http://www.LivingInthePhilippines.comis theORIGINAL, firstPhilippines Expat site on the Net, since 1989. This is not one of many knock-offs, copycats, imitations. Some have permutations of the names,misspellings and "in" and "the" or "ing." left off to deceive you. This is the original, by: Don A. Herrington
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, faintingand 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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