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Plants Prescribed for Both Preventive and Therapeutic Purposes by the Traditional Healers of the Bede Community Residing by the Turag River, Dhaka District

Mohammed Rahmatullah
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Tasneema Ishika
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Mehreen Rahman
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Auditi Swarna
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Tania Khan
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Mirza Nipa Monalisa
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Syeda Seraj
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Sadia Moin Mou
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Mostafi Jumrut Mahal
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Kakoli Rani Biswas
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The Bede community people are an indigenous community of Bangladesh and because of their preference for living and traveling on boats are also known as the river gypsies. They seldom reside for long at any given place but travel constantly on the waterways to ply their trade at various riverside villages. The community keeps mostly to themselves except when interacting with village people to sell sundry items, catch snakes, and practice their traditional medicinal system, which consists of cupping (drawing blood) and selling medicinal products containing plant, animal or fish parts. Medicinal plants form the chief item in their formulations for the treatment of diverse ailments. The community has various professional groups within them based on their profession, among which one such group being the Dhanantari Vaidyas, who supposedly are able to cure all diseases. In recent times, the Government is trying to settle them by various riversides so as to enable them to get access to education and modern health care. The older generation, however, still prefer their traditional medicines to allopathic medicines. One such Bede group was located by the Turag River in Kamar Para village on the outskirts of Dhaka city in Dhaka district, Bangladesh. During the course of an ethnomedicinal survey among this community, it was observed that the Dhanantari Vaidyas advocated the consumption of a number of plants in the cooked form for not only therapeutic but also preventive purposes. It was the objective of the present study to document the use of these plants. It was observed that 32 plant species were prescribed by the Vaidyas for regular consumption (preventive) or consumption during times when a particular disease occurred (therapeutic). These species were distributed into 20 families; the Fabaceae family contributed 4 species, while the Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, and Cucurbitaceae families provided 3 plants each. Most of the plants were leafy vegetables with their leaves and stems prescribed for consumption following cooking; however, a few of them had their roots or fruits prescribed for consumption without cooking. Four plants (Allium cepa, Allium sativum, Capsicum frutescens and Coriandrum sativum) were used as accessories when cooking other plants. Among these four plants, Allium sativum was also used by itself for prevention and treatment of any type of dysentery and stomach problems, and Coriandrum sativum used by itself for prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and to increase appetite. Only two plant (Eclipta alba and Curcuma longa) parts were administered topically. Consumption of plants or plant parts for preventive purposes can be a cost-effective form of health care. As such, the plants prescribed for consumption by the Dhantari Vaidyas of the Bedes merit further scientific studies to assess their full curative potentials.

Keywords: Leafy vegetables, Bedes, Turag, Traditional medicine.

Location: The Turag River, Dhaka District

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Development of Host and Medicinal Plants

Commodity: Medicinal Plants

Objectives:

During the course of an ethnomedicinal survey among this Bede community, it was learned that two Dhanantari Vaidyas exist within the community, who prescribe a number of plants (mostly leafy vegetables) for consumption for both preventive as well as therapeutic purposes. It was the objective of this present study to document the use of these plants.

Methodology:

The present study was conducted among the Bede community of Kamar Para village by the Turag River, which lies on the outskirts of Dhaka city. The Bede community had two Dhanantari Vaidya traditional medicinal practitioners, namely Kala Miah and Suleiman Miah, who catered to the community’s medicinal needs. Both prescribed medicinal plants for the treatment of various ailments, an account of which will be given in a separate manuscript. However, both Vaidyas also prescribed certain plants for consumption when available, and according to them these plants, when consumed (primarily in the cooked form) can serve both preventive and therapeutic purposes.

Informed consent was initially obtained from the two Vaidyas that any information provided can be disseminated both nationally and internationally. Interviews of the two practitioners were conducted in the Bengali language (the language being spoken by both interviewers and informants) with the help of a semistructured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method of Martin (1995) and Maundu (1995). In this method, the informants took the interviewers on guided field walks through areas from where they usually collected their plants, pointed out the plants, and described their uses. Plant specimens were collected, pressed and dried on the spot and brought back to Dhaka for identification by Mr. Manjur-Ul-Kadir Mia, ex-Curator and Principal Scientific Officer of the Bangladesh National Herbarium.

Source of Information: American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 5(3): 325-331, 2011 ISSN 1995-0748

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The Vaidyas repeatedly emphasized that their prescribed plants can serve both preventive as well as therapeutic purposes. Daily consumption of the plants, were according to them, not necessary. Once-a-week consumption was good enough for preventive purposes. However, for treatment purposes, daily consumption of the plants was advised. A number of the plants were prescribed as blood purifiers. Bad blood was considered by the Vaidyas to be responsible for many diseases, and blood purifiers were thought to maintain clean blood (i.e. blood free from any accumulated toxins) and so result in a healthier person. The Ayurvedic medicinal system of India, which is believed to be thousands of years old, also advises use of blood purifiers. Toxins, according to Ayurvedic belief, may accumulate in blood due to various causes, and so it is necessary to clean such toxins at regular intervals for maintenance of good health. According to the Vaidyas, if blood purification is not possible through the preventive or therapeutic use of medicinal plants, then one has to resort to cupping or sucking out of the impure blood.

Pureblood. Leafy vegetables are generally considered to be good sources of minerals and vitamins and provide health benefits following consumption. To cite only a few recent publications, a diet rich in leafy vegetables reportedly improved cholesterol metabolism in high-cholesterol-fed rats (Ezz El-Arab, 2009). Lutein, a major anti-oxidant, is present in Centella Asiatica, one of the plants prescribed by the Vaidyas (Chandrika et al., 2010). Carotenoids, especially lutein and -carotene, which are abundantly present in leafy vegetables, are beneficial to human health in general and to eye health in particular. An inverse association has been reported between increasing consumption of leafy vegetables and coronary heart diseases. Increased consumption of green leafy vegetables has been reported to be associated with reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes. Leafy vegetable diet has also been associated with decreased serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Dietary intake of fruits and vegetables has even been found to lower risks of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Taken together, the leafy vegetables and other plant species prescribed by the Dhanantari Vaidyas of the Bede community merit detailed scientific studies for their possible disease prevention and therapeutic effects.

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