Neurological disorders: The use of traditional medicine in Cameroon

Abstract

Neurological disorders constitute 6.3% of the global disease burden in the world. With a global death rate of 12%, these diseases are an important cause of mortality. The burden of neurological disorders is higher in developing countries than in developed countries. However, there is little literature on neurological diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, including Cameroon. Due to the inadequate access to modern medicine and physicians, the high cost, and the side effects of the modern drugs, patients renounced treatment. Traditional medicine is thus presented as an alternative. The World Health Organization reports that about 75–80% of the population of developing countries, mostly in Africa, consult traditional healers and use traditional medicine for their healthcare. In Cameroon, traditional medicines still remain a major source for preventing, diagnosing, and/or treating several household diseases, including neurological disorders. This review analyzes the prevalence of neurological disorders in Cameroon, the ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal plants used to manage nervous system disorders or symptoms, and the importance of pharmacological studies. Some studies done in hospitals located in two towns of Cameroon (Yaoundé and Douala) show that the main neurological disorders are headache and epilepsy. To manage these neurological disorders, many plants are used by traditional doctors and the population. In recent years, some researchers from different university laboratories of Cameroon have tried to elucidate the beneficial effects of plant extracts on neurological disorders, and more is still to be done to prove the pharmacological effects of traditional medicine on nervous system diseases.