Thesis (M. Tech. (Biomedical Technology)) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2014. / Traditional medicine has been known by mankind since ancient times as a healthcare system. All cultures have used herbs throughout history and it was an integral part of the development of modern civilization. Primitive man observed and appreciated the great diversity of plants available to him. Plants provided food, clothes, shelter and medicine and still play a vital role in rural villages of South Africa. The medicinal uses of plants and animals have been developed through trial and error. Herbal plants produce and contain a wide variety of chemical substances that act upon the body’s immune system. The medicinal properties of Ipomoea oblongata (E.Mey.ex Choisy) in this study was to determine the phytochemical content, antioxidant, anti-cancer and anti-diabetic properties of I. oblongata (Mothokho), a medicinal plant used by traditional medical practitioners of Thaba-Nchu in the Free State. The study was carried out in order to validate the ethnomedicinal claims made by the traditional medical practitioners and to evaluate the plant’s potential as a novel therapeutic agent. Twelve traditional medical practitioners of the Kopanang Dingaka Association were interviewed on the knowledge and use of I. oblongata (Mothokho). The phytochemical constituents of the plant were determined using standard screening methods. Testing for antioxidant properties (free radical scavenging activity) was carried out by means of the 2, 2- diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. The Sulforhodamine B assay was used to screen for anti-cancer activity in breast (MCF7), colon (HCT116) and prostate (PC3) cancer cell lines. Glucose uptake in C2C12 muscle cells was used to evaluate the anti- iii diabetic potential of I. oblongata. Methanol extract was fractionated using Ultra-Pure Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) to identify active compounds. The traditional medical practitioners cited the plant roots as the main ingredient in the treatment of respiratory infections, sexually transmitted infections, postnatal womb treatments, inflammation, arthritis, wounds and cancer. The methanol extract of I. oblongata showed remarkable (99.03%, 98.39, 71.31%) antioxidant potential in all triplicates tested which explains its use in oxidative stress-related diseases such as arthritis and cancer. Phytochemical tests showed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, steroids, terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins. However, the extracts were inactive against the cancer cell lines used. Glucose uptake by the C2C12 muscle cells was increased by over 150% and was comparable to that of insulin and metformin, suggesting good anti-diabetic activity. Predicted compounds found were dihydroquercetin pentaacetate, actinorhodin and actinorhodine, using Chemspider analysis. These are possible compounds that could be found in the Ipomoea oblongata extracts when using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to determine the structure and names of the active compounds. Ethnobotanical uses of Ipomoea oblongata were found to have a link with other ethnobotanical studies to capture the indigenous knowledge, culture and therapeutic uses. The phytochemical results of Ipomoea oblongata can contribute to the knowledge of new drug development as indicated by literature (Harbone; 1973, Soforowa, 1993; De et al., 2010) that plants contain phytochemical contents and phenolic compounds that are valuable as medicinal properties. Methanolic extract of Ipomoea oblongata presented high levels of antioxidant activity respectively, which can become a potential iv antimicrobial agent and remedy oxidative stress related diseases. The anticancer properties were inactive and the cytotoxicity levels were found to below in I. oblongata. Low levels of cytotoxicity allow medicinal plants to be consumed by humans with fewer side effects however doses must be standardized. High levels of glucose uptake in muscle cells were indicated from the aqueous extract of Ipomoea oblongata, therefore showing great potential as an antidiabetic agent. Many medicinal plants have been validated as antidiabetic therapeutic agents in South Africa and the world. New treatment of cancer, diabetes, bacterial and viral infections is required from natural products that are cost effective with minimal side effects that can be used in health care systems. There is a correlation between the medicinal properties found in I. oblongata and the ethnomedicinal uses cited by the traditional medical practitioners. The plant I. oblongata has six ethno-pharmaceutical uses. I. oblongata is a good source of anti-diabetic and antioxidant agents that can be developed further. However the plant is not a good source of anticancer properties. Future research will be into the isolation and identification of the active compounds.

