medicine: Definitions|date=2008-12-01|access-date=2014-04-20|publisher=[[World Health Organization]]}}</ref> Traditional medicine is often contrasted with [[Evidence-based medicine|scientific medicine]].
In some [[Asia]]n and [[Africa]]n countries, up to 80% of the population relies on traditional medicine for their [[primary health care]] needs. When adopted outside its traditional culture, traditional medicine is often considered a form of [[alternative medicine]].<ref name = WHO/> Practices known as traditional medicines include [[Medieval medicine of Western Europe|traditional European medicine]], [[traditional Chinese medicine]], [[traditional Korean medicine]], [[traditional African medicine]], [[Ayurveda]], [[Siddha medicine]], [[Unani]], [[ancient Iranian medicine]], [[traditional Iranian medicine]], [[Medicine in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic medicine]], [[Muti]], and [[Ifá]]. Scientific disciplines that study traditional medicine include [[herbalism]], [[ethnomedicine]], [[ethnobotany]], and [[medical anthropology]].
The WHO notes, however, that "inappropriate use of traditional medicines or practices can have negative or dangerous effects" and that "[[further research is needed]] to ascertain the efficacy and safety" of such practices and [[medicinal plants]] used by traditional medicine systems.<ref name = WHO/> As a result, the WHO has implemented a nine-year strategy to "support Member States in developing proactive policies and implementing action plans that will strengthen the role traditional medicine plays in keeping populations healthy."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/medicines/publications/traditional/trm_strategy14_23/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113165644/http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/traditional/trm_strategy14_23/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 13, 2014|title=WHO traditional medicine strategy: 2014-2023|date=December 2013|website=The World Health Organization}}</ref>
==Usage and history==
=== Classical history ===
{{further|Medicine in ancient Greece|Medicine in ancient Rome}}
In the written record, the study of herbs dates back 5,000 years to the ancient [[Sumer]]ians, who described well-established medicinal uses for plants. In [[Ancient Egyptian medicine]], the [[Ebers papyrus]] from c. 1552 BC records a list of folk remedies and magical medical practices.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ebers' Papyrus|url=http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/443.html|access-date=28 December 2014}}</ref> The [[Old Testament]] also mentions herb use and cultivation in regards to [[Kashrut]].
Many herbs and minerals used in [[Ayurveda]] were described by ancient Indian herbalists such as [[Charaka]] and [[Sushruta]] during the 1st millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Girish Dwivedi|first=Shridhar Dwivedi|year=2007|title=History of Medicine: Sushruta – the Clinician – Teacher par Excellence|publisher=[[National Informatics Centre]]|url=http://medind.nic.in/iae/t07/i4/iaet07i4p243.pdf|access-date=2008-10-08|archive-date=2008-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010045900/http://medind.nic.in/iae/t07/i4/iaet07i4p243.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The first [[Chinese herbology|Chinese herbal]] book was the ''[[Shennong|Shennong Bencao Jing]]'', compiled during the [[Han Dynasty]] but dating back to a much earlier date, which was later augmented as the ''[[Yaoxing Lun]]'' (''Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs'') during the [[Tang Dynasty]]. Early recognised Greek compilers of existing and current herbal knowledge include [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagoras and his followers]], [[Hippocrates]], [[Aristotle]], [[Theophrastus]], [[Dioscorides]] and [[Galen]].
Roman sources included [[Pliny the Elder]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' and [[Aulus Cornelius Celsus|Celsus]]'s ''[[De Medicina]]''.<ref name="Kay1996">{{cite book|last=Kay|first=MA|year=1996|title=Healing with plants in the American and Mexican West|isbn=978-0-8165-1646-9|publisher=[[University of Arizona Press]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780186516465/page/19 19–20]|location=Tucson|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780186516465/page/19}}</ref> [[Pedanius Dioscorides]] drew on and corrected earlier authors for his ''[[De Materia Medica]]'', adding much new material; the work was translated into several languages, and [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] names were added to it over the centuries.<ref name="Blunt1994">{{cite book |author1=Raphael, Sandra |author2=Blunt, Wilfrid |title=The Illustrated herbal|publisher=Frances Lincoln|location=London|year=1994|isbn=978-0-7112-0914-5}}</ref> Latin manuscripts of ''De Materia Medica'' were combined with a Latin herbal by [[Pseudo-Apuleius|Apuleius Platonicus]] (''Herbarium Apuleii Platonici'') and were incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon [[codex]] ''Cotton Vitellius C.III''. These early Greek and Roman compilations became the backbone of European medical theory and were translated by the Persian [[Avicenna]] (Ibn Sīnā, 980–1037), the Persian [[Rhazes]] (Rāzi, 865–925) and the Jewish [[Maimonides]].<ref name = Kay1996/>
Some [[fossil]]s have been used in traditional medicine since antiquity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van der Geer |first1=Alexandra |last2=Dermitzakis |first2=Michael |date=2010 |title=Fossils in pharmacy: from "snake eggs" to "Saint's bones"; an overview |url=http://www.hellenjgeosci.geol.uoa.gr/45/van%20der%20Geer%20&%20Dermitzakis.pdf |journal=[[Hellenic Journal of Geosciences]] |volume=45 |pages=323–332 }}</ref>
===Medieval and later===
{{further|Medicine in medieval Islam|Medieval medicine of Western Europe}}
Arabic indigenous medicine developed from the conflict between the magic-based medicine of the [[Bedouin]]s and the Arabic translations of the Hellenic and [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] medical traditions.<ref>{{cite book |author=Slikkerveer, L. J.|title=Plural medical systems in the Horn of Africa: the legacy of "Sheikh" Hippocrates|publisher=Kegan Paul International|location=London|year=1990|isbn=978-0-7103-0203-8}}</ref> Spanish medicine was influenced by the Arabs from 711 to 1492.<ref>{{cite book |last1=García Sánchez|first1=E|last2=Carabaza Bravo|first2=JM|last3=Hernández Bermejo|first3=JE|last4=Ramírez|first4=AJ|year=1990|isbn=978-84-00-07727-3|editor=e Morales Ruiz Matas CA|title=Ciencias de la naturaleza en Al-Andalus : textos y estudios|language=es|chapter=Árboles y arbustos en los textos agrícolas andalusíes (I)|publisher=[[Spanish National Research Council|Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas]]}}</ref> Islamic physicians and [[Muslim Agricultural Revolution|Muslim botanists]] such as [[al-Dinawari]]<ref name="Fahd-815">{{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Fahd|first1=Toufic|title=Botany and agriculture|page=815|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]]|editor1-last=Rashed|editor1-first=Roshdi|editor2-last=Morelon|editor2-first=Régis|date=1996|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-02063-3}}<!--specific page 815, whole section 813–52--></ref> and [[Ibn al-Baitar]]<ref name="Diane">Diane Boulanger (2002), "The Islamic Contribution to Science, Mathematics and Technology", ''OISE Papers'', in ''STSE Education'', Vol. 3.</ref> significantly expanded on the earlier knowledge of materia medica. The most famous Persian medical treatise was Avicenna's ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'', which was an early [[pharmacopoeia]] and introduced [[clinical trial]]s.<ref name="Tschanz">{{cite journal | author = Tschanz David W | year = 2003 | title = Arab Roots of European Medicine | journal = Heart Views | volume = 4 | page = 2 }}</ref><ref name="Eldredge">{{cite journal | author = Eldredge Jonathan D | year = 2003 | title = The Randomised Controlled Trial design: unrecognized opportunities for health sciences librarianship | journal = Health Information and Libraries Journal | volume = 20 | pages = 34–44 [36] | doi=10.1046/j.1365-2532.20.s1.7.x| pmid = 12757434 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Bloom">{{cite journal | author = Bloom Bernard S., Retbi Aurelia, Dahan Sandrine, Jonsson Egon | year = 2000 | title = Evaluation Of Randomized Controlled Trials On Complementary And Alternative Medicine | journal = International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care | volume = 16 | issue = 1| pages = 13–21 [19] | doi=10.1017/s0266462300016123| pmid = 10815350 | s2cid = 30959480 }}</ref> The ''Canon'' was [[Latin translations of the 12th century|translated into Latin]] in the 12th century and remained a medical authority in Europe until the 17th century. The [[Unani]] system of traditional medicine is also based on the ''Canon''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heller |first1=M. |last2=Edelstein |first2=P. |last3=Mayer |first3=M. |title=Traditional medicine in Asia |year=2001 |publisher=World Health Organization |isbn=9789290222248 |page=31 |url=http://origin.searo.who.int/entity/medicines/documents/traditional_medicines_in_asia.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731165632/http://origin.searo.who.int/entity/medicines/documents/traditional_medicines_in_asia.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |access-date=24 April 2020 }}</ref>
