A herbalist on a mission
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday May 20, 2024 06:00
Over the years, Oduetse Mphahudi has developed and practised herbal medicine based on the combined knowledge of indigenous knowledge and medical science. He owns two clinics for herbal medicines in Gaborone, Block 8, known as Mphahudi’s Home Remedies.
Speaking about the clinic, Mphahudi explained that the remedies were called natural nutri-herbal medicines where a wide range of plants and food crops, growing in and out of the country, are used together to provide food and nutrition medicine.
He further pointed out that his medicines were used to prevent and treat a wide range of chronic and infectious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. He added that the remedies could be used alone to handle the situation or be supplemented by conventional medication.
“Different plants in their different parts like the roots, fruits, and leaves have naturally occurring bioactive compounds also known as active ingredients.
“When combined, many plant ingredients have higher preventative and healing effects than one plant, part of the plant, or extract.
“With conventional medicines, extracts make medicines or pills.
“When combined, more than two plants can do much better than one plant or part of the plant and plant extract, and treat multiple diseases,” he told Mmegi.
He added that the key strength of natural nutri-herbal medicines includes the prevention and treatment of a wide range of ill-health conditions and diseases. Whilst many vaccines found in hospitals are made to treat a specific disease like those made to treat malaria and COVID-19, herbs can treat or prevent multiple diseases.
According to Mphahudi, herbs also are safe, even when used in multiples compared with the undesirable poly-pharmacy, which refers to conventional medications used together. He said conventional medicines have many side effects while herbs do not.
“Herbal medicines actually reduce the side effects of other therapies such as chemo and radiation therapies and therefore it is advisable for patients going through such therapies to use herbs to reduce their side effects.
“Herbs reduce antibiotic resistance for a range of active compounds acting synergistically against microbes and offer dependable options for further research into new antibiotics,” he said.
Mphahudi further said his nutri-herbal medicines also treat both causes of diseases and ill-health conditions and their symptoms. He added that these treatments repair damaged tissues, organs and other body functions.
“If your pancreas is damaged, you are going to have diabetes,” he said.
“The modern medication just balances the sugar and does nothing about repairing the pancreas that has resulted in the problem. It is this repair that becomes different from conventional medicines.
“With all those strengths of herbal medicines, there are limitations.
“Our natural nutri-herbal medicines do not tend to treat acute mental or musculoskeletal disorders like broken bones, torn muscles, bone regrowth, shifting of discs, they are limited.
“There, the conventional medicines take the lead.”
He further pointed out that in surgical operations and procedures, natural nutri-herbal medicine does not tend to provide enough anaesthetic effectiveness. He added that in limited cases, these types of treatments could also interfere when used together with conventional medications.
Speaking of the limitations of nutri-herbal medicines, Mphahudi said dose management was a challenge explaining that those in the traditional herbal medicine in Botswana were often not conversant with appropriate doses for different age patients or patients with different health conditions. He added that chances were high that practitioners could under or overdose patients.
He also said often nutri-herbal practitioners are not able to diagnose health conditions, so chances are high that the wrong medication could be given to clients.
“The use of herbal medicine in Botswana is not regulated. The lack of regulation brings the practice to a level of compromise and disrepute. “Where there is no regulation, there can be accidents because the herbalist can give you medication not knowing the cause of the sicknesses.
“There is a need for regulation to see if the healer has knowledge of healing people without killing them.
“The other challenge is that the availability of herbal medicine depends on agroclimatic conditions so that in periods of extended drought there could be extended scarcity,” he said. Mphahudi’s clinics provide over 50 combos of three plant ingredients to treat high blood pressure, diabetes type two and cholesterol. The clinics also have 28 products for cancer. Mphahudi explained that nutri-herbal medicines have the natural intelligence to kill bad cells (cancer cells) and protect safe good (normal cells) while enhancing the effectiveness of other therapies.
His plant clinic provides Japanese Mint seedlings that he says act as painkillers and also assist in gout, arthritis, cough, and are a stimulant. The clinics also have Bitter Leaf seedlings that heal high blood pressure, diabetes and Blood Lipids (Cholesterol). Other ailments he has medicines for include flu, asthma, pneumonia, arthritis, general body immune boosting, body cleansing, prevention, and treatment of various diseases and other ill-health conditions.