SELF-TREATMENT AMONG ANIMALS BY USING SUCCULENT HERBS TO FIGHT AGAINST PARASITES AND THEIR POSSIBLE USE AS HUMAN MEDICINE

Abstract

Self-treatment against harmful parasites is found among a wide range of animals, from caterpillars or butterflies to porcupines and different wild animals and up to the African great apes. Many rural people share such knowledge of the animals and use similar herbs among themselves to treat diseases with similar types of symptoms as observed in the ailing animals. Chimpanzees, Bonobo, etc. are genetically very similar to humans, and many self-treatment reports are there among such animals. So, such knowledge of the self-treatment of animals by using plant materials can be considered for the prevention and treatment of many dangerous diseases prevalent among humans. Sixty-four (64) such plants are identified for their anti-parasitic uses and listed in this article. The succulent plant materials effective among these animals have a very high probability of effectiveness for humans also. A new concept of the use of such biomedicines at their succulent condition in bio-encapsulated form can be considered for their widespread therapeutic use. In addition to the Ayurveda and alike medical systems, Homoeopathy as well as in Modern medicine, where therapeutic use of dry parts of the medicinal plants, their extracts, or synthetic analogs of the components are only considered, therapeutic use of the succulent biomedicine may open a new window of therapy of many so-called hard-to-cure diseases caused by various invading parasites. As the succulent plant materials contain a huge number of phytoconstituents and all of them work together to bring the desired health impacts, there is a very low chance of development of resistance against all of them together. These biomedicines can also supply many other additional health benefits to patients without any added effort.

Keywords

• self-medication
• african great apes
• wild animals
• succulent biomedicines
• zoopharmacognosy