Translations of the early Roman-Greek compilations were made into German by [[Hieronymus Bock]] whose herbal, published in 1546, was called ''Kreuter Buch''. The book was translated into [[Dutch language|Dutch]] as ''Pemptades'' by [[Rembert Dodoens]] (1517–1585), and from Dutch into [[English language|English]] by [[Carolus Clusius]], (1526–1609), published by [[Henry Lyte (botanist)|Henry Lyte]] in 1578 as ''A Nievve Herball''. <!--many other similar herbals, all based on Dioscorides, should be discussed here--> This became [[John Gerard]]'s (1545–1612) ''Herball or General Historie of Plantes''.<ref name = Kay1996/><ref name = Blunt1994/> Each new work was a compilation of existing texts with new additions.
Women's folk knowledge existed in undocumented parallel with these texts.<ref name = Kay1996/> Forty-four drugs, diluents, flavouring agents and [[emollient]]s mentioned by Dioscorides are still listed in the official pharmacopoeias of Europe.<ref name = Blunt1994/> The [[Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony)|Puritans]] took Gerard's work to the [[United States]] where it influenced American Indigenous medicine.<ref name = Kay1996/>
[[Francisco Hernández de Toledo|Francisco Hernández]], physician to [[Philip II of Spain]] spent the years 1571–1577 gathering information in [[Mexico]] and then wrote ''Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus'', many versions of which have been published including one by [[Francisco Ximénez]]. Both Hernandez and Ximenez fitted [[Aztec]] ethnomedicinal information into the European concepts of disease such as "warm", "cold", and "moist", but it is not clear that the Aztecs used these categories.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ortiz de Montellano|first=B|title=Empirical Aztec medicine|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|year=1975|volume=188|pages=215–20|pmid=1090996|issue=4185|doi=10.1126/science.1090996}}</ref> [[Juan de Esteyneffer]]'s ''Florilegio medicinal de todas las enfermedas'' compiled European texts and added 35 Mexican plants.
Martín de la Cruz wrote an herbal in [[Nahuatl]] which was translated into [[Latin]] by [[Juan Badiano]] as ''[[Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis]]'' or ''Codex Barberini, Latin 241'' and given to King [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Carlos V]] of Spain in 1552.<ref name="Heinrich2005">{{cite book |last1=Heinrich|first1=M|last2=Pieroni|first2=A|last3=Bremner|first3=P|year=2005|chapter=Plants as medicines|editor1=Prance G |editor2=Nesbitt M|isbn=978-0-415-92746-8|title=The Cultural history of plants|publisher=[[Routledge]]|pages=205–238}}</ref> It was apparently written in haste<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antiguo/libellus-de-medicinalibus-indorum-herbis-librito-de-las-yerbas-medicinales-de-los|title=Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis (Librito de las yerbas medicinales de los indios) o Códice Badiano|last=Lozoya|first=Xavier|date=2016|website=Arqueología Mexicana}}</ref> and influenced by the European occupation of the previous 30 years. Fray [[Bernardino de Sahagún]]'s used [[ethnographic]] methods to compile his codices that then became the ''Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'', published in 1793.<ref name = Heinrich2005/> Castore Durante published his ''Herbario Nuovo'' in 1585 describing medicinal plants from Europe and the East and [[West Indies]]. It was translated into German in 1609 and Italian editions were published for the next century.
===Colonial America===
In 17th and 18th-century America, traditional folk healers, frequently women, used herbal remedies, [[Cupping therapy|cupping]] and [[Leeching (medical)|leeching]].<ref>Rosalyn Fraad Baxandall, Linda Gordon, Susan Reverb, America's Working Women: A Documentary History, 1600 to the Present, W. W. Norton & Company, 1995, p. 50</ref> [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] traditional herbal medicine introduced cures for malaria, dysentery, scurvy, non-venereal syphilis, and goiter problems.<ref>Madsen, Deborah L. The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature, Routledge, 2015</ref> Many of these herbal and folk remedies continued on through the 19th and into the 20th century,<ref>Swerdlow JL. Medicine Changes: late 19th to early 20th century. Nature's Medicine: Plants that Heal. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society; 2000. pp. 158–91.</ref> with some plant medicines forming the basis for modern pharmacology.<ref>Eugenia M. Fulcher, Robert M. Fulcher, Cathy Dubeansky, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=qs_sAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Pharmacology: Principles and Applications']', Soto Elsevier Health Sciences, 2014, p. 5 ''</ref>
===Modern usage===
The prevalence of folk medicine in certain areas of the world varies according to cultural norms.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/1467-9566.ep11340307 | volume=13 | title=The 'eclipse' of folk medicine in western society. | year=1991 | journal=Sociology of Health and Illness | pages=20–38 | author=Bakx Keith| doi-access=free }}</ref> Some modern medicine is based on plant [[phytochemical]]s that had been used in folk medicine.<ref>[http://myais.fsktm.um.edu.my/2092/ Gilani, A.H., (2005) Role of Medicinal Plants in Modern Medicine. Malaysian Journal of Science, 24 (1). pp. 1-5."] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120805042151/http://myais.fsktm.um.edu.my/2092/ |date=2012-08-05 }} {{ISSN|1394-3065}}</ref> Researchers state that many of the alternative treatments are "statistically indistinguishable from [[Placebo|placebo treatments]]".<ref>''[[The Economist]]'', "[https://www.economist.com/node/18710090 Alternative Medicine: Think yourself better]", 21 May 2011, pp. 83–84.</ref>
== Knowledge transmission and creation ==
Indigenous medicine is generally transmitted [[Oral tradition|orally]] through a community, family and individuals until "collected". Within a given culture, elements of indigenous medicine knowledge may be diffusely known by many, or may be gathered and applied by those in a specific role of healer such as a [[Shamanism|shaman]] or [[Midwifery|midwife]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Acharya|first=D|author2=Anshu S|year=2008|title=Indigenous Herbal Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices|publisher=Aavishkar Publishers|location=[[Jaipur]]|isbn=978-81-7910-252-7}}</ref> Three factors legitimize the role of the healer – their own beliefs, the success of their actions and the beliefs of the community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(00)91989-5.pdf|title=ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: NIGERIA The role of traditional medicine|last=Maurice Mwu, Eric Gbodossou|date=December 2000|website=The Lancet}}</ref> When the claims of indigenous medicine become rejected by a culture, generally three types of adherents still use it – those born and socialized in it who become permanent believers, temporary believers who turn to it in crisis times, and those who only believe in specific aspects, not in all of it.<ref>{{cite book|author=Laguerre, Michel S.|title=Afro-Caribbean folk medicine|publisher=Bergin & Garvey|location=New York|year=1987|isbn=978-0-89789-113-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/afrocaribbeanfol0000lagu}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=August 2008}}
== Definition and terminology ==
Traditional medicine may sometimes be considered as distinct from folk medicine, and the considered to include formalized aspects of folk medicine. Under this definition folk medicine are longstanding remedies passed on and practiced by lay people. Folk medicine consists of the [[healing]] practices and ideas of body [[physiology]] and [[health]] preservation known to some in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture having prior experience.<ref>Acharya, Deepak and Shrivastava Anshu (2008): Indigenous Herbal Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices, Aavishkar Publishers Distributor, Jaipur- India. {{ISBN|978-81-7910-252-7}}. pp 440.</ref>
