Does it work? This question lies at the very heart of the kinds of controversies that have surrounded complementary and alternative medicines (such as herbal medicine) in recent decades. In this paper, I argue that medical anthropology has played a pivotal and largely overlooked role in taking the sham out of the placebo effect with important implications for what it means to say a therapy or d...

In this paper we present the Karanga traditional system of therapy of illness and disease manifest in the treatments administered by the medical practitioners. In order to establish the traditional system of therapy of illness and disease, numerous interviews were carried out with healers, herbalists and elders in the field area. This enabled a systematic compilation of cases. There was also th...

Despite the great progress in modern medicine, traditional medicine has always been practised in the Arab-Islamic world. Cultural beliefs and practices often lead to self-care or home remedies in rural areas and consultation with traditional healers. Traditional therapies have been utilized by people in the Mediterranean region who have faith in spiritual healers, homeopaths or even many herbal...

Abstract Morocco has a rich plant biodiversity and an ancient ethnobotanical knowledge influenced by the ethnic diversity of Moroccan population. This heritage been preserved from generation to traditional herbalists. In this study, data were collected via survey herbalists based on direct interview technique. Questions addressed herbalists’ age education level as well vernacular names parts pl...

OBJECTIVE To determine eye care services sought outside the regular hospital system and their providers. STUDY SETTING Akwapim South district METHOD Questionnaire survey and in depth interviews. RESULTS We recruited 1,537 persons with a previous history of eye disease and alternate service providers (21 chemical shop attendants and 55 herbalists). There was no significant difference betwe...

Ethnobotanical information and traditional medicines were investigated and documented in Embu and Mbeere districts, Eastern Province of Kenya. Oral interviews were obtained from over 100 herbalists, both men and women aged between 40 and 80 years. All the herbalists interviewed were Christians and had little formal education. Non-Christian herbalists were purported to combine herbal medicines w...

Lebanon encompasses a relatively large flora of 2,607 species. Several species in this rich flora were reported to have medicinal applications for various diseases. However, there have been few studies on the use of medicinal plants in Lebanon. In an attempt to study the Lebanese ethnopharmacological status, a survey on medicinal plants used by herbalists in Lebanon was conducted. Based on data...

The addition of a new Ancient Egyptian medical papyrus to the small number in existence is an important event. Dr. Reymond, of Oxford, therefore deserves our gratitude for providing the first edition and complete analysis of a Demotic papyrus, the Fayyum medical book, from the Austrian National Library. Her introduction deals first with the collection of Demotic documents in Vienna to which thi...