Health care service providers in South Africa and elsewhere in the world are increasingly faced with an enormous challenge of modeling their approach to health care to meet the needs and expectations of the diverse societies they serve. The norms and customs that are inherent in these indigenous cultures are fundamental to the day-to-day existence of the people concerned and may hold a key to the understanding of many aspects of their lives, including the understanding of disease, in the case of this thesis, those transmitted sexually. A grounded theory study was used based on its theory of symbolic interactionism to explore the indigenous knowledge and health practices of the Vhavenda in sexually transmitted diseases. Data was collected through in-depth interview with traditional healers and key informants. Snowball sampling was used to idenify key informants as categories continued to emerge. Dara was analyzed using three basic types of coding namely, open coding, axial coding and selective coding. The findings of the study revealed a variety of terms used to identify SDs. Also emerging from the results was that cultural gender roles in the Vhavenda society justify women as sole agents of STDs. In accordance with grounded theory the decriptions of types of diseases, disease patterns, signs and symptoms culminated in "dirt" as the core category. It came out clear that dirt in the form of women'svaginal discharges and moral dirt is the main course of a STDs. It was also evident that strategies for combating STDs will have to take into account popular beliefs and attudes regarding views on STDs as well as the role and influence of traditional healers. Based on the above findings guidelines for designing a module for teaching health professionals has been formulated to aid them in understanding the beliefs and practices of people they serve. / Health Studies / D. Litt et Phil. (Health Studies)

Cognitive linguists posit that language as a system of meaning is closely related to cognition and to the associated perceptual and physiological structures of the body. From the cognitive semantic viewpoint, cognitive processes underpin and motivate linguistic phenomena such as categorisation, polysemy, metaphor, metonymy and image schemas. The pedagogical implication of the cognitive semantic perspective is that understanding these cognitive motivations facilitates language learning. This dissertation uses an applied cognitive semantic approach to `make sense' of a traditional knowledge system, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). TCM views human physiology as a holistic and dynamic system that exemplifies the same principles as the cosmos-environment. TCM models result in a categorisation of physiological phenomena based on a complex system of experiential and cosmological correspondences. I suggest that the holistic epistemology of cognitive linguistics is well suited to an understanding of these holistic models. From a pedagogical viewpoint, I argue that an analysis of the cognitive motivations which underpin TCM categorisations and the polysemy of some key TCM terms can help the student make sense of TCM as a meaningful system of thought and practice. Both the theoretical and applied approaches explored in this dissertation should have relevance to other traditional knowledge systems, particularly traditional medical systems. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)

Text in English / In this study an attempt has been made to reflect upon T.G. Mashaba's transcultural themes. For the purpose of this study, the researcher had to differentiate between traditional and professional cultural themes. All of these were mirrored in some of Mashaba's works through the employment of descriptive devices in a manner that enables one to picture her philosophy of transcultural nursing care, her ideas and ideals, conceptions, opinions and beliefs. The chief aim of this study was to survey the significance and contribution of Mashaba transcultural themes to nursing. In identifying the two systems, Mashaba was attempting not only to help nurses to become aware of these systems, but to consider ways to make reciprocal interfaces with the two systems. Marked caring differences among health care systems exist as well as similar features. Efforts were made - by Mashaba - to explicate these caring aspects in order to provide a sound rationale and therapeutic nursing care. The design used in this study was purely descriptive, investigative, interpretive and analytic with the specific aim of elucidating Mashaba's ideas, ideals and thoughts. This approach helped in bringing to light the value of the themes while at the same time focusing attention on their transcultural nature. Leininger's Cultural Theoretical Model was applied - as a conceptual Model - for the analysis of transcultural themes. This research study gives us a picture of a gifted and hardworking woman. She was ambitious and had set definite goals for herself. Her sense of cultural observation and imaginativeness elevate her as- a spokesperson for the underprivileged, not only of her race, but of any nationality. In her efforts, she was a moderate who believed that engagement in a dialogue would bring better and more lasting solutions than war. This gives her work the universal relevance and appeal. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)

Traditional healers are one among professionals that are viewed as the most significant people in African Society. They are accorded the highest esteem because of the role they play in saving people’s lives and promoting cultural aspects such as ukuhlonipha amasiko in isiZulu. It should be remembered that this word ukuhlonipha which means to respect, is used across cultures to maintain peace within family and society. It all depends on which culture promotes it more than others. It is sociolinguistic truism that ukuhlonipha is essentially linked to the ubuntu philosophy of African people. However, traditional healers more than other people follow ukuhlonipha culture in numerous ways, especially when they meet, being consulted and during traditional ceremonies. They serve and promote what in IsiZulu is known as ukuhlonipha, which to the uninitiated and sometimes even to the scholars of this philosophy is a mystery. It is for this reason and others that people view them as the soul of society. This study looks at relevant sociolinguistic theories especially the politeness theory to analyze most of the hlonipha features shown by traditional healers, apprentice and people during consultation. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

This thesis is concerned with plants, chronic illness and medicine in Oku, Northwest Region, Cameroon. I focus on patient strategies to obtain effective medical outcomes, and on how such outcomes may be obtained through seeking traditional medicine in Oku. I argue that biomedical notions of efficacy do not appropriately represent the central and diverse roles that plants play in traditional medicine nor do they correctly represent how people in Oku evaluate the efficacy of plant-based traditional medicine. I argue instead that efficacy must be understood in terms of the emic concept of power. This power is understood to be located in the Oku landscape, which is still uniquely forested and said to embody powerful ancestral spirits. With plants as the primary tangible material of power, and traditional doctors in Oku as those who claim exclusive rights to manipulate and disperse such power, I discuss traditional medicine in Oku as a system wherein power from the natural landscape is drawn upon to challenge harmful powers feared to derive from the social arena. Using the pragmatic and phenomenological approaches, I show how patients evaluate the efficacy of a medical treatment based on their bodily experiences, and how their actions, as revealed in their therapeutic trajectories, reveal their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a given diagnosis and/or therapy. I discuss how enduring illness generates and exacerbates bodily, treatment-outcome, social, and psychological uncertainties. In this context, effective outcomes can be understood as those which address and limit these uncertainties and anxieties while offering ways to imagine hopeful prognoses. This thesis then outlines the major sources of uncertainty, people’s responses to such uncertainties, and what people might achieve in terms of limiting uncertainties by seeking traditional medicine in Oku.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this research is to identify the various levels of health care units, their relationships and the problems hindering an effective referral system. To achieve this goal, use is made of a case study of the West Rand area in Gauteng. The standpoint is that, to achieve Primary Health for all South Africans referral systems within health care units and levels must be reciprocal. It is argued that for Primary Health Care to be successful, it must satisfy the goal of affordability appropriateness and accessibility. Results from the research revealed that four health care levels, namely traditional healers, health NGOs, Clinics, and Hospitals. Though there is some degree of referral in the study area, it was observed that referrals in the study area were not reciprocal. Amongst the major problems identified as hindering an effective referral system in the study area, include lack of cooperation between health institutions, poor health infrastructure and communication network as well as lack of other health paraphernalia. The research also found that government policy towards some of the health institutions (Traditional healers) contributes to the inefficiency of proper referrals in the study area. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die oogmerk van hierdie ondersoek is om die verskillende vlakke van gesondheidsorgeenhede, hulonderlinge verbande en die probleme wat doeltreffende verwysings in die wiele ry, te identifiseer. Dit word gedoen aan die hand van 'n gevallestudie van die Wes-Randarea in Gauteng. Die uitgangspunt is dat doeltreffende Primêre Gesondheid vir alle Suid- Afrikaners afhang van resiprokale verwysingsisteme tussen gesondheidsorgeenhede en -vlakke. Suksesvolle Primêre Gesondheidsorg vereis bekostigbaarheid, toepaslikheid en toeganklikheid. Die ondersoek het vier gesondheidsorgvlakke aan die lig gebring: tradisionele genesers, gesondheids-nie-regerings-organisasies, klinieke en hospitale. Hoewel daar 'n mate van onderfinge verwysing in die studie-area bestaan, was dit nie wederkerig nie. Onder die vernaamste struikelblokke vir 'n doeltreffende verwysingsisteem tel swak samewerking tussen gesondheidsinstellings, gebrekkige gesondheidsinfrastruktuur en kommunikasienetwerk, en 'n skaarste aan ander gesondheidsmiddelle. Die ondersoek het ook bevind dat regeringsbeleid aangaande sommige van die gesondheidsinstellings (tradisionele genesers) bydra tot die ondoeltreffendheid van verwysings in die studie-area.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The majority of South Africans still depend on the use of traditional remedies, as these are sometimes the only types of health care systems available, especially within rural communities. South Africa comprises approximately 400 000 traditional healers and an estimated 60 to 80% of individuals consulting such traditional healers. As a result, the over-harvesting of many traditional medicinal plants has become a threat to the country’s species diversity and has resulted in the scarcity of certain medicinal plant species. The non-sustainable use of traditional medicinal plants stems from their intense harvesting from the wild to supply the high demands from urban and rural markets. As a result of the escalating population growth rate; high rural unemployment; and fundamental value attached to traditional medicinal plants (socio-economic factors), the national and regional trade of traditional medicines is currently higher than it has ever been. Another reason for the increased threat to traditional medicinal plants is the degradation and weakening of customary laws that have previously regulated such resources. This study focuses on the use of traditional medicinal plants by the Setswana-speaking community for self-medication and as a form of primary health care. Research was conducted in Kimberley, Northern Cape of South Africa and focuses on the issue of the sustainability of medicinal plant use in the area, specifically on use and users as well as the acquisition of material sold by a single trader and harvesting techniques. This is to determine whether harvesting of medicinal plants is a potential threat to plant communities in the area. To address the shortcomings of medicinal anthropology the study also investigates the impacts of relocation and resettlement of various communities in the area, on plant use, methods of collection, the sustainability of the natural resource, as well as the transmission of Setswana indigenous knowledge inter-generationally. most abundant under high disturbances. Certain species reacted positively to disturbance and were most abundant in disturbed habitats. These included Elephantorrhiza elephantina and a Helichrysum sp. To minimise destructive harvesting in the Kimberley area and to ensure the sustainable harvesting of plant material, it is important that local harvesters are educated on proper harvesting techniques and that local gatherers are educated on sustainability issues as well as other ecologically fundamental issues. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die meeste Suid-Afrikaners is steeds afhanklik van tradisionele geneesmiddels aangesien dit soms, veral in landelike gemeenskappe, die enigste beskikbare gesondheidsorg is. Suid-Afrika het sowat 400 000 tradisionele geneeshere wat deur ’n geraamde 60% tot 80% van individue geraadpleeg word. As gevolg hiervan hou die oorontginning van talle tradisionele medisinale-planthulpbronne ’n bedreiging vir die land se spesiediversiteit in en het dit reeds tot ’n skaarste aan sekere medisinale plante gelei. Tradisionele medisinale plante word tans nievolhoubaar aangewend aangesien dit op groot skaal in die veld geoes word om in die groot vraag van stedelike en landelike markte te voorsien. As gevolg van die stygende bevolkingsgroeikoers, hoë landelike werkloosheidsyfer en die grondliggende waarde wat aan tradisionele medisinale plante geheg word (sosio-ekonomiese faktore), is die nasionale en streekhandel in tradisionele geneesmiddels tans groter as ooit tevore. Nog ’n rede vir die toenemende bedreiging van tradisionele medisinale plante is die verslapping en versagting van gewoonteregwetgewing wat voorheen sodanige hulpbronne gereguleer het. Hierdie studie fokus op die gebruik van tradisionele medisinale plante deur die Setswanagemeenskap vir selfbehandeling en as ’n vorm van primêre gesondheidsorg. Die navorsing vir die studie is in Kimberley in die Noord-Kaapprovinsie van Suid-Afrika gedoen en fokus op die kwessie van volhoubare medisinale-plantgebruik in die gebied, met bepaalde klem op gebruik en gebruikers, die verkryging van middels wat deur ’n enkele handelaar verkoop word, en oestegnieke. Die doel van die navorsing was om te bepaal of die oes van medisinale plante ’n moontlike bedreiging vir plantgemeenskappe in die gebied inhou. Om die tekortkominge van medisinale antropologie aan te pak, ondersoek die studie ook die uitwerking van die verskuiwing en hervestiging van verskeie gemeenskappe in die gebied op plantgebruik, oesmetodes, die volhoubaarheid van die natuurlike hulpbronne, asook die oordrag van inheemse Setswana-kennis oor geslagte heen. Selfbehandeling en die gebruik van tradisionele medisinale plante speel steeds ’n groot rol in Kimberley, aangesien die meeste van die individue wat aan die navorsing deelgeneem het steeds tradisionele geneesmiddels as deel van hulle kultuur en tradisie gebruik. Daar word in ’n uiteenlopende verskeidenheid plantmateriaal handel gedryf. Hoewel sommige van die middels plaaslik ingesamel word, word die meeste van ander dele van die land, en in party gevalle van buurlande soos Lesotho en Swaziland, ingevoer. Hoewel die meeste van die materiaal dus nie plaaslik ingesamel word en dus nie bepaald op hierdie studie betrekking het nie, is dit steeds aanduidend van oes- en volhoubaarheidskwessies in ander dele van die land. Die kruiekenner dryf in sewentig tradisionele medisinale-plantsoorte handel, waarvan party beskermd en erg bedreig is, waaronder Prunus africana en Warburgia salutaris wat slegs in beskermde gebiede in die land voorkom. Prunus africana is ’n gelyste spesie in CITES, aanhangsel 2. Ander bedreigde spesies sluit Ocotea bullata, Bersama lucens, Curtisia dentata en ’n Eugenia-spesie in. Die meeste van die plante wat (in Kimberley) geoes word, is in die vorm van ondergrondse bergingsorgane (uitlopers en bolle). Hoewel hierdie plante van stingelskade en die skade aan ondergrondse bergingsorgane kan herstel, vat hulle swak pos indien hulle oorgebruik en oorontgin word, en kan hulle dus mettertyd al hoe minder voorkom. In hierdie studie word die mettertydse afname in plantbevolkings deur die toename in reisafstande na insamelingspunte aangetoon. Hierdie tendens is egter nie in die handelsprys en -materiaalhoeveelhede oor die afgelope eeu weerspieël nie. Die meeste van die studiedeelnemers het bevestig dat die prys en hoeveelheid van die handelsmateriaal deurentyd betreklik stabiel gebly het. Van die teikenspesies wat vir kwesbaarheid of sensitiwiteit vir ontwrigting ondersoek is, het Withania somnifera, Boophane disticha, Dicoma anomala en Bulbine natalensis die laagste oorlewingspotensiaal en die hoogste ontwrigtingsensitiwiteit getoon. Die meeste van hierdie spesies het in baie klein hoeveelhede op die gekose terreine voorgekom. In die geval van Withania somnifera kon die negatiewe resultate egter met die laereënvalseisoen gedurende daardie betrokke jaar in verband gebring word. Hierdie spesie word oor die algemeen as ’n onkruid in ontwrigte gebiede geklassifiseer en kom meestal onder erg ontwrigte toestande voor. Sekere spesies, soos Elephantorrhiza elephantina en ’n Helichrysum-spesie, het positief op ontwrigting gereageer en het volop in ontwrigte habitatte voorgekom. Om vernietigende oestery in die Kimberley-omgewing te minimaliseer en die volhoubare ontginning van planthulpbronne te verseker, is dit belangrik dat plaaslike plukkers in gepaste oestegnieke, en plaaslike insamelaars oor volhoubaarheidskwessies en ander ekologies belangrike sake opgelei word.