=== Folk medicine ===
[[File:Curandera performing a limpieza.jpg|thumb|[[Curandera]] performing a ''limpieza'' in Cuenca, Ecuador]]
Many countries have practices described as folk medicine which may coexist with formalized, science-based, and institutionalized systems of medical practice represented by conventional [[medicine]].<ref name="who2018">{{cite web|title=Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine|url=https://www.who.int/traditional-complementary-integrative-medicine/about/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014235826/http://www.who.int/traditional-complementary-integrative-medicine/about/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 14, 2017|publisher=World Health Organization|access-date=7 May 2018|date=2018}}</ref> Examples of folk medicine traditions are [[traditional Chinese medicine]], [[Iranian traditional medicine]], [[traditional Korean medicine]], [[Medicine in medieval Islam|Arabic indigenous medicine]], [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]] traditional medicine, Japanese [[Kampō]] medicine, traditional Aboriginal bush medicine, [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] [[Lāʻau lapaʻau]], and [[Georgian folk medicine]], among others.<ref name="who2013">{{cite web|title=WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023|url=http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/92455/9789241506090_eng.pdf?sequence=1|publisher=World Health Organization|access-date=7 May 2018|date=2013}}</ref>
====Australian bush medicine====
{{main|Bush medicine}}
Generally, bush medicine used by [[Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people]] in [[Australia]] is made from plant materials, such as bark, leaves and seeds, although animal products may be used as well.<ref name="aao">{{cite web |url=http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/culture/medicine.php |title=Traditional Aboriginal Bush Medicine |publisher=Aboriginal Art Online |access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref> A major component of traditional medicine is [[herbal medicine]], which is the use of natural plant substances to treat or prevent illness.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Select Your Library - Credo Reference|url = http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/columency/herbal_medicine/0|website = search.credoreference.com|access-date = 2015-04-17}}</ref>
==== Native American medicine ====
{{Expand section|date=April 2020}}
American Native and [[Traditional Alaska Native medicine|Alaska Native medicine]] are traditional forms of healing that have been around for thousands of years. There are many [[Native American ethnobotany|ethnobotany]] plants involved in traditional medicine for Native Americans and some are still used today. When it comes to Native American traditional medicine, the ideas surrounding health and illness within the culture are virtually inseparable from the ideas of religion and spirituality.<ref name=":12" /> Healers within indigenous communities go by many names ranging from medicine man or woman to herbalist or even shaman and are considered spiritual or religious leaders within their respective tribes.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Johnston |first=Susan L. |date=2002 |title=Native American Traditional and Alternative Medicine |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000271620258300113 |journal=The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |language=en |volume=583 |issue=1 |pages=195–213 |doi=10.1177/000271620258300113 |issn=0002-7162}}</ref> When it comes to healing, tribal healers would look at a plant's characteristics to determine its efficacy for the treatment of an illness.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Shally-Jensen |first=Michael |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1086616314 |title=Alternative healing in American history : an encyclopedia from acupuncture to yoga |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-4408-6033-1 |location=Santa Barbara, California |oclc=1086616314}}</ref> Specific plant characteristics such as plant shape, smell, color, and taste could aid in determining how the plant could be used as a remedy. <ref name=":02" /> The Meskwaki tribe found they could use the juice from ''[[Arum maculatum]]'' for snakebites.<ref name=":02" /> This was inferred from the milky appearance of the juice from the plant which is said to resemble snake venom, and the plant's shape resembled the head of a snake.<ref name=":02" /> Native Americans used [[foxglove]] herb as a treatment for an illness they referred to as dropsy or edema, which is fluid buildup typically in the lower legs, and its common cause is heart failure.<ref name=":02" /> In modern medicine, foxglove extract is still used under the name digitalis, and its purpose is to moderate the heart rate.<ref name=":02" /> Native Americans were successful with some medical practices, such as treating fevers, gastrointestinal conditions, skin rashes, setting bones, as well as birthing babies, and aiding mothers in healing.<ref name=":02" /> A study conducted within an [[Indian Health Service|IHS]] hospital that allows Navajo healers to visit patients found that the hospital had an 80 percent success rate in getting comatose patients back to consciousness, which is higher than the rate of present-day biomedical management hospitals.<ref name=":12" /> The tribe Anthemideae used the plant family ''[[Asteraceae]]'' for orthopedic aids and pulmonary aids, specifically the plant's ''Achillea'' and ''Artemisia''.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Kachura |first=Alexandra |last2=Harris |first2=Cory S. |date=2021-08-27 |title=An ethnobotanical meta-analysis of North American medicinal Asteraceae1 |url=https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjb-2021-0079 |journal=Botany |language=en |doi=10.1139/cjb-2021-0079}}</ref> A study conducted amongst 14 different tribes within North America found that ''Asteraceae'' was the most widely used plant family for its medicinal properties.<ref name=":22" />
==== Nattuvaidyam ====
Nattuvaidyam was a set of indigenous medical practices that existed in India before the advent of allopathic or western medicine.<ref>{{Cite web|last=K P|first=Girija|date=2016|title=Sites of knowledge situating select indigenous knowledge systems and modern education|url=http://hdl.handle.net/10603/148255|access-date=7 April 2021|website=Shodhganga : a reservoir of Indian theses @ INFLIBNET|hdl=10603/148255}}</ref> These practices had different sets of principles and ideas of the body, health and disease. There were overlaps and borrowing of ideas, medicinal compounds used and techniques within these practices.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Wujastyk|first1=Dagmar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3XBu-vpXgoC|title=Modern and Global Ayurveda: Pluralism and Paradigms|last2=Smith|first2=Frederick M.|publisher=SUNY Press|date=9 September 2013|pages=1–8|isbn=9780791478165}}</ref> Some of these practices had written texts in vernacular languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, etc. while others were handed down orally through various mnemonic devices. Ayurveda was one kind of nattuvaidyam practised in south India.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=K P|first=Girija|date=2016|title=Refiguring of Ayurveda as Classical Tradition|journal=Pragmata: Journal of Human Sciences|volume=3|pages=43–62}}</ref> The others were kalarichikitsa (related to bone setting and musculature),<ref>{{Cite news|last=TNN|date=22 Jul 2019|title=Those availing kalari marma chikitsa on the rise|work=The Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/those-availing-kalari-marma-chikitsa-on-the-rise/articleshow/70321567.cms|access-date=9 April 2021}}</ref> marmachikitsa (vital spot massaging), ottamoolivaidyam (single dose medicine or single time medication),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Correspondent|date=5 June 2016|title=Ottamooli (single ingredient) cure for lifestyle diseases...|url=https://www.onmanorama.com/lifestyle/health/ottamooli-single-ingredient-cure-for-lifestyle-diseases.html|access-date=9 April 2021|website=Onmanorama}}</ref> chintamanivaidyam and so on. When the medical system was revamped in twentieth century India, many of the practices and techniques specific to some of these diverse nattuvaidyam were included in Ayurveda.
