|
| |
To name just a few,
Phytotherapeutic Medical practice suggests the following remedies:
- Abscesses or boils: "zonyon dilin"
i.e. white amaryllis juice (Hymenocallis caribaea), "siwèl"
leaf juice (hogplum - Spondias purpurea), steeped
calabash-gourd pulp (Crescentia cujete) or "kòk
souri" root pulp (Chiococca
alba).
|
|
- Asthma ("opresyon"):
"degonfle" leaf decoctions (Acalypha
alopecuroida), "konkonb zombi" (Datura
stramonium) flower smoking, tomato leaf "bonbonyen"
(wild sage) tea.
|
|
- Emotional shocks: vervain
(Stachytarpheta jamaicensis), "langichat"
(thoroughwort - Eupatorium odoratum) or thyme leaf teas; kidney
bean leaves juice; cashew-tree leaf "fèy doliv"
(Moringa oleifera), coffee (Coffea arabica) or
"fèy koray" (scarlet bush - Hamelia patens)
decoctions, all to be taken with the addition of salt.
|
|
- Bladder and Kidney conditions: leaf
decoctions of "fèy kas dou" (golden shower-tree
- Cassia fistula), "fèy zorèy bourik" (Sansevieria
guinensis), "fèy marigouya /bonbon koulèv"
(Passiflora foetida) and "fèy lougawou" (Bryophillum
pinnatum).
|
|
- Hypertension: "rafrechi"
made of the decoction of the wooden part of the coconut to which
is added some almond leaves (Terminalia catappa), "fèy
a kè" (Lepianthes peltata), "kenèp"
(honeyberry or Melicocca bijuga) and "pòpòt lam
veritab" (the male fruit of the breadfruit tree - Artocarpus
incisa) leaves.
|
|
- Diabetes (diagnosed by the attraction of
ants to the patients’ urine): "pom kajou" bark
(cashew-tree - Anacardium occidentale) or "dèyè
do" (niruri - Phyllanthus niruri) decoctions,
"trompèt" (trumpet-tree - Cecropia peltata),
"twa zòm fò" (Stemodia durantifolia)
leaf decoctions. Daily diet should include millet or sorghum (instead
of rice) and "pwa congo" (Congo or Pigeon pea - Cystisus
cajan).
|
Etc., etc... One could
continue like that, and ad infinitum, to compare the data from the
Phytotherapeutic type of Medicine to what is given by the pharmaceutical
laboratories. The numbers of herbs utilized in Haiti are in the hundreds and
such a study would certainly prove to be interesting. So interesting, that in
1983, according to the then director of USIS, the United States Information
Agency in Haiti, more than a thousand anthropologists, ethnologists, biochemists
coming from the U.S. alone, were roaming around the country. Some of them,
indeed, had found the gems they were looking for. I will only mention for the
record what must be considered very remarkable discoveries, indeed:
- "Bwa lèt" (snakeroot or
bitter bush - Rauwolfia serpentina) was commonly used by the
people of the mountain of Kenscoff, 50 kilometers north of
Port-au-Prince, the capital city. It provided the biochemically
active principle recognized as Reserpine, which became a
classic all over the world for the treatment of heart diseases.
|
|
- Around 1940-1950, famous endocrinologist Dr.
Gregory Pincus came to Haiti to research certain plants such as
"Chapo kare" (iron wood - Sloanea domingensis)
and "Chalòt Mawon" (shallot). Thus the active
principles of the Birth Control Pill were discovered, which
changed the life and the social behavior of more than half the
globe’s population. His work, though, later experimented in Puerto
Rico, has been attributed to that country. But Dr. Pincus did most
of his research and experimentations in Haiti with the authorization,
the facilities and the moral support of the Haitian people and of
the government of that time.
|
However, it should also be
noted that economic, political and other constraints at times influence the
carrying out of treatments. Nevertheless, the arsenal of pharmaceutical products
is naturally produced, of course. Extremely rich, it is abundantly supplied, and
those products never need electricity nor refrigeration for their preservation.
1
Laboratories have
effectively put in evidence the presence of a pyrolophenanthrenic alkaloid in
the "zonyon dilin"; a strong antibiotic activity particularly against
the staphylococcus aureus and the Bacillus subtilis in the extract from the pulp
of "Kalbas"; steroids, polyphenols and alkaloids in the roots of the
"Kòk souri".
2
Presence of cyanogenic derivatives and steroids in "degonfle" leaves;
hyoscyamine, atropine and scopolamine in the "konkonb zonbi"; some
nitro-steroids like tomatidin, solanidin, furocoumarin, tryptamin in tomato
leaves. "Bonbonyen" contains b-sitosterol, lantaden and some terpenic
acids.
3
Vervain leaves have gamma-amino butyric acid and dopamine; thoroughwort leaves
contain chalcon, odoratin, flavonoid, isosakuratin, salvigenin and some
sesquiterpenic and triterpenic acids such as eupatol, lupeol, and b-amyrin;
thyme, an essential oil rich in thymol and carvacrol (20-70%), cymen, pinene,
borneol, linalool, etc... On top of their bactericidal and fungicidal activities,
they are also antispasmodic. Kidney bean leaves contain some very efficient
cyanogenetic derivatives; "pom kajou" leaves juglon, cycloartenol and
cycloeucalenol; "fèy doliv" leaves contain carotenoid, benzylsevenol
and pterygospermin; coffee leaves contain methyl salicylate, caffeine which is
well known to excite the nervous system and to be at the same time tonicardiac.
Furthermore, it accelerates the respiratory processes.
4
Laboratories have put in evidence the presence of certain glucidic derivatives,
pectin, rheine and sennosides A and B in "kas dou" leaves;
anthocyanate glucosides, hydroxy-5-tryptamin, salicylic acid in marigouya leaves.
5
Laboratories have found that the entire almond tree is rich with ellagin,
quercetol, leucocyanidin, kaempferol and some flavonoids; "fèy à kè"
or Lepianthes is rich in anethol.
6
Laboratories have shown the evidence of vitamin C, cardol and anacardol in the
bark of the "pom kajou"; the leaves of the trumpet-tree contain a
leucocyanidin, some steroids and an ursolic acid; the "pitimi" is a
glucide that contains some cyanogenetic derivatives. The "pwa congo"
has shown the presence of an isoflavone which is fungicide, called cajanon. It
is also a good source of protein.
|
