http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45484594/ns/te... MSNBC says they self-medicate with food, but that word assumes that chimpanzees would only eat something if it were for one purpose, which this study says is not the case. iow, the origins of medicine likely go back beyond our current incarnation in this world as homo sapiens. Maybe they chose to use the word "food" rather than plants because it fits a view related to food and humans and to say "plants" might imply some relation to an anti-tumor, anti-nausea plant that is currently illegal for medical consumption according to the federal govt - or maybe not. in any case...
"We conclude that self-medication may have appeared in our ancestors in association with high social tolerance and lack of herbivorous gut specialization," lead author Shelly Masi and her colleagues write.
Analysis of the mostly non-nutritional and sometimes slightly toxic foods consumed determined that most had medicinal properties. Based on the study, the chimpanzee medicine chest appears to include the following: Antiaris toxicaria leaves (anti-tumor), Cordia abyssinica pith (anti-malarial and anti-bacterial), Ficus capensis (anti-bacterial), Ficus natalensis bark (anti-diarrheal), Ficus urceolaris leaves (de-worming agent), and many more.
The primates seemed to strategically go for the medicinal parts of these plants, and would consume them even when other more nutritious and palatable foods were available.
Michael Huffman also found that chimpanzees and humans shared a common cure for worms.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:... In addition,
Stacy Lindshield, an Iowa State University researcher, also identified a medicated body scratcher invented by wild spider monkeys.
"Spider monkeys have been observed rubbing crushed and chewed leaves on their bodies," Lindshield told Discovery News, explaining that "some primates select plants or invertebrates with chemical properties." In addition to medicinal purposes, she said the resulting smelly ointment might also facilitate olfactory communication.
Julio Mercader, a University of Calgary archaeologist, told Discovery News that he believes such medicinal and otherwise useful plant “tools” merit study via a new interdisciplinary field of primate archaeology.
http://dnapes.blogspot.com/2011/12/chimpan... Medicine is very old.