===Home remedies===
A '''home remedy''' (sometimes also referred to as a '''granny cure''') is a treatment to cure a [[disease]] or ailment that employs certain spices, [[herbs]], vegetables, or other common items. Home remedies may or may not have [[medicinal properties]] that treat or cure the disease or ailment in question, as they are typically passed along by laypersons (which has been facilitated in recent years by the [[Internet]]). Many are merely used as a result of [[tradition]] or [[Habituation|habit]] or because they are effective in inducing the [[placebo effect]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/placebo-effect-a-cure-in-the-mind/|title=Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind|work=Scientific American|date=February–March 2009}}</ref>
One of the more popular examples of a home remedy is the use of [[chicken soup]] to treat [[Respiratory system|respiratory]] [[infection]]s such as a cold or mild [[flu]]. Other examples of home remedies include [[duct tape]] to help with setting broken bones; duct tape or superglue to treat [[plantar wart]]s; and [[Kogel mogel]] to treat sore throat. In earlier times, mothers were entrusted with all but serious remedies. Historic [[cookbook]]s are frequently full of remedies for [[dyspepsia]], fevers, and female complaints.<ref>[[Catherine Beecher|Catherine Esther Beecher]] [https://archive.org/details/missbeechershou00beecgoog/page/n341 <!-- pg=15 quote=Recipes date:0-1920. --> Mrs. Beecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper] 1874. Retrieved on 2007-11-05.</ref> Components of the [[aloe vera]] plant are used to treat skin disorders.<ref>{{cite journal|pmc=4506744|year=2015|last1=Sidgwick|first1=G. P|title=A comprehensive evidence-based review on the role of topicals and dressings in the management of skin scarring|journal=Archives of Dermatological Research|volume=307|issue=6|pages=461–477|last2=McGeorge|first2=D|last3=Bayat|first3=A|doi=10.1007/s00403-015-1572-0|pmid=26044054}}</ref> Many European [[List of liqueurs|liqueurs]] or [[Apéritif and digestif|digestifs]] were originally sold as medicinal remedies. In Chinese folk medicine, medicinal [[congee]]s (long-cooked rice soups with herbs), foods, and soups are part of treatment practices.<ref>''Prince Wen Hui's Cook'' Bob Flaws and Honora Wolf 1985</ref>
==Criticism==
===Safety concerns===
Although 130 countries have regulations on folk medicines, there are risks associated with the use of them (i.e. [[zoonosis]], mainly as some traditional medicines still use animal-based substances<ref>[https://www.ifpri.org/blog/africas-growing-risk-diseases-spread-animals-people Africa’s growing risk of diseases that spread from animals to people]</ref><ref>[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12801499/ Use of animal products in traditional Chinese medicine: environmental impact and health hazards]</ref>). It is often assumed that because supposed medicines are natural that they are safe, but numerous precautions are associated with using herbal remedies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js7916e/2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524072333/http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js7916e/2.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 24, 2009|title=National Policy on Traditional Medicine and Regulation of Herbal Medicines - Report of a WHO Global Survey|publisher=World Health Organization|date=April 2016}}</ref>
===Use of endangered species===
[[File:Slow_loris_-_dried_01.JPG|right|thumb|Sometimes traditional medicines include parts of endangered species, such as the [[slow loris]] in Southeast Asia.]]
Endangered animals, such as the [[slow loris]], are sometimes killed to make traditional medicines.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Starr | first1 = C. | last2 = Nekaris | first2 = K. A. I. | last3 = Streicher | first3 = U. | last4 = Leung | first4 = L. K. -P. | title = Field surveys of the Vulnerable pygmy slow loris ''Nycticebus pygmaeus'' using local knowledge in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia | doi = 10.1017/S0030605310001316 | journal = Oryx | volume = 45| issue = 1| pages = 135–142| year = 2011 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
[[Shark]] [[fin]]s have also been used in traditional medicine, and although their effectiveness has not been proven, it is hurting shark populations and their ecosystem.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/24/traditional.treatment/index.html|title=Traditional medicines continue to thrive globally - CNN.com|website=www.cnn.com|access-date=2016-04-25}}</ref>
The illegal [[ivory trade]] can partially be traced back to buyers of [[traditional Chinese medicine]]. Demand for ivory is a huge factor in the poaching of endangered species such as rhinos and elephants.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gao |first1=Yufang |last2=Clark |first2=Susan G. |title=Elephant ivory trade in China: Trends and drivers |journal=Biological Conservation |date=1 December 2014 |volume=180 |pages=23–30 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2014.09.020 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320714003371 |issn=0006-3207}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Ayurveda]]
* [[Bioprospecting]]
* [[Folk healer]]
* [[Herbal medicine]]
* [[Medicinal plants]]
* [[Native American ethnobotany]]
* [[Old wives' tale]]
* [[Pharmacognosy]]
* [[Traditional African medicine]]
* [[Traditional Chinese medicine]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Wiktionary|traditional medicine|folk medicine|indigenous medicine}}
*{{commons category-inline|Traditional medicine|lcfirst=yes}}
{{Traditional Medicine}}
{{Medicine}}
{{Indigenous rights footer}}
{{Indigenous peoples by continent}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Traditional medicine| ]]
[[Category:Concepts in alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Medical anthropology|*]]
[[File:Market Pharmacy Tana MS5179.jpg|250px|thumb|Traditional medicine in a market in [[Antananarivo]], [[Madagascar]]]]
[[File:Botanica.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[Botánica]]s such as this one in [[Jamaica Plain]], [[Boston]], cater to the [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Latino]] community and sell folk medicine alongside statues of [[saint]]s, [[candle]]s decorated with [[prayer]]s, [[lucky bamboo]], and other items.]]
