Indigenous knowledge simply refers to health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine as “the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness”. Traditional medicine is contrasted with scientific medicine. In the written record, the study of herbs dates back 5,000 years to the ancient Sumerians, who described well-established medicinal uses for plants. One of the more popular examples of a home remedy is the use of chicken soup to treat respiratory infections such as a cold or mild flu. Other examples of home remedies include duct tape to help with setting broken bones; and duct tape or superglue to treat plantar warts; and Kogelmogel to treat sore throat. In earlier times, mothers were entrusted with all but serious remedies. The book deals with questions concerning compatibility and incompatibility of different ways of knowing and delves into epistemological stances, and the assumptions underlying these epistemologies. This book will be a valuable resource guide for all especially who are related to policy making.
Mohan Kumar is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at R.N. College, Vaishali, a constituent unit of B.R.A. Bihar University, Muzaffarpur. He has attended many national and international seminars. His several research papers have been published in reputed journals.
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