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Malaria is a serious infectious disease. It is one of the intermittent fevers which have a tendencyto return again and again to haunt the sufferer. The word malaria comes from the Italian malaria,meaning bad air as it was once supposed to be caused by bad air. It is one of the most widespread diseases in the world, especially in tropical and subtropical regions.

Symptoms

There are three main types of malaria, depending upon the parasite which causes it. These arevivax, falciparum and malaria, commonly called tertian fever, quarter fever and the malignanttertian malaria. The most common symptom of all types of malaria is high fever, which maycome every day, on alternate days or every fourth day. The fever is accompanied by chill,headache, shivering and pain in the limbs. The temperature comes down after some time withprofuse sweating. One of the main effects of malaria is anemia. Other complications of thedisease are kidney failure and dysentery.

Causes

Malaria is caused by a tiny parasite called plasmodium. The parasites grow in the liver of aperson for a few days and then enter the bloodstream where they invade the red blood cells.The disease is spread from a sick person to a healthy one by the female anopheles mosquito.She draws a small quantity of blood containing the parasites, when she bites a person who hasmalaria. These parasites then pass through several stages of development within the mosquito’sbody and finally find their way to its salivary glands. There they lie in wait for an opportunity toenter the bloodstream of the next person. The real cause of malaria, however, as in case ofother infectious diseases, is wrong feeding habits and faulty style of living, resulting in thesystem being clogged with accumulated systemic refuse and morbid matter. It is on this soil thatthe malaria germs breed. The liberal use of denatured foods of today such as white sugar, whiteflour and products made from them, as well as tinned foods, strong tea, coffee and alcoholicbeverages, lower the vitality of the system and paves the way for the development of malaria.

Treatment

Diet is of utmost importance in the treatment of malaria. To begin with, the patient should fast onorange juice and water for seven to fifteen days depending on the severity of the fever. Thewarm water enema should be administered daily during this period to cleanse the bowels. Afterthe fever has subsided, the patient should be placed on an exclusive fresh fruit diet for furtherthree days. In this regimen, he should take three meals a day, at five-hourly intervals, of fresh,juicy fruits, like oranges, grapes, grapefruit, apple, pineapple, mango and papaya. Milk may beadded to the fruit-diet after this period and this diet may be continued for a further few days.Thereafter, the patient may gradually embark upon a well-balanced diet of natural foodsconsisting of seeds, nuts and grains. Vegetables and fruits , with emphasis on fresh fruits andraw vegetables.The patient should avoid strong tea, coffee, refined and processed foods, fried foods,condiments, sauces, pickles, white sugar, white flour, and all products made from them. Heshould also avoid all meats, alcoholic drinks and smoking.The best way to reduce temperature naturally, during the course of fever, is by means of thecold pack, which can be applied to the whole body. This pack is made by wringing out a sheet orother large square piece of linen material in cold water, wrapping it right round the body and legsof the patient ( twice round would be best ) and then covering completely with a small blanket orsimilar warm material. This pack should be applied every three hours during the day whiletemperature is high and kept on for an hour or so . Hot-water bottles may be applied to the feetand also against the sides of the body.

Home Remedies

Certain home remedies have been found beneficial in the treatment of malaria. One suchremedy is the use of grapefruit (chakotra). This substance can be extracted from the fruits byboiling a quarter of the grapefruit and straining its pulp.Lime and lemon are beneficial in the treatment of quarter type of malaria fever. About threegrams of lime should be dissolved in about 60 ml. of water and juice of one lemon added to it.This water should be taken before the onset of the fever.Cinnamon(dalchini) is regarded as an effective cure for all types of colds, including malaria. Itshould be coarsely powdered and boiled in a glass of water with a pinch of pepper powder andhoney. This can be used beneficially as a medicine in malaria.Alum ( phitkari) is also useful in malaria. It should be roasted over a hot plate and powdered. Itshould be taken about four hours before the expected attack and every two hours after it. Thiswill give relief.

Preventive Measures

The preventive aspect in malaria is as important as the curative one. The best way to protectagainst malaria is to adopt all measures necessary for preventing mosquito bites. For thispurpose, it is essential to maintain cleanliness of surroundings, environmental hygiene and toeradicate stretches of stagnant water. As the mosquito generally perches itself on the walls ofthe house, after biting a person, it would be advisable to spray the walls with insecticides.The leaves of the holy basil (tulsi) are considered beneficial in the prevention of malaria. Aninfusion of some leaves can be taken daily for this purpose. The juice of about 11 grams of tulsileaves mixed with three grams of black pepper, powder, can be taken beneficially in the coldstage of the malarial fever. This will check the severity of the disease.

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