{{Alternative medicine sidebar |traditional}}
'''Traditional medicine''' (also known as '''[[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]]''' or '''folk medicine''') comprises medical aspects of [[traditional knowledge]] that developed over generations within the [[folk belief]]s of various societies before the era of modern [[medicine]]. The [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) defines traditional medicine as "the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness".<ref name="WHO">{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/medicines/areas/traditional/definitions/en/|title=Traditional Medicine: Definitions|date=2008-12-01|access-date=2014-04-20|publisher=[[World Health Organization]]}}</ref> Traditional medicine is often contrasted with [[Evidence-based medicine|scientific medicine]].
In some [[Asia]]n and [[Africa]]n countries, up to 80% of the population relies on traditional medicine for their [[primary health care]] needs. When adopted outside its traditional culture, traditional medicine is often considered a form of [[alternative medicine]].<ref name = WHO/> Practices known as traditional medicines include [[Medieval medicine of Western Europe|traditional European medicine]], [[traditional Chinese medicine]], [[traditional Korean medicine]], [[traditional African medicine]], [[Ayurveda]], [[Siddha medicine]], [[Unani]], [[ancient Iranian medicine]], [[traditional Iranian medicine]], [[Medicine in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic medicine]], [[Muti]], and [[Ifá]]. Scientific disciplines that study traditional medicine include [[herbalism]], [[ethnomedicine]], [[ethnobotany]], and [[medical anthropology]].
The WHO notes, however, that "inappropriate use of traditional medicines or practices can have negative or dangerous effects" and that "[[further research is needed]] to ascertain the efficacy and safety" of such practices and [[medicinal plants]] used by traditional medicine systems.<ref name = WHO/> As a result, the WHO has implemented a nine-year strategy to "support Member States in developing proactive policies and implementing action plans that will strengthen the role traditional medicine plays in keeping populations healthy."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/medicines/publications/traditional/trm_strategy14_23/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113165644/http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/traditional/trm_strategy14_23/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 13, 2014|title=WHO traditional medicine strategy: 2014-2023|date=December 2013|website=The World Health Organization}}</ref>
==Usage and history==
=== Classical history ===
{{further|Medicine in ancient Greece|Medicine in ancient Rome}}
In the written record, the study of herbs dates back 5,000 years to the ancient [[Sumer]]ians, who described well-established medicinal uses for plants. In [[Ancient Egyptian medicine]], the [[Ebers papyrus]] from c. 1552 BC records a list of folk remedies and magical medical practices.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ebers' Papyrus|url=http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/443.html|access-date=28 December 2014}}</ref> The [[Old Testament]] also mentions herb use and cultivation in regards to [[Kashrut]].
Many herbs and minerals used in [[Ayurveda]] were described by ancient Indian herbalists such as [[Charaka]] and [[Sushruta]] during the 1st millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Girish Dwivedi|first=Shridhar Dwivedi|year=2007|title=History of Medicine: Sushruta – the Clinician – Teacher par Excellence|publisher=[[National Informatics Centre]]|url=http://medind.nic.in/iae/t07/i4/iaet07i4p243.pdf|access-date=2008-10-08|archive-date=2008-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010045900/http://medind.nic.in/iae/t07/i4/iaet07i4p243.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The first [[Chinese herbology|Chinese herbal]] book was the ''[[Shennong|Shennong Bencao Jing]]'', compiled during the [[Han Dynasty]] but dating back to a much earlier date, which was later augmented as the ''[[Yaoxing Lun]]'' (''Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs'') during the [[Tang Dynasty]]. Early recognised Greek compilers of existing and current herbal knowledge include [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagoras and his followers]], [[Hippocrates]], [[Aristotle]], [[Theophrastus]], [[Dioscorides]] and [[Galen]].
Roman sources included [[Pliny the Elder]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' and [[Aulus Cornelius Celsus|Celsus]]'s ''[[De Medicina]]''.<ref name="Kay1996">{{cite book|last=Kay|first=MA|year=1996|title=Healing with plants in the American and Mexican West|isbn=978-0-8165-1646-9|publisher=[[University of Arizona Press]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780186516465/page/19 19–20]|location=Tucson|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780186516465/page/19}}</ref> [[Pedanius Dioscorides]] drew on and corrected earlier authors for his ''[[De Materia Medica]]'', adding much new material; the work was translated into several languages, and [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] names were added to it over the centuries.<ref name="Blunt1994">{{cite book |author1=Raphael, Sandra |author2=Blunt, Wilfrid |title=The Illustrated herbal|publisher=Frances Lincoln|location=London|year=1994|isbn=978-0-7112-0914-5}}</ref> Latin manuscripts of ''De Materia Medica'' were combined with a Latin herbal by [[Pseudo-Apuleius|Apuleius Platonicus]] (''Herbarium Apuleii Platonici'') and were incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon [[codex]] ''Cotton Vitellius C.III''. These early Greek and Roman compilations became the backbone of European medical theory and were translated by the Persian [[Avicenna]] (Ibn Sīnā, 980–1037), the Persian [[Rhazes]] (Rāzi, 865–925) and the Jewish [[Maimonides]].<ref name = Kay1996/>
Some [[fossil]]s have been used in traditional medicine since antiquity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van der Geer |first1=Alexandra |last2=Dermitzakis |first2=Michael |date=2010 |title=Fossils in pharmacy: from "snake eggs" to "Saint's bones"; an overview |url=http://www.hellenjgeosci.geol.uoa.gr/45/van%20der%20Geer%20&%20Dermitzakis.pdf |journal=[[Hellenic Journal of Geosciences]] |volume=45 |pages=323–332 }}</ref>
===Medieval and later===
{{further|Medicine in medieval Islam|Medieval medicine of Western Europe}}
