2019, Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part B

author(s)
Meem Mustarin Shandhi, Tania Khatun, Nupur Mondol, Samiun Alam Patwary, Khoshnur Jannat and Mohammed Rahmatullah

abstract
Oral administration and topical application of plant paste, decoction, juice and fermented plants are the usual methods of treating diseases in traditional phytotherapeutic practices. Other less common modes of phytotherapeutic practices are tying of plants to the body, wearing plants or plant parts in the form of garlands, and wearing amulets containing a tiny section of a plant or plant part. The less common modes of plant-based therapy can be considered esoteric ways of treating diseases, which are practiced by folk medicinal practitioners in Bangladesh. We herein describe two such esoteric methods of treatment. The first comprises wearing a garland of small branch pieces of Achyranthes aspera on the head to cure jaundice. In the second treatment, one inch piece of root of Heterophragma adenophyllum is tied around the waist with a string to cure waist pain. Whether any cure from such esoteric treatments result from volatile components emitted from the plant parts or merely reflect a placebo effect is an open question but which merits further studies, since such treatments are practiced in different parts of the world.