Specific Latin American and African Herbal Traditions: What Can Be Said Responsibly

A note on what this page can responsibly say

Latin America and Africa are not single healing systems. Each region has many peoples, languages and practices. This page names only specific traditions and plants for which we could read credible sources, and it says where we found nothing usable. Many practices are held by communities who do not share them publicly, and we respect that. We do not describe ceremonies or plant-preparation methods.

How common is traditional medicine use?

It is often claimed that 80 percent of people in Asian and African countries use traditional medicine. A WHO-linked study notes this statistic was first reported in 1983. [1] When researchers surveyed adults in six middle-income countries in 2007 to 2010 (a study designed around older people), fewer than 3 percent in China, Ghana, Mexico, Russia and South Africa named traditional medicine as their most frequent source of care, and use was much lower than commonly reported. [1] Because that survey covered only some countries and was built around older adults, it does not describe everyone. It does warn against repeating large claims without a source.

Specific Latin American traditions

Curanderismo (Mexican and Mexican American). A 2016 counseling article describes curanderismo as a holistic folk medicine traditionally used in Mexican and Mexican American cultures. Followers see illness as having both biological and spiritual causes, so healers (curanderos and curanderas) work on material, spiritual and mental levels. [2] The article lists specialists such as the herbalist (hierbero), massager (sobador), midwife (partera) and bone setter (huesero). [2] It also describes folk illnesses such as susto (emotional shock), mal de ojo (the evil eye) and empacho (an intestinal complaint). [2] The authors urge health and counseling professionals to understand the practice to avoid misdiagnosis, and note that many people view it as outdated while others see it as a fraud. [2] The article is a cultural-competence guide, not clinical evidence, and its publisher marks it as for historical reference.

Evidence: Traditional use only. We found no trial evidence for curanderismo as a whole.

A safety warning that matters. Some folk remedies for empacho have contained lead. A 1988 study found three lead-based salts (azarcon, greta and albayalde) available as folk remedies in Mexico, and purchased samples were very high in lead. [3] A 1993 CDC report described lead poisoning from a traditional ethnic remedy in California and noted that earlier reports had documented childhood lead poisoning from such remedies. [4] If a child may have been given any such powder, call a doctor right away; in the United States, Poison Help is 1-800-222-1222 (see poison help by country).

Kallawaya (Bolivia). UNESCO says the Andean Cosmovision of the Kallawaya was inscribed on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Eight Kallawaya communities, with the Bolivian Ministry of Cultures and Tourism and UNESCO, produced a book documenting their healing practices and related botanical knowledge. UNESCO reports that the book will not be widely distributed and will be exclusive to Kallawaya communities, to ensure the knowledge continues to pass to younger generations. [5] This is a clear example of the limits of public information: the knowledge is documented, and it is deliberately not public. We do not summarize it.

Amazonian and other traditions. Proper evidence not found. We looked for readable community or national-body sources on Amazonian traditional medicine and found none adequate to cite, so we do not describe it here.

Specific African traditions

Southern African Pelargonium (Umckaloabo). A 2008 ethnopharmacology review found several tuberous Pelargonium species, including Pelargonium sidoides, to be important traditional medicines in southern Africa, used for ailments including the complications of dysentery, and traced how the plant became a commercial product in Europe. [6] A 2013 Cochrane review judged that a liquid P. sidoides preparation may relieve symptoms of acute bronchitis in adults and children, but the quality of evidence was low, with very low quality for sinusitis and the common cold; adverse events were more common with the herb, but none were serious. [7]

Evidence: Promising but limited (low-quality evidence) for acute bronchitis symptoms with a particular liquid extract. That finding is for one product, not for southern African traditional medicine as a whole.

Other African traditions. Proper evidence not found in the sources we could read for individual named traditions beyond the examples above. We do not generalize from them to "African medicine."

Regulation differs by country

South Africa's Traditional Health Practitioners Act of 2007 sets up a council to provide for the registration, training and practices of traditional health practitioners and to protect the public. [8] Ghana's Traditional Medicine Practice Act, 2000 says a person may not operate premises as a practitioner or produce herbal medicine for sale unless registered. [9] In the United States, licensing requirements for complementary practitioners vary by state and discipline. [10] Whether a healer is recognized by law, by a community or by neither is a separate question from whether care is safe.

Who should seek conventional care first

See a clinician for fever, breathing trouble, dehydration, any illness in infants and young children, pregnancy and long-term conditions. NCCIH advises telling all your health care providers about every approach you use. [11] See talking with a health professional and safety by remedy type.

Related pages

Read about Indigenous and community traditions and sustainability and commercialization.