Collection norms for medicinal weeds used to treat injured Jhau (Tamarix aphylla) trees due to collection of bark for treatment of cancer by the Traditional Healers of Indian state Chhattisgarh. Related Article.

Local Name	Scientific Name	Collection Norms
Kukronda	Blumea lacera	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Mahkua	Ageratum conyzoides	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Kaua-Kaini	Commelina benghalensis	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Mundi	Sphaeranthus indicus	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Akarkara	Spilanthes acmella	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Doobi	Cynodon dactylon	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Bathua	Chenopodium album	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Muscaini	Ipomoea reniformis	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Karmatta	Ipomoea aquatica	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Bandar Poonchhi	Setaria glauca	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Badore	Ischaemum rugosum	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Kans	Saccharum spontaneum	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Bala	Abutilon indicum	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Motha	Cyperus rotundus	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Siliyari	Celosia argentea	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Bhatkatiya	Solanum xanthocarpum	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Satyanashi	Argemone mexicana	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Datura	Datura sp.	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Fudhar	Calotropis gigantea	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Machharia	Corchorus sp.	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Senji	Melilotus indica	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Amarbel	Cuscuta reflexa	Amarbel collected from forest trees are preferred.
Sahadevi	Vernonia cinerea	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Kolhi-Kekdi	Cucumis trigonus	Plants growing in crop fields are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at vegetative stage. Late night is considered best time for collection of leachate.
Mungesa	Phaseolus trilobus	Plants growing in lateritic soil are not preferred. Leachate in collected when plants are at flowering. Diseased plants are not preferred. Morning is considered best time for collection of leachate.

Although Mahkua (Ageratum conyzoides) is exotic herb and grows as weed in wastelands and crop fields but the traditional healers of Sarguja region have developed its many uses. They are using this herb alone as well as in combination with other herbs. Its use in treatment of cancer especially cancerous wound was unique information for me. The traditional healers collect the whole plant before flowering and boil it in water to prepare the decoction. This decoction is used externally to wash the cancerous wounds. The healers are much satisfied with its performance especially at initial stages. Like other herbs the healers also treat this herb with herbal extracts before the collection of plant. The weeds present in surroundings play important role in making the extracts really effective.

Nagdauna is well known herb in Chhattisgarh. It is used in traditional systems of medicine. The traditional healers of Chhattisgarh have rich traditional medicinal knowledge about this herb. Its scientific name is Artemisia vulgaris. It grows naturally in forest. Also it is planted in home gardens. The traditional healers prefer the herbs collected from forest for the preparation of medicine. The traditional healers of Sarguja region use whole herb in treatment of cancerous wound. The juice of whole herb is applied externally on cancerous wounds. In general the traditional healers use it at advanced stages. Many healers use this juice internally also but as other promising alternatives are available it is used less frequently.

The traditional healers informed that they select the herbs for treatment by observing the patient's nature .The herbs are not selected according to the trouble. It is given second preference. This saying reminds me about the principle of Homoeopathy system of medicine in which patients are treated not the disease. I have found these healers quite different from the traditional healers of other regions of Chhattisgarh. I will write more about their experiences with Cancer herbs in coming articles.

New Comments added on December 22, 2009

Through recent Ethnobotanical surveys information on over 300 Atemisia and over 220 Tamarix based Traditional Formulations has been collected. In report on 35,000 cancer formulations I have written (and writing) in detail about these formulations with pictures and film strips. In these formulations Artemisia and Tamarix are added as primary, secondary and tertiary ingredients. I am keeping this important information in CGBD database. 

Original Research Document

http://ecoport.org/ep?SearchType=earticleView&earticleId=1505&page=-2

How to Cite this Research Document

Oudhia, P. (2009). Traditional Medicinal Knowledge about Herbs used in Treatment of Cancer in Chhattisgarh, India. XI. Interactions with Traditional Healers of Sarguja Region. (New comments) [Updated Document, year 2009]

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