Arabic indigenous medicine developed from the conflict between the magic-based medicine of the [[Bedouin]]s and the Arabic translations of the Hellenic and [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] medical traditions.<ref>{{cite book |author=Slikkerveer, L. J.|title=Plural medical systems in the Horn of Africa: the legacy of "Sheikh" Hippocrates|publisher=Kegan Paul International|location=London|year=1990|isbn=978-0-7103-0203-8}}</ref> Spanish medicine was influenced by the Arabs from 711 to 1492.<ref>{{cite book |last1=García Sánchez|first1=E|last2=Carabaza Bravo|first2=JM|last3=Hernández Bermejo|first3=JE|last4=Ramírez|first4=AJ|year=1990|isbn=978-84-00-07727-3|editor=e Morales Ruiz Matas CA|title=Ciencias de la naturaleza en Al-Andalus : textos y estudios|language=es|chapter=Árboles y arbustos en los textos agrícolas andalusíes (I)|publisher=[[Spanish National Research Council|Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas]]}}</ref> Islamic physicians and [[Muslim Agricultural Revolution|Muslim botanists]] such as [[al-Dinawari]]<ref name="Fahd-815">{{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Fahd|first1=Toufic|title=Botany and agriculture|page=815|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]]|editor1-last=Rashed|editor1-first=Roshdi|editor2-last=Morelon|editor2-first=Régis|date=1996|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-02063-3}}<!--specific page 815, whole section 813–52--></ref> and [[Ibn al-Baitar]]<ref name="Diane">Diane Boulanger (2002), "The Islamic Contribution to Science, Mathematics and Technology", ''OISE Papers'', in ''STSE Education'', Vol. 3.</ref> significantly expanded on the earlier knowledge of materia medica. The most famous Persian medical treatise was Avicenna's ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'', which was an early [[pharmacopoeia]] and introduced [[clinical trial]]s.<ref name="Tschanz">{{cite journal | author = Tschanz David W | year = 2003 | title = Arab Roots of European Medicine | journal = Heart Views | volume = 4 | page = 2 }}</ref><ref name="Eldredge">{{cite journal | author = Eldredge Jonathan D | year = 2003 | title = The Randomised Controlled Trial design: unrecognized opportunities for health sciences librarianship | journal = Health Information and Libraries Journal | volume = 20 | pages = 34–44 [36] | doi=10.1046/j.1365-2532.20.s1.7.x| pmid = 12757434 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Bloom">{{cite journal | author = Bloom Bernard S., Retbi Aurelia, Dahan Sandrine, Jonsson Egon | year = 2000 | title = Evaluation Of Randomized Controlled Trials On Complementary And Alternative Medicine | journal = International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care | volume = 16 | issue = 1| pages = 13–21 [19] | doi=10.1017/s0266462300016123| pmid = 10815350 | s2cid = 30959480 }}</ref> The ''Canon'' was [[Latin translations of the 12th century|translated into Latin]] in the 12th century and remained a medical authority in Europe until the 17th century. The [[Unani]] system of traditional medicine is also based on the ''Canon''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heller |first1=M. |last2=Edelstein |first2=P. |last3=Mayer |first3=M. |title=Traditional medicine in Asia |year=2001 |publisher=World Health Organization |isbn=9789290222248 |page=31 |url=http://origin.searo.who.int/entity/medicines/documents/traditional_medicines_in_asia.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731165632/http://origin.searo.who.int/entity/medicines/documents/traditional_medicines_in_asia.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |access-date=24 April 2020 }}</ref>
Translations of the early Roman-Greek compilations were made into German by [[Hieronymus Bock]] whose herbal, published in 1546, was called ''Kreuter Buch''. The book was translated into [[Dutch language|Dutch]] as ''Pemptades'' by [[Rembert Dodoens]] (1517–1585), and from Dutch into [[English language|English]] by [[Carolus Clusius]], (1526–1609), published by [[Henry Lyte (botanist)|Henry Lyte]] in 1578 as ''A Nievve Herball''. <!--many other similar herbals, all based on Dioscorides, should be discussed here--> This became [[John Gerard]]'s (1545–1612) ''Herball or General Historie of Plantes''.<ref name = Kay1996/><ref name = Blunt1994/> Each new work was a compilation of existing texts with new additions.
Women's folk knowledge existed in undocumented parallel with these texts.<ref name = Kay1996/> Forty-four drugs, diluents, flavouring agents and [[emollient]]s mentioned by Dioscorides are still listed in the official pharmacopoeias of Europe.<ref name = Blunt1994/> The [[Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony)|Puritans]] took Gerard's work to the [[United States]] where it influenced American Indigenous medicine.<ref name = Kay1996/>
[[Francisco Hernández de Toledo|Francisco Hernández]], physician to [[Philip II of Spain]] spent the years 1571–1577 gathering information in [[Mexico]] and then wrote ''Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus'', many versions of which have been published including one by [[Francisco Ximénez]]. Both Hernandez and Ximenez fitted [[Aztec]] ethnomedicinal information into the European concepts of disease such as "warm", "cold", and "moist", but it is not clear that the Aztecs used these categories.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ortiz de Montellano|first=B|title=Empirical Aztec medicine|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|year=1975|volume=188|pages=215–20|pmid=1090996|issue=4185|doi=10.1126/science.1090996}}</ref> [[Juan de Esteyneffer]]'s ''Florilegio medicinal de todas las enfermedas'' compiled European texts and added 35 Mexican plants.
Martín de la Cruz wrote an herbal in [[Nahuatl]] which was translated into [[Latin]] by [[Juan Badiano]] as ''[[Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis]]'' or ''Codex Barberini, Latin 241'' and given to King [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Carlos V]] of Spain in 1552.<ref name="Heinrich2005">{{cite book |last1=Heinrich|first1=M|last2=Pieroni|first2=A|last3=Bremner|first3=P|year=2005|chapter=Plants as medicines|editor1=Prance G |editor2=Nesbitt M|isbn=978-0-415-92746-8|title=The Cultural history of plants|publisher=[[Routledge]]|pages=205–238}}</ref> It was apparently written in haste<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antiguo/libellus-de-medicinalibus-indorum-herbis-librito-de-las-yerbas-medicinales-de-los|title=Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis (Librito de las yerbas medicinales de los indios) o Códice Badiano|last=Lozoya|first=Xavier|date=2016|website=Arqueología Mexicana}}</ref> and influenced by the European occupation of the previous 30 years. Fray [[Bernardino de Sahagún]]'s used [[ethnographic]] methods to compile his codices that then became the ''Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'', published in 1793.<ref name = Heinrich2005/> Castore Durante published his ''Herbario Nuovo'' in 1585 describing medicinal plants from Europe and the East and [[West Indies]]. It was translated into German in 1609 and Italian editions were published for the next century.
