Natural remedies and traditional cureswere once thought ofold-fashioned or even fraudulent but there has been increasinginterest in them again. Ibrahim Saleh would be the first to admit that there was time whenhe was not the most popular of men. His services were much in demand. Young Emirati boys, sent ashousehold messengers, might arrive at any hour of the day or night.But those who requested his skills might also do so with a certainamount of trepidation. "Our techniques and remedies were not always the most comfortable,"admits Mr Saleh with a shrug.
Now he is one of the last of the UAE's traditional medicine men.Yet in an age of wonder drugs, microsurgery and high-tech scanners,Mr Saleh and his age-old techniques still have their following. Close to 80 years old and boasting of "good health", hedemonstrates one of his old methods to cure a "bad tummy" bythrowing a pillow on the floor. "If you had a swollen abdomen, I would do this," he says, then withgreat enthusiasm throws off both sandals and begins to crush thepillow with the heel of a bare foot. "Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't," he admits.
Depending on the ailment, the medicine man would pull, pluck, poke,cut, wrap, even burn skin with an iron rod - all in the name ofhealing and saving lives. He still uses the same medicine bag, nowbattered from time and usage. It came from a barber he first met inthe 1950s and who supplied him with razors used for circumcisinginfant boys. The last in a long line of medicine men in his family, it has beenthree decades since he formally gave up his practice. But while themessenger boys no longer call at his home in Ajman, his phone stillrings with requests for help.
"When modern medicine fails, that is when they call me. And Inoticed more and more people calling me now to ask my advice onwhat they can use from nature to help them," he said. "There is a renewed interest in the traditional art of mixing brewsand drinks made of herbs, oil and spices," he says. Some techniqueshave made a comeback, such as using pressure points in a waysimilar to reflexology and "masah" or massage. One ancient treatment that has remained in fashion is "hijama" orcupping.
Now properly regulated using hygienic disposable tools andcertified by the health authorities, cupping creates a vacuum toremove impurities from the blood through a series of tinyincisions. "If something works, and is not too painful, it will be practisedforever," says Mr Saleh. Other, more intrusive techniques have fallen from vogue, forperhaps understandable reasons. Tonsillitis, once common amongchildren, was cured, he says, by pressing "with these", meaning hisfirst and index fingers, on the tongue until the unfortunate childvomited.
So "people hated us" says Mr Saleh, referring to both medicine menand women, the latter mostly midwives. "But they needed us untilmodern medicine finally came here and made us obsolete." Until the 1950s, the UAE was almost entirely without modernfacilities. A small medical centre opened in the Al Ras area ofDubai in 1943, offering basic care for those who could reach it,but it was the '60s before things started to improve for most ofthe population. The first hospital - the modest 12-bed Al Maktoum Hospital inDeira, Dubai - opened in 1951 with British aid. The Oasis Hospitalopened in Al Ain in 1960, Ras Al Khaimah's first hospital openedaround the same time (1961-62) and was called the Houdaybahhospital, then Nakheel Hospital then Saif Hospital and today it'sIbrahim Obaidullah.
Al Qasimi Hospital opened in Sharjah in 1971, with small clinicsoffering medical service until then. "You can now find every kind of doctor and treatment you can dreamof here, and even I use modern medicines and pills, as they arefast and less painful," admits Mr Saleh. "But I am glad people areasking again about natural medicines." Besides using everything from herbs to local plants and animalproducts, healers like Mr Saleh would also use religion, recitingQuranic verses over the body and the location of the ailment. "The best healing comes from believing you will heal," he says.
These days, though, with so many claims and counter claims on theinternet and television about natural remedies, sorting out factfrom fiction can be hard. Dr Carina Huwari would once have been called a "huwai", prescribingnatural remedies much as a modern pharmacist would. Now the head pharmacist at the Dubai Herbal and Treatment Center,she worked with modern medicines before becoming an expert intraditional herbal and natural cures. Dr Huwari says she has noticed a change in attitudes to alternativemedicine.
"People are reading and finding out more about naturaloptions, but get confused with contradictory information they findonline, and so come here to find out more." she says. A mother of three and Brazilian of Jordanian-Palestinian descent,she has been working at the centre since 2007. Now she hopes she isestablishing the foundations of a long tradition of healthyfamilies. She, her children and husbandare battling "summer flu" by drinkingEchinacea juice.
Natural, brown in colour and made of the floweringplant Echinacea, the drink is "tasty", she says, with no problemsin getting her children to drink it. Three times a day, her one year old son Mohammed drinks 1ml, twoyear old Judi gets 2.5ml, and six year old Ihab 5ml, half the adultdose. "How much to use and when to give your body a break for it todevelop its own immunity is critical for natural medicine to work,"she says, adding that for infants under one, Echinacea is notallowed. "You need to help your body work better on its own," she says. One of the biggest challenges is weaning people offoverprescribedmedicines such as antibiotics.
"I refuse to let my family fall intothe widespread 'antibiotic' habit found in most families here andacross the Arab world," she says. "Without even searching foralternatives, they go and get lots of pills, and often don't botherfinishing the treatment and dosage recommended." Unlike antibiotics that end up killing both "good and bad"bacteria, and are useless against viruses, Echinacea just targetsbad microbes and stimulates the body's natural resistance andimmunity, she claims. It is important to diagnose each individual and if ailments aresevere, chronic or acute, then modern medicine has to come first,she says, "with the help of alternative [medicine] along the way torecovery." Besides Echinacea, Dr Huwari says there are three natural medicinesthat every home should have. Turmeric (Kurkum) is used to treat coughs and remove freckles, asan antiseptic on Natural Anti Acne, blemishes and an anti-inflammatory forbruises.
It has also has anti-ageing and anti-wrinkle properties byimproving elasticity of skin and has high antioxidant effect. Dr Huwari sys: "Through improving body immunity, providinganti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, it acts as one of theonly cancer-fighting medicines you can find in a bottle." Saffron, while one of the most expensive spices, has many benefits,especially as an antidepressant effect. Dr Huwari says that"homemakers can use it to gently make those at home happy." It is said that about 30 mg of saffron has the same effect as 20 mgof Prozac. Dr Huwari says:"It is important to highlight that the common doseshould not be above 1.5 gm on two divided doses.
ingestion 5 gm ofsaffron can be toxic, while 10 gm has a lethal effect causingorgans to bleed." Saffron combats infertility in men and treats period pain throughits anti-spasmodic effect. And for the summer, the powerful Aloe vera should be in every home.It is an effective rehydrating agent and can be drank or applied asa gel. As a gel, it can be used locally as anti-irritant and forcalming and treating insect bites. It is an effective detox drink,if it is drunk about 30 ml each morning on an empty stomach.
"Everyseason has its natural remedies," she said. "Modern and traditional medicine are complementary to each other,"says Dr Huwari. "Balance them properly and don't underestimate thebody's natural power to heal. It just needs a little bit of help." rghazal@thenational.ae.
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