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Traditional Medicine and People

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Traditional Medicine and People
Painful treatment: Alwaseem In the past many people used the traditional medicine to cure there disease. Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous or folk medicine) comprises the knowledge system that developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern medicine. The world health organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine as :”the health practice, knowledge and believes incorporating plant, animals, and mineral-based medicine, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain wellbeing”. There are many types of traditional medicine; it differs from culture to culture, traditional medicine includes Agurveda, Siddha medicine, Unani, ancient, Iranian medicine, Islamic medicine traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and many other form of indigenous medicine. One of the important traditional medicine in Oman, Africa and Arab world is Alwaseem.
Alwaseem “burning” is using a rod made of iron metal about 7 to 8 cm in length. The location of Alwaseem differs; the list goes from head, hand, stomach and back to legs. Using Alwaseem as a treatment is something common in Oman; according to a study done by Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) students in 1991, 77% of people from Albatina region used this treatment, some of them believe in its benefits. This treatment treat some disease such as, cancer and hepatitis. The prophet Mohammed(peace be upon him) said that it is one of the treatments that people could use but he added that he dislike it. Who treat people by this way should be expert and the patient should know the abilities of the one who treat him because there are people who do this just for money; they deceive people and as we know "law do not protect foolish". In Oman there is traditional clinic in Muscat. It founded by his Majesty Sultan Qaboos, and it is under the authority of Diwan affairs, so people should go to it because people there are experts who were trained mostly by their families to use what is available in our environment to treat people. Their families inherited this traditional custom from their ancestors. They carry this tradition from one generation to the next.
There are many disadvantages to this treatment; many people believe that it is a harmful way to treat any disease and they believe that modern medicine is better and more useful than traditional medicine. Alwaseem has side effects on the people, for example, it kills the skin cells, it left a mark which will remain forever and it causes allergy, so instead of benefiting, it will cause more problems. This kind of treatment is very painful because the experts do not use an opiate to reduce the pain. Burning should be in the right place or maybe in most cases it will kill the patient.
In conclusion, using traditional medicine is a common thing in the world but it is not always as good and useful as modern medicine. Alwaseem is a traditional medicine used in Oman, and it is a very painful way to treat people. We must benefit from this traditional medicine, on the other hand, we should be aware of its disadvantages and use the modern way because it is more safe and secure.

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