Filipinos are using Herbal Medicine

Economically-strapped Filipinos are beating the high cost of manufactured medicine by resorting to medicinal plants and. 'herbs which can be obtained free or grown in one's small backyard

This welcome news is reported by the Philippine Council for Agriculture Resource Research and Development (PCARRD) f lowing a latest field survey on the effort t revive herbal medicine in the country.

The revival effort is supported by both government and private sector medic authorities and is part of the general reaction to spiraling costs of pharmaceuticals, particularly the imported kind.

Center of the revival is the poverty-stricken countryside where residents do not hay adequate access to modern health care se vices and facilities unlike their counterpart in the urban centers, according to PCARRD

It said people in the provinces are planting medicinal plants for their own use and share with neighbors and that revival herbal medicine has fairly been easy in the countryside because use of curative plants part of life in the rural villages or barangay.

The Council likewise noted that city people fortunate enough to have backyard space are taking to cultivating medicinal plants and herbs although many urban residents need information on how to tap curative properties of the plants.

For the benefit of both rural and urban residents, the Council drew up the following instructions:

Collect leaves and stems when plant is about to bloom while flowers must be harvested before or shortly after they have opened.

Fruits and seeds should only be harvested when they are fully mature; and Stems, barks and roots should be removed only from full-grown plants and that the best time to collect plants and. herbs is during the dry season.

The Council said collected plants and herbs should be handled properly to prevent loss of their medicinal properties. They should be free of dirt and other foreign substances, must be washed quickly if required, and cut into small pieces before drying under the shade.

Dried plants or herbs must be kept in tightly-sealed containers with a piece of dry charcoal at the bottom to further absorb remaining moisture. Each container must be properly labeled.

In preparing a decoction from medicinal plants and herbs, the PCARRD recommended use of earthenware since this doe not react with substances of the plants unlike metal ware.

The decoction procedure is. simple, After slicing plant parts into desired sizes, they are soaked in water and then boiled for 15 minutes. The resulting fluid is strained, The decoctions should immediately be used since they lose their curative effects after 24 hours, the Council said.

The Council listed the following ailments which can be cured with use of medicinal plants and herbs:

Simple abdominal pain, taking orally decoction from guava leaves, mangos teen peel or tsaang-gubat leaves; arthritis, decoction from yerba buena leaves or direct application of warm ginger rhizome on affected parts; asthma, decoction from lagundi leaves; burns, direct application of sabila leaves extract; constipation, eating one to two medium slices of ripe papaya fruit;

Coughs, decoction from lagundi and balanoy leaves; diarrhea, decoction from guava or tsaang-gubat leaves or mangos teen peel and to replace lost body fluids, drink the water of young coconuts; dizziness, fainting and hysteria sniffing crushed guava leaves; falling hair, sabila leaves extract massaged on the scalp; '

Fever, decoction from lagundi leaves; hypertension or high blood pressure, eating two cloves of garlic three times a day or decoction from sambong leaves; scabbles, direct application of akapulko leaves extract; swollen gums, decoction from guava leaves; tinea, ringworm and athlete's foot, direct application of akapulko leaves extract; and toothaches, chewing of fresh guava leaves.

The Council strongly advised that if the diseases are not cured by herbal medicine, sufferers should consult a physician. It added that it is important that prescribed dosage or application of herbal medicine must be strictly followed.

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