Do animals (and humans) have instincts to medicate themselves?

[Gungalley]

I remember reading somewhere that animals know which plants to eat when they are sick. And these plants have curative properties in traditional and herbal medicine.

Now this brings me to my hypothesis, that humans in the past did have this instinct too. Now some of you may say that traditional medicine is , but I would beg to differ. A significant amount of treaiditional medicine actually have a place in modern medicine. Scientists have identified the medicinal compound in herbs and purified them and mass produced them via other means. Examples would be quinine, salicylate (aspirin) and artermisin. Now, i don't believe that humans found out these plants have curative properties for specific illnesses via trial and error. The probability is just too low. There are countless species of plants and diseases, and to have the correct match is just improbable. Thus I hypothesize that in a time when primal instincts had a greater control over humans, humans actually discovered which plants were beneficial, and passed the knowledge down firstly via oral traditions, and then via writing.

[Juvenal]

Humans still do have this ability...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_craving

A food craving is an intense desire to consume a particular food, as opposed to food in general. Food cravings are especially common in people following structured diet plans, and often interfere with the best of intentions to adhere to a particular style of eating.
...
A widely accepted reason for certain cravings (especially during pregnancy) are a drop in the bodies levels of the vitamins and minerals contained in the food craved. A person on a strict diet, may therefore crave items considered 'unhealthy' as they contain high sugar glucose, which they have become deficient in.

[Da Skinna]

In the natural world, food is medicine, is it not?

[Morkonan]

...Thus I hypothesize that in a time when primal instincts had a greater control over humans, humans actually discovered which plants were beneficial, and passed the knowledge down firstly via oral traditions, and then via writing.

You are most likely correct. However, I would point out that a certain amount of "Trial and Error" was probably necessary. But, that isn't necessarily "active" Trial and Error where someone actively seeks out a cure. It most likely is from a more passive notice of "cause and effect" that lead to early medicines. From there, once sufficient evidence was gathered regarding the effect of certain plants, futher investigations may have included Trial and Error. So, some plants that are similar to the plants which have beneficial effects may have been "tried" as well and the "errors" noted.

Animals notice cause and effect as well. They also notice sickness. If they feel ill and eat something which makes them feel better, they will likely connect the two situations. Taste and other food-related senses and cognitions are some of the most powerful in all species, including humans. Smell is one we can easily identify with and can evoke powerful imagery with us. It's probably not much different in animals and, considering their advanced senses, it's probably a very strong role indeed.

But, even if an animal isn't sick, it may notice another's illness. It may also notice what that animal does when it is ill and, it's possible, it could also sense when that peer becomes better as well. So, IMO, it could also be possible an animal could pick up information relating to cause and effect, empathize that and compare it to its own state and then seek out the same plant its "teacher" had eaten. This part is all just wild conjecture but, I think it has some possible merit. Empathy is extremely difficult to observe though.

[Chaigidel]

I have seen lots of footage of lemurs who nibble poisonous centipedes in the trees to get high

[Alkarin]

I have seen lots of footage of lemurs who nibble poisonous centipedes in the trees to get high

oh my gawd that is epic.

[Thanatos]

There's a difference between self-medication, and getting high, Chaig.

[Chaigidel]

not very much, considering the importance of stress and its relief even in the most simple of animals. and any alkaloid you consume to produce any physical effect can be classified as a medicine if administered as one, I dont expect lemurs to make a distinction.

[Thanatos]

Well, that's the thing, the lemurs eat the caterpillars to get high, but for what reason? Are they stressed? Injured? Hungry? Just bored?

[Da Skinna]

I eat poisonous things out of boredom.

[Dracula]

To say that the animals or humans have such an instinct,it is necessary to point out diseases that have been CURED by the application of those herbs. If a full cure did not occur but it was just relief they felt, it is not worth to be classified as an ability of the species,especially taken the high ammount of raw stuff one needs to get cured compared to an ordinary drug. And if they didn't take that big ammount of stuff,it can have been simply incidentall.

