Contrasting diagnostic and prescribing patterns in traditional paediatrics

Abstract

Thai traditional medicine is one of two legally recognized systems of medicine practised in Thailand, the other being Western medicine. The authorised teaching syllabus for the licensing examinations in Thai traditional medicine and pharmacy is a group of medical texts handed down for generations. This thesis is the first scholarly study of one of these medical texts. Kharrrphee prathom ckin d a a, the text examined, was compiled in 1871 from earlier texts of unknown origin. Similar texts were in evidence during the seventeenth century, and may have been in existence for hundreds of years prior to this. Khamphee prathom chindaa is the most interesting of this group of medical texts, and is the only one concerned specifically with paediatrics. It was studied for its own intrinsic interest as well as to gain an understanding of the theories of medicine and of pharmacy which guide the traditional Thai doctor in his diagnosis and medicinal treatment of diseases. By identifying the systems of classificaion of diseases, and by applying the systems of classification of drugs used in Thai traditional medicine and pharmacy, some of the theories of the traditional practitioner have been clarified. The therapeutic uses of a select group of drugs which occur as ingredients in many of the recipes for medicine in the text have been compared, where possible, with uses known in Thailand and in Western medicine, and some examples of the various types of medicinal treatment are given.