March 27, 2006
Update 1: Doctors of the Rainforest
| For most of us, when we get sick we can jump
in the car or take the train or bus to a doctor. The doctor can give us
different kinds of medicines to help us recover from illness. In the Amazon
rainforest of Peru, the local people use the plants and trees as their medicine.
Some plants help headaches, earaches, or stomach pains, and some can heal
cuts, bites, or rashes on the skin. One kind of tree is called the Sangre
Del Grado. When you slice the bark of the tree with a knife, red sticky
sap oozes out. That sap is like an antibiotic. People use it to clean open
wounds. When the Sangre Del Grado is placed on a cut, not only does it help
clean the wound, but it seals it up, much like super glue!
The people that know a lot about the uses of the plants in the Amazon are called shamans, or medicine men. They are like the medical doctors in the United States; but instead of giving sick people drugs made in factories, they use the plants of the rainforest to treat illnesses. The plants of the Amazon are so useful, that many plants are used in medicines to treat AIDS, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimers. Did you know that many of the medicines that you take in the United States are made from plants in the Amazon Rainforest? Throughout the Peruvian Amazon native shamans are the only real medical specialists within indigenous tribes. The shamans are well respected among their communities. They are the healers, the masters of spiritual practices, and interpreters of dreams. Many are also believed to be the controllers of fishing, hunting, and the weather. The shaman is the head of the tribe and is the ultimate leader in surviving in the rainforest. Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the rainforests today are 70 years old or more. When a medicine man dies without passing his knowledge on to the next generation, the tribe and the world loses thousands of years of irreplaceable knowledge about medicinal plants. Each time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down. Next time you or a member of your family take any medication, remember to thank the plants in the Amazon rainforest for helping your family stay healthy. There is a whole pharmacy of medicine right here in the rainforest! May the forest be with you, Anna |
Ginger is a remedy for relieving motion sickness and nausea. Try sucking on some candied ginger next time you have an upset stomach. |
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