DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

A revival of primary healing hypotheses: a comparison of traditional healing approaches of Arabs and American Indians

  • El-Magboub, Asma (Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California) ;
  • Garcia, Cecilia (Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California) ;
  • James, Adams David Jr. (Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California)
  • Received : 2011.08.16
  • Accepted : 2012.02.29
  • Published : 2012.02.29

Abstract

When medicine is unable to cure, and the end becomes imminent, or when the patient is tired of the side effects associated with chronic use of drugs, the search for alternative and new ways of healing is begun. Coincidentally, sometimes the alternative is the origin, as is the case for traditional Arab medicine and traditional American Indian healing. Traditional healing is the first healing that all people have used for 200,000 years, since the beginning of Homo sapiens. The sources and elements of traditional Arab medicine have been examined in books and by consulting with traditional Arab healers. Arabic medicine is a career combining both elements of science and philosophy based on religion and traditions, and includes a diversity of healing approaches: spiritual, physical, and using natural products. These approaches are discussed with emphasis on wet cupping (Alhijamah), a practice that is undergoing a revival nowadays in Arab countries. American Indian healing is a career based on religion, tradition, an innate healing gift and extensive training, both in a medical school setting and as an apprentice. Arabic healing approaches are compared to American Indian healing approaches.

Keywords

References

  1. Abdel-Halim RE. Contributions of IbnZuhr (Avenzoar) to the progress of surgery: a study and translations from his book Al-Taisir. Saudi Med J. 2005;26(9):1333-1339.
  2. Adams JD, Garcia C. Spirit, mind and body in Chumash healing. eCAM. 2005;2:459-463.
  3. Adams JD, Garcia C, Lien EJ. A comparison of Chinese and American Indian (Chumash) medicine. eCAM. 2010;7(2):219-225.
  4. Al Zuhair N, Khounganian R. A comparative study between the chemical composition of potable water and Zamzam water in Saudi Arabia. IADR Saudi Arabian Section Meeting, 2006.
  5. Amanzio M, Benedetti F. Neurophamacolcgical dissection of placebo analgesia: expectation-activated opioid systems versus conditioning activated specific subsystems. J Neurosci. 1999;19:484-494.
  6. Benedetti F, Mayberg HS, Wager TD, Stohler CS, Zubieta JK. Neurobiological Mechanisms of the Placebo Effect. J Neurosci. 2005;25(45):10390-10402. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3458-05.2005
  7. Cherukuri P, Glazer E, Curley S. Targeted Hyperthemia using metal nanoparticles. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2010;62:339-345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2009.11.006
  8. Falagas ME, Zarkadoulia EA, Samonis G. Arab science in the golden age (750-1258 C.E.) and today. FASEB J. 2006;20:1581-1586. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.06-0803ufm
  9. Farhadi K, Schwebel DC, Saeb M, Choubsaz M, Mohammadi R, Ahmadi A. The effectiveness of wet-cupping for nonspecific low back pain in Iran: a randomized controlled trial. Comp Ther Med. 2009;17(1):9-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2008.05.003
  10. Garcia C, Adams JD. Healing with Medicinal Plants of the West: Cultural and Scientific Basis for their Use second edition. (La Crescenta: Abedus press), 2009.
  11. Garcia de Quesada T, Rodriguez B, Valverde S. The constituents of Helichrysum stoechas. Phytochem.1972;11:446-449.
  12. Gongora L, Manez S, Giner RM, Carmen Recio M, Gray AI, Rios JL. Phenolic glycosides from Phagnalonrupestre. Phytochem. 2002;59(8):857-860. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(02)00011-0
  13. Haddad FS. The nawAdir [Aphorisms] of yuHannA ibn mAsawayh. J Med Liban.2008;56(4):242-244.
  14. Hong YF, Wu JX, Wang B, Li H, He YC. The effect of moving cupping therapy on non-specific low back pain. Chin J Rehabil Med. 2006;21:340-343.
  15. Huang ZF, Li HZ, Zhang ZJ, Tan ZQ, Chen C, Chen W. Observations on the efficacy of cupping for treating 30 patients with cancer pain. Shanghai J Acupunct Moxibust. 2006;25:14-15.
  16. Kim JI, Lee MS, Lee DH, Boddy K, Ernst E. Cupping for treating pain: a systematic review. eCAM. 2011;2011:1-7.
  17. Levine JD, Gordon NC, Fields HL. The mechanism of placebo analgesia. Lancet. 1978;2:654-657.
  18. Lucki I. The spectrum of behaviors influenced by serotonin. Biol Psychol. 1998;44:151-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3223(98)00139-5
  19. Ludtke R, Albrecht U, Stange R, Uehleke B. Brachialgia paraesthetica nocturna can be relieved by ''wet cupping'' - results of a randomized pilot study. Complement Ther Med. 2006;14:247-253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2006.07.004
  20. Michalsen A, Bock S, Ludtke R, Rampp T, Baecker M, Bachmann J, Langhorst J, Musial F, Dobos G. Effects of traditional cupping therapy in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. J Pain. 2009;10(6):601-608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2008.12.013
  21. Montastruc J, Genevieve Durrieu, Agnes Sommet, Christine Damase-Michel, Maryse Lapeyre-Mestre. Anticholinergics, antimuscarinics or atropinics? About the words in pharmacology. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2010;69(5):561-562. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2125.2010.03633.x
  22. Oken BS. Placebo effects: clinical aspects and neurobiology. Brain. 2008;131:2812-2823. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awn116
  23. Phillips GH. "Bringing Them under Subjection": California's Tejon Indian Reservation and Beyond, pp. 1852-1864. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press), 2004.
  24. Pollo A, Vighetti S, Rainero I, Benedetti F. Placebo analgesia and the heart. Pain. 2003;102:125-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0304-3959(02)00345-7
  25. Rios JL, Recioa MC, Villarb A. Isolation and identification of the antibacterial compounds from Helichrysumstoechas. J Ethnopharmacol. 1991;33:51-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8741(91)90160-F
  26. Saad B, Azaizeh H, Said O. Tradition and Perspectives of Arab Herbal Medicine: A Review. eCAM. 2005;2(4):475-479.
  27. Savage-Smith E. Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts. (Maryland: University of Oxford press). 2011.
  28. Shaban T. New Trials Support the Effectiveness of Cupping Therapy. 2009.
  29. Spier R. The history of the peer-review process. Trends Biotechnol. 2002;20(8):357-358. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-7799(02)01985-6
  30. Syed IB. Islamic Medicine: 1000 years ahead of its times. 2011.
  31. Turner HR. Science in Medieval Islam. (Austin: University of Texas Press), 1997.
  32. Walker PL, Hudson T. Chumash Healing Changing Health and Medical Practices in an American Indian Society. (Banning: Malki Museum Press), 1993.
  33. Xu L, Yang XJ. Therapeutic effect of aciclovir combination with callateral-puncturing and cupping in the treatment of 40 cases of herpes zoster. Tianjin Pharm. 2004;3:23-24.
  34. Zhang Z. Observation on therapeutic effects of blood-letting puncture with cupping in acute trigeminal neuralgia. J Trad Chin Med. 1997;17:272-274.

Cited by

  1. Preventive medicine and the traditional concept of living in balance vol.2, pp.3, 2013, https://doi.org/10.5497/wjp.v2.i3.73