Where There Is No Doctor 2011 11
3. REMEDIES THAT USE ANIMAL OR HUMAN WASTE DO NO GOOD AND CAN
CAUSE DANGEROUS INFECTIONS. NEVER USE THEM.
Examples:
1. Putting human feces around the
eye does not cure blurred vision
and can cause infections.
2. Smearing cow dung on the head
to fight ringworm can cause tetanus
and other dangerous infections.
DON’T!
DON’T!
Also, the droppings of rabbits or other animals do not help heal burns. To use
them is very dangerous. Cow dung, held in the hand, cannot help control seizures.
Teas made from human, pig, or any other animal feces do not cure anything. They
can make people sicker. Never put feces on the navel of a newborn baby. This can
cause tetanus.
4. THE MORE A REMEDY RESEMBLES THE SICKNESS IT IS SAID TO CURE, THE
MORE LIKELY ITS BENEFITS COME ONLY FROM THE POWER OF BELIEF.
The association between each of the following illnesses and its remedy is clear in
these examples from Mexico:
1. for a nosebleed, using yesca
(a bright red mushroom)
2. for deafness, putting
powdered rattlesnake’s
rattle in the ear
3. for dog bite, drink tea made
from the dog’s tail
4. for scorpion sting, tying
a scorpion against the stung
finger
5. to prevent diarrhea when a child
is teething, putting a necklace of
snake’s fangs around the baby’s
neck
6. to ‘bring out’ the rash of
measles, making tea from
kapok bark
These remedies, and many other similar ones, have no curative value in
themselves. They may be of some benefit if people believe in them. But for serious
problems, be sure their use does not delay more effective treatment.