Where There Is No Doctor 2011 1
Home Cures
and Popular Beliefs
CHAPTER
1
Everywhere on earth people use home remedies. In some places, the
older or traditional ways of healing have been passed down from parents to
children for hundreds of years.
Many home remedies have great value. Others have less. And some may
be risky or harmful. Home remedies, like modern medicines, must be used
with caution.
Try to do no harm.
Only use remedies if you are sure they are safe and
know exactly how to use them.
HOME CURES THAT HELP
For many sicknesses, time-tested home
remedies work as well as modern medicines—
or even better. They are often cheaper. And
in some cases they are safer.
For example, many of the herbal teas
people use for home treatment of coughs
and colds do more good and cause fewer
problems than cough syrups and strong
medicines some doctors prescribe.
Also, the ‘rice water’, teas, or sweetened
drinks that many mothers give to babies with
diarrhea are often safer and do more good
than any modern medicine. What matters
most is that a baby with diarrhea get plenty of
liquids (see p. 151).
The Limitations
of Home Remedies
FOR COUGHS, COLDS, AND
COMMON DIARRHEA, HERBAL TEAS
ARE OFTEN BETTER, CHEAPER, AND
SAFER THAN MODERN MEDICINES.
Some diseases are helped by home remedies. Others can be treated better
with modern medicine. This is true for most serious infections. Sicknesses like
pneumonia, tetanus, typhoid, tuberculosis, appendicitis, diseases caused by sexual
contact, and fever after childbirth should be treated with modern medicines as soon
as possible. For these diseases, do not lose time trying to treat them first with home
remedies only.
It is sometimes hard to be sure which home remedies work well and which do
not. More careful studies are needed. For this reason:
It is often safer to treat very serious illnesses with modern
medicine—following the advice of a health worker if possible.