Medicine Men

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Do you know of any alternative approaches? Are you aware of any similar ones?

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• Xand_van_Tulleken says:

  26 January | 11:54

  Visiting these stalls was extremely uncomfortable - "traditional medicine" at its very worst - bad for the animals, and very bad for the patients. Much of my skepticism comes from previously working with healers in africa who use desperately unpleasant remedies such as pulling our childrens teeth with red hot pliers, and pouring boiling water up children's bottoms (to treat diarrhoea). I've seeen sevreal patients die as a result of having their uvulas cut (the dangly bit that the back of your throat) and getting infections. This man had had no training and his treatments were based on superstition and magic rather. I was very worried that the biaka would proved to be similar but they could not have been more different - all most all their remedies involved plants, and they way they viewed diseases was very similar to ours. They didn't rely on magic to heal people and they gave medicines in a similar way to us. I don't know if their drugs worked but it's a much better starting point to try to treat people.

• jassi_kg says:

  04 February | 01:46

  Interesting - & I know it shouldn't be but i found this clip quite funny as well. The way that the stall holder talks about some of his 'medicinal items' is as if he's making it up as he goes along, (although fair enough if they are his beliefs) but i can't figure out how he came to the conclusion of using that hair to help women get husbands..

• ditajane says:

  21 February | 20:31

  what was removing the uvula supposed to cure?