本創作分為兩條主軸，一條為攝影作品集取向的攝影製作，另一條為研究結果取向的創作論述與田野研究。兩者在內容呈現上互為輔佐，在方法上互相補充。筆者通過在雲南L市的紀實攝影與相關闡釋，為閱聽人提供一副較為真實的精神病患的生存圖景。 在X精神病院中的醫護人員與病人之間的確存在著巨大的權力落差，其中權力的運作方式基本符合Foucault的描述：與空間緊密的結合。病區中的規章制度與大大小小的日常活動依依顯示出醫護人員對病人的控制。醫生在診斷與治療的過程中並未完全依循西方醫學，而是加入了地方知識。病人也在個體層面上有著微小的反抗，雖然有效，但也未破壞醫院秩序的正常運轉。 而在LJ村拍攝的民族誌影片中，顯示出了村中年輕人與老一輩在地方文化傳承上的斷裂。相較於民俗治療儀式，他們更願意相信西方醫療體系，更加傾向於去現代醫院中進行診斷與治療。 / This paper is mainly based on two guidelines: the photography creation aiming at photo collection, and the discussion and field research for research achievements. Theses two guidelines work as supplement for each other. Through the record by photography and related discussion in L City, Yunnan, I hope that the real current situation for mental patients could be showed to readers. Indeed, there is a great “power gap” between the staff and patients in psychiatric hospital, in which the way the staff use their power almost complies with Foucault’s description: “Space, Knowledge and Power”. All the rules and daily activities in the area indicate the control of the staff to patients in different degree. The doctors don’t completely rely on western medical for healing, instead they add traditional knowledge, for which patients sometimes make small fight for. Although these small fights are effective, they don’t make effect on the normal operation of the hospital. In terms of the ethnography film recorded in L Village, it indicates a disruption between the young and the old on the inheritance for traditional culture. The young generation is more likely to choose modern hospital for disease, rather than relying on traditional method.

La douleur est une expérience humaine des plus universelles et d’une riche variabilité culturelle. Néanmoins, il y a peu d’études sur ce sujet en général et qui plus est, la recherche sur la douleur chez les Amérindiens est presque inexistante. L’expérience de douleur de quelques 28 millions d’Amérindiens en Amérique du Sud, dont les Quichuas (Inca), est encore méconnue. Cette recherche interdisciplinaire, psychophysiologique et anthropologique, vise deux buts : (1) Étudier les effets de type analgésique du défi verbal culturellement significatif chez les Quichuas ; et (2) Faire un survol de leur système de croyances concernant la douleur, leur façon de la percevoir, de la décrire, et de la contrôler. Pour le volet expérimental, on a recruté 40 hommes en bonne santé. Les volontaires étaient assignés de façon alternée soit au groupe expérimental (20) soit au groupe contrôle (20). On a enregistré chez eux les seuils de la douleur, et celui de la tolérance à la douleur. Chez le groupe expérimental, on a, de plus, mesuré le seuil de la tolérance à la douleur avec défi verbal. La douleur était provoquée par pression au temporal, et mesurée à l’aide d’un algésimètre. Après chaque seuil, on a administré une échelle visuelle analogique. Pour le deuxième volet de l’étude, un groupe de 40 participants (15 femmes et 25 hommes) a répondu verbalement à un questionnaire en quichua sur la nature de la douleur. Celui-ci touchait les notions de cause, de susceptibilité, les caractéristiques de la douleur, les syndromes douloureux, les méthodes de diagnostic et de traitement, ainsi que la prévention. Notre étude a révélé que les participants ayant reçu le défi verbal ont présenté une tolérance accrue à la douleur statistiquement significative. Les valeurs de l’échelle visuelle analogique ont aussi augmenté chez ce groupe, ce qui indique un état accru de conscience de la douleur. L’expérience de la douleur chez les Quichuas est complexe et les stratégies pour la combattre sont sophistiquées. Selon leur théorie, le vécu d’émotions intenses, dues à des évènements de la vie, à l’existence d’autres maladies qui affectent la personne de façon concomitante, et aux esprits présents dans la nature ou chez d’autres personnes joue un rôle dans l’origine, le diagnostic et le traitement de la douleur. Les Quichuas accordent une grande crédibilité à la biomédecine ainsi qu’à la médecine