Nature's Hidden Remedies: How Old Traditions can Save Our Future

By Science and Environment Editor Leah Moynihan

Folk cures and natural remedies have been present throughout human history, with the first written records of herbal use in 2800BC China. The study of these traditional cures can be referred to as “ethnopharmacology”. Many monasteries had herbal gardens and by the 17th century, herbal medicine was common throughout Europe, and was even praised by Henry VIII himself. After the Swedish biologist Linnaeus brought in a common system for naming plant species in the 18th century, herbs were used by commoners who could now recognise the plants themselves. The richer class moved onto pharmaceuticals and herbal medicine became viewed as “outdated”.

However, the first world war brought with it an unattainability of drugs which lead to herbal remedies becoming popular once more. Even though we now mainly rely on manufactured drugs, most of our medicines are derived from nature. The old home remedies passed on through generations have some truth as many plants have chemicals with healing properties. However, many folk cures can be absurd, and some can even be deadly.

“You are what you eat” was a common belief and the Romans even consumed gladiator blood thinking it would give them strength. Blood and body parts were gathered during executions in the 17th century believing they had magical healing powers. Even though we now know that consuming blood can cause disease, the practice inspired organ donation in the 20th century.

Pliny the Elder claimed that labour pains were relieved by intaking powdered sow dung. A similarly ridiculous treatment was seen during a plague outbreak in London, where cigarette smoking was trusted as a disinfectant, and so schoolchildren were told to smoke. Petty spurge was believed to remove sunspots and warts; however it has been proven to irritate human tissue.

Leeches were of course widely used for bloodletting. They were popular with the Greeks and the practice became widespread throughout Europe. In the 18th century, France imported 40 million of the animals each year yet the practice declined once modern medicine was introduced. However, this outdated practice has returned to hospitals all over the world to drain excess blood after microsurgery and for skin grafts. They have been found to posses a protein that reduces blood clotting, so the old medical practitioners were onto something.

Many useful and life-saving medicines today were inspired by folk cures. Willow has been popular all over the world to relieve pain. It has been utilised widely in Europe as well as by the Egyptians. Hippocrates himself was a big fan however it was not sold as an over-the-counter drug until 1915 as aspirin. Poppies have also been used for thousands of years for opium as an antidote for pain. Roseroot was a wild herb believed to have many medicinal properties. It was admired by the ancient Chinese, the Greeks, and the Vikings as an anti-depressant. Snowdrops have an important compound called Galantamine that was used by Bulgarians to cure headaches and is now being utilised to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Another strange cure can be found in the one-thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon book. A recipe for eye salve uses cow bile and it has been found that this salve kills MRSA in the lab quicker than antibiotics. Furthermore, heart conditions have been treated for centuries by digoxin from foxgloves. Quinine from the cinchona tree has been used since the 17th century as an anti-malarial drug and it has saved millions of lives.

Folk cures such as these were widespread throughout Ireland, and many are still present today. People did not have modern science, so they took inspiration from the environment around them. The bogs and meadows were rich in plants, and many were believed to have sacred properties. Trees were viewed as holy places, where a rag from the ill person was hung on the branches and as the material decayed and disappeared so did the illness. People also believed in charms, and they performed many rituals appreciating what nature gave them.

The Celtic physician or the “Liaig” was highly valued and respected within the community as they were one of the Gaelic learned orders. They were given land by the Chieftans in exchange for medical services to the local people. A traveller to Ireland stated that “the people of Ireland are cured successfully when ill and have generally far better health than the people of Italy” thanks to the healers’ remedies. However, as Irish land ownership transformed with the English invasions, the Liaig disappeared and much of the knowledge was lost as reading became less common. Thankfully, some of the remedies were passed down by oral tradition. Many women used a combination of magic spells and herbs while the “bean feasa” or wise woman had innate abilities in healing and used herbal medicine to cure illness. Many healers specialised in one area, and they learned the trade from their relatives. Foxglove, eyebright, ground ivy, and elder bark were all highly valued herbs.

There were also many home remedies. Butter was put on burns. Cobwebs and mosses were used to treat bleeding wounds. Willow bark was given to treat headaches. Poultices made from bread or cabbage leaves were used widely in Ireland for septic sores. Some of the traditional cures were more outlandish and do not have much scientific grounding. Herbs were believed to be more effective if they were placed in a dead man’s hand for some time. Candles used for a wake were kept to heal burns. One strange cure was that to get rid of thrush, one had to drink the milk a weasel had drank from.

A lot of home cures can be seen today in Ireland along with more new forms of medicine. Many Irish people will be familiar with being handed flat 7up as a child in order to lessen a stomach-ache. Brandy seems to be the go-to treatment in healing anything from gum infections to a cough. The cooling sap of Dock leaves is often used to soothe a nettle sting. Furthermore, some people still believe in the Tuatha Dé Danann, or the fairies, who can either curse or heal you.

New is considered better, and yet that is not always the case. We should not ignore the knowledge of our ancestors who had an intimate understanding of nature. Tu Youyou was the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize for her work in anti-malaria medicine. When she started her research over two hundred thousand compounds had been tested globally in search of an anti-malarial drug. None of these had been successful. However, Tu Youyou and her team decided to look through ancient Chinese texts and found a remedy of a compound in wormwood that had been used to treat malaria in 400AD. After following the instructions of the text, the compound was found to battle malaria friendly parasites and it was later tested to be safe for human consumption. Without the ancient texts, this amazing medical breakthrough would never have happened.

Traditional cures should not be ridiculed. We would not have many of our modern medicines without the knowledge of traditional medicines and we must give them the credit they deserve.