===Colonial America===
In 17th and 18th-century America, traditional folk healers, frequently women, used herbal remedies, [[Cupping therapy|cupping]] and [[Leeching (medical)|leeching]].<ref>Rosalyn Fraad Baxandall, Linda Gordon, Susan Reverb, America's Working Women: A Documentary History, 1600 to the Present, W. W. Norton & Company, 1995, p. 50</ref> [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] traditional herbal medicine introduced cures for malaria, dysentery, scurvy, non-venereal syphilis, and goiter problems.<ref>Madsen, Deborah L. The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature, Routledge, 2015</ref> Many of these herbal and folk remedies continued on through the 19th and into the 20th century,<ref>Swerdlow JL. Medicine Changes: late 19th to early 20th century. Nature's Medicine: Plants that Heal. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society; 2000. pp. 158–91.</ref> with some plant medicines forming the basis for modern pharmacology.<ref>Eugenia M. Fulcher, Robert M. Fulcher, Cathy Dubeansky, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=qs_sAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Pharmacology: Principles and Applications']', Soto Elsevier Health Sciences, 2014, p. 5 ''</ref>
===Modern usage===
The prevalence of folk medicine in certain areas of the world varies according to cultural norms.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/1467-9566.ep11340307 | volume=13 | title=The 'eclipse' of folk medicine in western society. | year=1991 | journal=Sociology of Health and Illness | pages=20–38 | author=Bakx Keith| doi-access=free }}</ref> Some modern medicine is based on plant [[phytochemical]]s that had been used in folk medicine.<ref>[http://myais.fsktm.um.edu.my/2092/ Gilani, A.H., (2005) Role of Medicinal Plants in Modern Medicine. Malaysian Journal of Science, 24 (1). pp. 1-5."] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120805042151/http://myais.fsktm.um.edu.my/2092/ |date=2012-08-05 }} {{ISSN|1394-3065}}</ref> Researchers state that many of the alternative treatments are "statistically indistinguishable from [[Placebo|placebo treatments]]".<ref>''[[The Economist]]'', "[https://www.economist.com/node/18710090 Alternative Medicine: Think yourself better]", 21 May 2011, pp. 83–84.</ref>
== Knowledge transmission and creation ==
Indigenous medicine is generally transmitted [[Oral tradition|orally]] through a community, family and individuals until "collected". Within a given culture, elements of indigenous medicine knowledge may be diffusely known by many, or may be gathered and applied by those in a specific role of healer such as a [[Shamanism|shaman]] or [[Midwifery|midwife]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Acharya|first=D|author2=Anshu S|year=2008|title=Indigenous Herbal Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices|publisher=Aavishkar Publishers|location=[[Jaipur]]|isbn=978-81-7910-252-7}}</ref> Three factors legitimize the role of the healer – their own beliefs, the success of their actions and the beliefs of the community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(00)91989-5.pdf|title=ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: NIGERIA The role of traditional medicine|last=Maurice Mwu, Eric Gbodossou|date=December 2000|website=The Lancet}}</ref> When the claims of indigenous medicine become rejected by a culture, generally three types of adherents still use it – those born and socialized in it who become permanent believers, temporary believers who turn to it in crisis times, and those who only believe in specific aspects, not in all of it.<ref>{{cite book|author=Laguerre, Michel S.|title=Afro-Caribbean folk medicine|publisher=Bergin & Garvey|location=New York|year=1987|isbn=978-0-89789-113-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/afrocaribbeanfol0000lagu}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=August 2008}}
== Definition and terminology ==
Traditional medicine may sometimes be considered as distinct from folk medicine, and the considered to include formalized aspects of folk medicine. Under this definition folk medicine are longstanding remedies passed on and practiced by lay people. Folk medicine consists of the [[healing]] practices and ideas of body [[physiology]] and [[health]] preservation known to some in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture having prior experience.<ref>Acharya, Deepak and Shrivastava Anshu (2008): Indigenous Herbal Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices, Aavishkar Publishers Distributor, Jaipur- India. {{ISBN|978-81-7910-252-7}}. pp 440.</ref>
=== Folk medicine ===
[[File:Curandera performing a limpieza.jpg|thumb|[[Curandera]] performing a ''limpieza'' in Cuenca, Ecuador]]
Many countries have practices described as folk medicine which may coexist with formalized, science-based, and institutionalized systems of medical practice represented by conventional [[medicine]].<ref name="who2018">{{cite web|title=Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine|url=https://www.who.int/traditional-complementary-integrative-medicine/about/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014235826/http://www.who.int/traditional-complementary-integrative-medicine/about/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 14, 2017|publisher=World Health Organization|access-date=7 May 2018|date=2018}}</ref> Examples of folk medicine traditions are [[traditional Chinese medicine]], [[Iranian traditional medicine]], [[traditional Korean medicine]], [[Medicine in medieval Islam|Arabic indigenous medicine]], [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]] traditional medicine, Japanese [[Kampō]] medicine, traditional Aboriginal bush medicine, [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] [[Lāʻau lapaʻau]], and [[Georgian folk medicine]], among others.<ref name="who2013">{{cite web|title=WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023|url=http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/92455/9789241506090_eng.pdf?sequence=1|publisher=World Health Organization|access-date=7 May 2018|date=2013}}</ref>
====Australian bush medicine====
{{main|Bush medicine}}
Generally, bush medicine used by [[Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people]] in [[Australia]] is made from plant materials, such as bark, leaves and seeds, although animal products may be used as well.<ref name="aao">{{cite web |url=http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/culture/medicine.php |title=Traditional Aboriginal Bush Medicine |publisher=Aboriginal Art Online |access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref> A major component of traditional medicine is [[herbal medicine]], which is the use of natural plant substances to treat or prevent illness.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Select Your Library - Credo Reference|url = http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/columency/herbal_medicine/0|website = search.credoreference.com|access-date = 2015-04-17}}</ref>
==== Native American medicine ====
{{Expand section|date=April 2020}}
American Native and [[Traditional Alaska Native medicine|Alaska Native medicine]] are traditional forms of healing that have been around for thousands of years. There are many [[Native American ethnobotany|ethnobotany]] plants involved in traditional medicine for Native Americans and some are still used today. When it comes to Native American traditional medicine, the ideas surrounding health and illness within the culture are virtually inseparable from the ideas of religion and spirituality.<ref name=":12" /> Healers within indigenous communities go by many names ranging from medicine man or woman to herbalist or even shaman and are considered spiritual or religious leaders within their respective tribes.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Johnston |first=Susan L. |date=2002 |title=Native American Traditional and Alternative Medicine |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000271620258300113 |journal=The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |language=en |volume=583 |issue=1 |pages=195–213 |doi=10.1177/000271620258300113 |issn=0002-7162}}</ref> When it comes to healing, tribal healers would look at a plant's characteristics to determine its efficacy for the treatment of an illness.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Shally-Jensen |first=Michael |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1086616314 |title=Alternative healing in American history : an encyclopedia from acupuncture to yoga |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-4408-6033-1 |location=Santa Barbara, California |oclc=1086616314}}</ref> Specific plant characteristics such as plant shape, smell, color, and taste could aid in determining how the plant could be used as a remedy. <ref name=":02" /> The Meskwaki tribe found they could use the juice from ''[[Arum maculatum]]'' for snakebites.<ref name=":02" /> This was inferred from the milky appearance of the juice from the plant which is said to resemble snake venom, and the plant's shape resembled the head of a snake.<ref name=":02" /> Native Americans used [[foxglove]] herb as a treatment for an illness they referred to as dropsy or edema, which is fluid buildup typically in the lower legs, and its common cause is heart failure.<ref name=":02" /> In modern medicine, foxglove extract is still used under the name digitalis, and its purpose is to moderate the heart rate.<ref name=":02" /> Native Americans were successful with some medical practices, such as treating fevers, gastrointestinal conditions, skin rashes, setting bones, as well as birthing babies, and aiding mothers in healing.<ref name=":02" /> A study conducted within an [[Indian Health Service|IHS]] hospital that allows Navajo healers to visit patients found that the hospital had an 80 percent success rate in getting comatose patients back to consciousness, which is higher than the rate of present-day biomedical management hospitals.<ref name=":12" /> The tribe Anthemideae used the plant family ''[[Asteraceae]]'' for orthopedic aids and pulmonary aids, specifically the plant's ''Achillea'' and ''Artemisia''.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Kachura |first=Alexandra |last2=Harris |first2=Cory S. |date=2021-08-27 |title=An ethnobotanical meta-analysis of North American medicinal Asteraceae1 |url=https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjb-2021-0079 |journal=Botany |language=en |doi=10.1139/cjb-2021-0079}}</ref> A study conducted amongst 14 different tribes within North America found that ''Asteraceae'' was the most widely used plant family for its medicinal properties.<ref name=":22" />
==== Nattuvaidyam ====
Nattuvaidyam was a set of indigenous medical practices that existed in India before the advent of allopathic or western medicine.<ref>{{Cite web|last=K P|first=Girija|date=2016|title=Sites of knowledge situating select indigenous knowledge systems and modern education|url=http://hdl.handle.net/10603/148255|access-date=7 April 2021|website=Shodhganga : a reservoir of Indian theses @ INFLIBNET|hdl=10603/148255}}</ref> These practices had different sets of principles and ideas of the body, health and disease. There were overlaps and borrowing of ideas, medicinal compounds used and techniques within these practices.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Wujastyk|first1=Dagmar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3XBu-vpXgoC|title=Modern and Global Ayurveda: Pluralism and Paradigms|last2=Smith|first2=Frederick M.|publisher=SUNY Press|date=9 September 2013|pages=1–8|isbn=9780791478165}}</ref> Some of these practices had written texts in vernacular languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, etc. while others were handed down orally through various mnemonic devices. Ayurveda was one kind of nattuvaidyam practised in south India.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=K P|first=Girija|date=2016|title=Refiguring of Ayurveda as Classical Tradition|journal=Pragmata: Journal of Human Sciences|volume=3|pages=43–62}}</ref> The others were kalarichikitsa (related to bone setting and musculature),<ref>{{Cite news|last=TNN|date=22 Jul 2019|title=Those availing kalari marma chikitsa on the rise|work=The Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/those-availing-kalari-marma-chikitsa-on-the-rise/articleshow/70321567.cms|access-date=9 April 2021}}</ref> marmachikitsa (vital spot massaging), ottamoolivaidyam (single dose medicine or single time medication),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Correspondent|date=5 June 2016|title=Ottamooli (single ingredient) cure for lifestyle diseases...|url=https://www.onmanorama.com/lifestyle/health/ottamooli-single-ingredient-cure-for-lifestyle-diseases.html|access-date=9 April 2021|website=Onmanorama}}</ref> chintamanivaidyam and so on. When the medical system was revamped in twentieth century India, many of the practices and techniques specific to some of these diverse nattuvaidyam were included in Ayurveda.