traditionnelle quichua. Ils perçoivent la famille et le voisinage comme étant des sources supplémentaires de soutien. Il ressort également que les Quichuas préfèrent un service de santé de type inclusif et pluraliste. En conclusion, cette étude a révélé que des mots culturellement significatifs ayant une connotation de défi semblent augmenter la tolérance à la douleur chez les Quichuas. Il s’agit de la première étude à documenter les effets analgésiques de la parole. D’autre part, cette étude souligne également la potentielle utilité clinique de connaître le système quichua de croyances entourant la douleur et le contrôle de cette dernière. Ceci s’avère particulièrement utile pour les cliniciens soucieux d’offrir des soins de santé de meilleure qualité, culturellement adaptés, dans les Andes. / Pain is among the most universal yet culturally diverse human experience. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of research on pain in general and particularly among the Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. Little is known about the pain experience and suffering of the 28 million Indigenous peoples of the Andes in South America, mainly Quichuas (Inca). The aim of this integrative cultural and psychobiological study is twofold: (1) To examine the analgesic effects of culturally meaningful daring words among the Quichuas; and (2) To explore how Quichua adults perceive, describe, and cope with pain. For the psychophysiological component, a controlled, experimental study was conducted with a total of 40 healthy adult men, distributed alternately in an experimental and control group with 20 participants on each group. They received a pressure pain stimulation using an algometer applied to the right temporal area. The pain threshold and pain tolerance threshold were measured in all participants. In addition, the experimental group received culturally meaningful daring Quichua words while their encouraged pain tolerance threshold was measured. After each threshold measurement, a visual analog scale was administered. The algometer and visual analog scale scores were analyzed using t-tests. For the anthropological component, an exploratory qualitative/descriptive survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 40 Quichua adults, including 15 women and 25 men, in the Northern Highlands of Ecuador. We administered verbally structured interviews using a Quichua questionnaire called “The Nature of Pain” [Nanay Jahua Tapuicuna]. The interviews covered the notions of causation of pain, vulnerability to pain, responses to pain, aggravating factors, frequent locations of pain, types of pain, duration, characteristics of pain, control of pain, pathways to care, and preventive measures. Participants receiving culturally meaningful daring words had statistically significant higher algometer values than those who did not receive them. Those who received daring words had higher VAS scores than those who did not receive them, reflecting their increased awareness of pain. The Quichuas’ pain experience is complex and their strategies to cope with it are sophisticated. According to the Quichuas, emotions, life events, co-morbid conditions, and supernatural forces play an important role in the cause, diagnosis and treatment of pain. They embrace biomedicine as well as Quichua traditional medicine. In their view family members and neighbors are valuable sources of health care and pain control. The pathway to pain care that the Quichua people favor is inclusive and pluralistic. Culturally meaningful daring words appear to increase tolerance to pain among the Quichua. This is a pioneering study that reveals the analgesic effects of daring words. It highlights the remarkable biological effects of language in humans. Knowledge of the “emic” details of the Quichuas’ belief system and coping strategies to control pain could be useful for the culturally competent health practitioner who is making efforts to provide high-quality medical care in the Andes.