Animals also know how to heal themselves like humans

Similar to humans, many animals also find drugs to heal themselves, such as digestive disorders, parasitic infections, . or even to reduce labor pain.

The phenomenon of self-healing animals (zoopharmacognosy) has been recorded in macaws in Brazil, elephants in Kenya and both dogs and cats in England and America. A scientist has even created a process to help researchers determine whether an animal is self-healing or simply hungry.

In 1996, biologist Michael Huffman proposed a four-step process to determine whether plants or minerals that animals eat are a "self-prescribed" form of medication for them. According to him, if these ingredients are not in the regular diet of animals, if they bring little or no nutritional value to that animal, if they are eaten at certain times. During the year, when parasites are raging and if individuals of the same species in the herd / group of animals are not detected at the same time, these plants or minerals are being used by animals as drugs. , not food.

Expert Joel Shurkin wrote in PNAS magazine: "Science of human self-healing is named from the transplantation of zoo roots, pharma and gnosy. The level of knowledge or related learning is unknown, but many animals seem to have evolved to be capable of discovering the medicinal ingredients in plants. "Inferiority, but we have a lot of examples. The phenomenon of self-healing seems to be widespread throughout the animal kingdom sometimes in very surprising ways."

Dogs were found to eat grass to treat abdominal pain, while lemurs eat bark and tamarind to increase lactation.

For example, despite the fact that eating grass causes them to become sick, dogs, domestic cats or dogs, wild cats around the world still actively seek this plant. It is thought that this is a way to help them reduce abdominal pain and get rid of something that is irritating in the gut.

"Dogs do not have the means to digest grass, because they lack the essential enzymes to destroy fiber. Therefore, there is not much nutritional value for them. A reason for grass eating can be due to Perhaps, the dogs know that this is a temporary solution to stomach discomfort, " explains Dr. Michael Goldberg, a veterinarian in Vancouver, Canada.

According to Goldberg, the tests for dogs that exhibited grass eating then revealed they had inflammation in the abdomen, such as gastroesophageal reflux or intestinal disease.

The researchers also observed the pure hostages swallowing leaves of up to 35 Aspilia plants in an attempt to eliminate parasites. Aspilia leaves contain a chemical called thiarubrine-A, capable of killing certain parasites in the intestinal tract.

Similar to dogs, chimpanzees are also recorded to eat certain types of mulch to make them sick. The roughness of these plants can act as "sandpaper" to fly parasites in their digestive tract.

Experts also observed red and blue parakeets eating kaolin (white clay for pottery and porcelain) to solve digestive problems. This action is considered a "detoxification" strategy .

For example, the Amazon macaws are mostly composed of seeds, so they can consume even small fruits or other poisonous things like seeds. Zoologist Charles Munn believes that many parakeets lick clay in the riverbed to obtain detoxifying minerals and counteract tannin compounds as well as bitter alkaloid, which exist in many of these nuts.

Clay has been found to be able to absorb bacteria and ease diarrhea in tapirs, forest elephants and mountain gorillas.

In a study published earlier this year, expert Holly Dublin spent a year watching a herd of elephants in Kenya. She realized that a big pregnant elephant had consumed the whole boraginaceae, which was not in its regular diet, before returning to its normal eating habits. 4 days after the unusual meal, the elephant gave birth.

Later, the Dublin expert knew that boraginaceae was used by women in the ring to spawn. She believed, the elephant had eaten this tree to have the same effect.

Meanwhile, pregnant lemurs were found eating mussels and tamarind to increase milk production, as well as increasing the chances of a successful birth. They also feed their children with bark to help kill parasites.

Reference: Daily Mail.