[chamaeleo]

To say that the animals or humans have such an instinct,it is necessary to point out diseases that have been CURED by the application of those herbs. If a full cure did not occur but it was just relief they felt, it is not worth to be classified as an ability of the species,especially taken the high ammount of raw stuff one needs to get cured compared to an ordinary drug. And if they didn't take that big ammount of stuff,it can have been simply incidentall.

Unnecessary and potentially dangerous to take huge doses. Small doses over time usually works well. Such as using said "drug-food" as a spice, or food-additive. Spices taste...good. Accident, or evolutionary response?

That said, I DO eat huge amounts of spicy green chile to nuke stomach bugs when I get sick...works nicely, until the next morning...

[Dracula]

That said, I DO eat huge amounts of spicy green chile to nuke stomach bugs when I get sick...works nicely, until the next morning...

You won't say this is evolution, will you ?

[chamaeleo]

You won't say this is evolution, will you ?

In my case, it's more like "addiction". For the rest of the world, there's actually a good argument:

Cultures living in tropics must contend w more parasites. They also tend to eat spicier food. Nothing like a strong curry or a habanero dish to destroy one's bowels, causing a turnover in your gut endosymbiont/parasite community!

[chamaeleo]

Pregnant women typically change up their diets in response to fetal nutrient needs, or to reduce meat consumption (which is more likely to host parasites than other foods).

Bears with bad gums/broken teeth/abscesses will peel away the bark of a willow, and scrape out the inner bark for the salicylate.

Have you watched "Animals are Beautiful People"? Same director as "the Gods must be Crazy". There's some hilarious South Africa footage of baboons, elephants, giraffe, lemurs, warthogs...basically, an entire local mammal population...feasting on fermented fruit and getting absolutely tore to the core. Good calories, that. The baboon nursing the hangover is priceless!

Now, i don't believe that humans found out these plants have curative properties for specific illnesses via trial and error.

Why not? Our "instincts" as you put it are our senses of taste and smell, rather than "not sure why, but that leaf gives me a bad feeling". This is our tool of choice for experimenting with unfamiliar edibles... Read any survival manual's section on food-tasting for proper instruction.

Even animals "experiment". Not by gorging themselves on unfamiliar foliage, rather, first nibbling at it and tasting (evaluating) its utility. We do the same, and if you ever walked into an unfamiliar ethnic restaurant and order an item at random there's a strong chance that you'd instinctively fall into the act...small spoonful, sniff it first, taste it with the tongue-tip, shift it around in the mouth, maybe swallow if it passes these tests...

...poisonous compounds usually taste bad because we've evolved an appropriate detection mechanism, and if they taste good, the plant might be trying to use you as a delivery mechanism for seed dispersal and as high-quality fertilizer!

[Bernem]

Capsaicin is the hot tasting ingredient in chilies. It has an antimicrobial effect, that helps to store food for a longer and can work against pathogens in your intestines.


An antimicrobial (-fungal) effect against yeast has been described by this japanese study:

http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/...ticle/-char/en

[Bovril]

Pretty much all mamals reflexively lick any cuts they aquire. Since saliva is anti-septic, this can be thought of as instinctual self medicating.

[chamaeleo]

Pretty much all mamals reflexively lick any cuts they aquire. Since saliva is anti-septic, this can be thought of as instinctual self medicating.

Excellent point.

My dog, a rhodesian ridgeback whose long, floppy ears were nibbled up by an overzealous puppy ~1 year ago, never quite healed completely...perpetual scabs at the tips. We tried everything: tribiotic, bag-balm, etc. Out of ideas, I started spitting on his ear-tips before applying bag-balm (to prevent dehydration) about a month ago. If he lived w other dogs, they'd have done this from day 1...

The wounds? Nearly healed now, the scabs are gone and things are a healthy pink color!