===Home remedies===
A '''home remedy''' (sometimes also referred to as a '''granny cure''') is a treatment to cure a [[disease]] or ailment that employs certain spices, [[herbs]], vegetables, or other common items. Home remedies may or may not have [[medicinal properties]] that treat or cure the disease or ailment in question, as they are typically passed along by laypersons (which has been facilitated in recent years by the [[Internet]]). Many are merely used as a result of [[tradition]] or [[Habituation|habit]] or because they are effective in inducing the [[placebo effect]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/placebo-effect-a-cure-in-the-mind/|title=Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind|work=Scientific American|date=February–March 2009}}</ref>
One of the more popular examples of a home remedy is the use of [[chicken soup]] to treat [[Respiratory system|respiratory]] [[infection]]s such as a cold or mild [[flu]]. Other examples of home remedies include [[duct tape]] to help with setting broken bones; duct tape or superglue to treat [[plantar wart]]s; and [[Kogel mogel]] to treat sore throat. In earlier times, mothers were entrusted with all but serious remedies. Historic [[cookbook]]s are frequently full of remedies for [[dyspepsia]], fevers, and female complaints.<ref>[[Catherine Beecher|Catherine Esther Beecher]] [https://archive.org/details/missbeechershou00beecgoog/page/n341 <!-- pg=15 quote=Recipes date:0-1920. --> Mrs. Beecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper] 1874. Retrieved on 2007-11-05.</ref> Components of the [[aloe vera]] plant are used to treat skin disorders.<ref>{{cite journal|pmc=4506744|year=2015|last1=Sidgwick|first1=G. P|title=A comprehensive evidence-based review on the role of topicals and dressings in the management of skin scarring|journal=Archives of Dermatological Research|volume=307|issue=6|pages=461–477|last2=McGeorge|first2=D|last3=Bayat|first3=A|doi=10.1007/s00403-015-1572-0|pmid=26044054}}</ref> Many European [[List of liqueurs|liqueurs]] or [[Apéritif and digestif|digestifs]] were originally sold as medicinal remedies. In Chinese folk medicine, medicinal [[congee]]s (long-cooked rice soups with herbs), foods, and soups are part of treatment practices.<ref>''Prince Wen Hui's Cook'' Bob Flaws and Honora Wolf 1985</ref>
==Criticism==
===Safety concerns===
Although 130 countries have regulations on folk medicines, there are risks associated with the use of them (i.e. [[zoonosis]], mainly as some traditional medicines still use animal-based substances<ref>[https://www.ifpri.org/blog/africas-growing-risk-diseases-spread-animals-people Africa’s growing risk of diseases that spread from animals to people]</ref><ref>[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12801499/ Use of animal products in traditional Chinese medicine: environmental impact and health hazards]</ref>). It is often assumed that because supposed medicines are natural that they are safe, but numerous precautions are associated with using herbal remedies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js7916e/2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524072333/http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js7916e/2.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 24, 2009|title=National Policy on Traditional Medicine and Regulation of Herbal Medicines - Report of a WHO Global Survey|publisher=World Health Organization|date=April 2016}}</ref>
===Use of endangered species===
[[File:Slow_loris_-_dried_01.JPG|right|thumb|Sometimes traditional medicines include parts of endangered species, such as the [[slow loris]] in Southeast Asia.]]
Endangered animals, such as the [[slow loris]], are sometimes killed to make traditional medicines.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Starr | first1 = C. | last2 = Nekaris | first2 = K. A. I. | last3 = Streicher | first3 = U. | last4 = Leung | first4 = L. K. -P. | title = Field surveys of the Vulnerable pygmy slow loris ''Nycticebus pygmaeus'' using local knowledge in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia | doi = 10.1017/S0030605310001316 | journal = Oryx | volume = 45| issue = 1| pages = 135–142| year = 2011 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
[[Shark]] [[fin]]s have also been used in traditional medicine, and although their effectiveness has not been proven, it is hurting shark populations and their ecosystem.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/24/traditional.treatment/index.html|title=Traditional medicines continue to thrive globally - CNN.com|website=www.cnn.com|access-date=2016-04-25}}</ref>
The illegal [[ivory trade]] can partially be traced back to buyers of [[traditional Chinese medicine]]. Demand for ivory is a huge factor in the poaching of endangered species such as rhinos and elephants.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gao |first1=Yufang |last2=Clark |first2=Susan G. |title=Elephant ivory trade in China: Trends and drivers |journal=Biological Conservation |date=1 December 2014 |volume=180 |pages=23–30 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2014.09.020 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320714003371 |issn=0006-3207}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Ayurveda]]
* [[Bioprospecting]]
* [[Folk healer]]
* [[Herbal medicine]]
* [[Medicinal plants]]
* [[Native American ethnobotany]]
* [[Old wives' tale]]
* [[Pharmacognosy]]
* [[Traditional African medicine]]
* [[Traditional Chinese medicine]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Wiktionary|traditional medicine|folk medicine|indigenous medicine}}
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{{Traditional Medicine}}
{{Medicine}}
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{{Indigenous peoples by continent}}
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[[Category:Traditional medicine| ]]
[[Category:Concepts in alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Medical anthropology|*]]