I read @burlarj's post about this particular prompt earlier today and as I read, it made me remember my childhood and how herbs were mostly used to cure any ailments we had. Kudos to my mom who was an expert when it came to knowing the names of each herb and would administer it to us when we were sick.
We never visited the hospital even during our births as my siblings and I were given birth to in church. When we are sick, mom would either take us to the church where they would heat a big bowl of herbs with varieties, we would bend low as our heads would be placed over the hot bowl as we inhale the steam that flows out of the boiled herb then with brooms hitting our bodies, we would get well and most times pretended we were okay because we don't want to go through such process again.
On several occasions, mom would list all the items to get and would give me to go get them and boil them in a big pot. A day never passes by that we don't drink herbs even before eating our meal. She believed in its effectiveness and potency which everyone also believed in. As I grew up, I became more fond of taking herbal concoctions than visiting the hospitals to be injected or prescribed drugs. There is no doubt that herbs work well when it comes to treating illnesses like typhoid, gonorrhoea, malaria, fever and others.
There are herbs to cure these illnesses as it reduces the cost of going to the hospital for check-ups and being administered expensive drugs. This is what most people depend on today as they believe that herbs can cure any illness with a 💯 guarantee. The truth is we cannot depend on the effectiveness of herbs when it comes to some life-threatening illnesses that require urgent treatment like cancer, diabetes, stroke, seizures etc. There is a need to ignore herbs and go for the right treatment to cure them, or else death comes after.
Lack of knowledge about the treatment of these sicknesses has made many people depend only on herbs, also lack of finances. In a movie I watched some time ago, the boy had a sickness that was contracted from dirty water and they started treatment with herbs because the grandfather was an herbalist who specialises in herbs, for two years, they kept depending on herbs but the more they applied those herbs, the bigger the swollen parts on one of his legs. It was when some people came to enlighten them on modern drugs and plans were made to take the boy to the city to perform operations on him.
The boy could have died if not for the timely enlightenment and proper treatment done to him through different kinds of operations carried out. For two years, those villagers depended on herbs but the problem was beyond the use of traditional medicines. This is to say depending totally on herbal medicines would pose a risk which could lead to sudden death caused by one's ignorance. So, it is impossible to depend fully on herbs.
In a situation where humans cannot manufacture modern drugs, a lot would be at stake as humans would likely face significant challenges in maintaining their health and treating diseases. While herbs can be effective in treating minor ailments, they often lack the potency of modern medicines. Herbs can not cure diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease because they don't provide antibiotics, vaccines and life-saving drugs.
When it comes to modern medicines, they require a deep understanding of chemistry, biology and pathology. Though traditional healers and herbalists may have extensive knowledge of how to prepare these herbs, they still need to learn the scope of some complex health conditions, and that knowing how to use herbs will not help in this situation.
Lastly, one of the strengths of modern medicines is the ability to establish a specific drug treatment and ensure its safety and effective use across different patients. This process involves knowing the correct amount of medication to give a patient to achieve the desired result. Herbs, on the other hand, can vary in potency depending on how they are grown and harvested and when drugs are improperly used or not identified well, it can lead to harm on the patient.
In conclusion, while herbs remain effective to some certain level without modern medicines, they still cannot be replaced with the full potency and authenticity of treatments that modern medicine provides.
All pictures are mine
Thanks for your time reading. Looking forward to your interaction.
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Hello dear. How are you ?? Very informative article. What is mentioned here is very much true my friend, herbs are excellent but for life threatening diseases we cannot depend on it. Because many of them practice this here .
Yes, we cannot depend on herbs for those diseases even though they are effective. Thank you ma for your time reading.
I can relate to your story, I was brought up with herbs. My mom had 2 friends who knows the right herbal mixture for any common illness. It got to a time when I was no longer bother by the smell or taste of herbs.
Herbs are very potent but can not be depended on because not all can be prescribed for specific ailments. Besides, herbs cannot be used to cure some life threatening diseases. Traditional physicians only have a shallow knowledge about science and the human body, so it would be impossible to have solutions for all manner of diseases.
That is it. Herbs are effective but cannot be depended on when it comes to those kinds of ailments that requires real surgical operations on.
This can’t be denied. The world has transformed and the ailments with it transcend what just herbs can cure.
That is it.
I think Africa has come a long in the application of herbal medicine. We should rather support the use of herbal medicine since our ancestors survived and lived long using that kind of medicine.
Sure, we can support the use of these drugs but not to depend fully on them.
👏 Keep Up the good work on Hive ♦️ 👏
❤️ @nkemakonam89 suggested sagarkothari88 to upvote your post ❤️
I can't agree more....in the past, my parents gave us all manner of Concoction including seat on a hot clay pot, all for treating illness.. while that worked for common illness, herbs can't help in chronic illness...the two should just continue to exist
Yes oo. Let the two continue to exist while working on their areas.
reading your post made me think back when we had to pretend as if we where ok just to avoid the herbs😂.
Hahaha yes oo 😆 it wasn't funny then.
One issue I have with herbal medicines is that they don't have dosage. Besides some can be spoilt already but our old mothers will keep warning and giving them to the children. For a fact, we really can not do without modern medicine.
Yes oo. These herbs lose their potency when they keep warming it every time. They don't have dosage oo.
A major disadvantage. If one can be getting them fresh, it's better
So you sef na agbo woman like me, hehe
Omo na agbo sure for me pass o
But sha, professional care is needed for chronic cases
Yes, we cannot take away the effectiveness of herbs but not ignoring professional care is what matters because herbs cannot cure life threatening illnesses.
Even though I was brought up with herbs, I still like them except that I think they are too bitter🥲
My only problem is the dosage, there are really knowledgeable people that know the amount to take and there are others that just over drink
Do you want herbs to be sweet? See balcony girl oo 😅😅
Yes you are right. There are those in herbs for a long time that they know the right dosage to be taken without it being too small or too much.
Sorry ma🤣