Tirai-Tirai Kehidupan

herbal medicine schools ~ 140 herbs for treating pile Survey shows : Many indigenous plants have been used since time immemorial for curing various ailments and thus lessening human suffering without the actual knowledge of the active ingredient which caused relief. The potentialities of some of these plants have been established.

About 80 per cent of Western pharmaceuticals have their origin in plants and even now, screening of plants for chemicals to find new pharmaceuticals is rapidly on the increase. Many nations have set up ethnobotanical facilities to study traditional medicine or specific projects to study the plants used in traditional medicine for various health problems such as haemorrhoids.

Many people across the globe experience the discomfort and pain associated with hemorrhoids. Although they can be embarrassing to talk about, anyone can get hemorrhoids, even healthy young people in good shape.

Hemorrhoids, also called “piles”, are swollen tissues that contain veins. They differ depending on their location and the amount of pain, discomfort, or aggravation they cause. When they are located in the wall of the rectum and anus, they may cause minor bleeding, itching in the anus area, or protrusion during bowel movements.

Hemorrhoids are unique to humans - no other animal develops them. Although they can occur at any age, they are more common as people get older. Among younger people, they are most common in women who are pregnant.

Often described as “varicose veins of the anus and rectum,” hemorrhoids are enlarged, bulging blood vessels in and about the anus and lower rectum.

The exact cause of hemorrhoids is unknown. However, the upright posture of humans alone forces a great deal of pressure on the blood vessels that takes away blood from the rectum, which sometimes causes them to bulge.

Other contributing factors include chronic constipation or diarrhea, straining during toileting, faulty bowel function due to overuse of laxatives or enemas, heredity and spending long periods of time (e.g., reading) on the toilet.

Researchers in a survey of indigenous plants used in the treatment of haemorrhoids in South-Western Nigeria found that a total of 143 plants were used for its treatment. It involved major towns and cities such as Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Igbo, Ago-Iwoye and Lagos.

The survey entitled, “Ethnobotanical Survey of Plants Used in the Treatment of Haemorrhoids in South-Western, Nigeria” was documented by the 2011 edition of the Journal of Advances in Developmental Research. It was carried out by Mike O. Soladoye from the Department of Plant Science and Applied Zoology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State in collaboration with Michael O. Adetayo; Emmanuel C. Chukwuma and Amusa N. Adetunji.

The most prominent among these plants were Senna Alata (Asunwon oyinbo in Yoruba), Gongronena latifolium (Madunmaro in Yoruba), Axonopus compressus (Idi in Yoruba), Anogeiessus leiocarpus (Ayin in Yoruba), Pteleiopsis suberosa (Okuku in Yoruba), Tetrapleura tetraptera (Aidan in Yoruba), Khaya spp (Oganwo in Yoruba) and garlic.

From the opinion of the 25 people interviewed, if internal haemorrhoids is not treated, it can lead to external haemorrhoids and, as such the special diet that was recommended, apart from herbal recipes, is vegetable which should be slightly cooked. They include green spinach, Amaranthus viridis (Tete in Yoruba), Celosia (Sokoyokoto in Yoruba) and water leaf (Gbure in Yoruba) as well as Occimum gratissimum (scent leaf, Efinrin ajase in Yoruba and Nchuanwu in Igbo).

Of the group sampled, 52 per cent suggested that herbal tea is the most effective option in treating haemorrhoids, 16 per cent said herb powder (Yoruba -Agunmu), and eight per cent confirmed rubbing concoction while 12 per cent confirmed that herbal paste / lotion are more effective. Only eight per cent suggested herbal juice and the remaining four per cent herbal gins.

Interestingly, the survey indicated that the acceptance of herbal medicines and herbal practitioners by the educated class, the problem of finance and the maintenance of medicinal plants are still of much concern, though some measures of progress have been made in the past.

One of the six recipes that the survey documented involved carefully washing bark of Anthocleista djalonensis (Sapo in Yoruba) that were cut into pieces, and soaking it with water or alcoholic beverage with other plant materials for three to four days. The other plant materials include Aframomum melegueta (Atare in Yoruba), stem back of Rauvolfia vomitoria (Orira in Yoruba), Allium ascolanicum (Alubosa elewe in Yoruba), Eugenia aromatic(Kanafuru in Yoruba),Acacia nilotica (Booni in Yoruba), root of Dalbergieuna welwitshii (Paran in Yoruba) as well as fruits of Mondora myristica (Sasangbaku in Yoruba)

Another recipe included washing and cutting into smaller sizes the bark of Khaya grandifoliola (Oganwo in Yoruba), Garlic, Eugenia aromatic (Kanafuru in Yoruba), bark of Alstonia boonei (Awun in Yoruba), leaves of Cajanus cajan (Otili in Yoruba), bark of Terminalia catappa (Furutu in Yoruba), leaves of cassava, leaves of Carpolobia lutea (Osusun in Yoruba), alligator pepper and leaves of Cymbopogon citrates (Kooko-oba in Yoruba) in water. Two wine glassful of the filtrate is taken daily till the ailment disappears.

They wrote: “A close communication among medicinal plants researchers, traditional medicine practitioners and industrialists should be encouraged. The protection of our rich flora including medicinal plants should be a matter of great concern. Forest reserves should exist to protect forest species, farms/ medicinal gardens should be set up at various local government areas to protect medicinal plants especially those facing extinction.”