The Effect of Using Nutritional and Herbal Supplements on Uterine Fibroids as an Alternative Community Based Management in Kisumu

摘要

For a long time, community based alternative methods of treating illnesses/conditions has not been given much weight that it deserves, as it is also contributing considerably towards health care and many people in the communities are using the alternative ways. In Kenya nearly 80% of the populations including the Maasai are still dependent on herbal medicine; it remains an important source of treatment, particularly for rural communities. The World Health Organization's global strategy includes popularizing and incorporating herbal medicine in the national health systems of member countries. However, knowledge on community based alternative management of fibroids is still not well understood by many in the population. The purpose of the study was to determine the various methods of alternative fibroid management using nutritional and herbal supplements at community level and their effectiveness at eliminating uterine fibroids. The main objective of the study was to find out the types of community based nutritional and herbal supplements that women use to manage fibroids. There was therefore the need to find out the activities of the alternative medicine practitioners with specific interest on nutritional and indigenous herbal supplements treatment and determine whether the supplements and herbal medicines being administered were effectively eliminating uterine fibroids. There was an existing gap in the naming of the local herbs being used, quantities of drug being administered, the ratios of different drugs mixed in a given concoction, effectiveness and documentation of the local herbs used for alternative management of fibroids in this country.