Monkeys, the first doctors! -Part 3

Monkeys also resort to aromatherapy. When Capuchins, a type of new world monkeys in the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica  use citrus fruits, notably lemons, limes and oranges, during the rainy season.Either applied directly, or mixed with saliva, the citrus oils help fight bacterial and fungal infections and repel insects. Their cousins in central Venezuela, the weeper Capuchins, like to paste themselves with the secretions of millipedes, which act as an antiseptic and repel mosquitoes and ticks.

 Apes may even resort to recreational drugs. They eat the seeds of Kola (cola) trees, thought to be a pick-me-up of the kind found in coffee.Two hallucinogenic plants are ingested by gorillas in Equatorial Guinea and by chimpanzees in the Republic of Guinea: Alchornea floribunda and A. cordifolia (Euphorbiaceae). The apes even resort to eating the root of Tabernanthe iboga, which contains a chemical called ibogaine which has been studied by doctors for use in detox therapies.

Some have said that human medicine is true medicine because we organise and teach it. Some ape watchers says that a young chimp watch its sick mother take medicine, before trying it itself. For Prof Andrew Whiten, of St Andrews, an expert on ape culture, it is easy to conclude that the animals can learn symptoms, medicines and dosages from their peers.

 Take the use of Vernonia amygdalina, the constipation-countering shrub mentioned above. Prof Whiten points out that the chimpanzees are meticulous and careful to discard all but the inner pith.The outer parts are so poisonous that they often kill domestic goats unfamiliar with the forest flora - indeed, it is known as "goat killer" by some villagers. By closely observing the mother, chimps learn to take the medicine. As I said earlier, even the habit of self medication was started by the chimpanzees found in Africa.

 So, let me conclude this series with this blog and I hope this topic was interesting to the readers. I expect and invite some comments from the readers…

pictures from:

www.beachdoctor.com
www.danmillsart.com
www.istockphoto.com
www.blogs.orlandosentinel.com

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