Ranchi, Dec. 19: Aditi Hembrom of Pakur district was suffering from severe headache for the past 15 years. She was tired of popping medicines without any result. Then she tried the tribal medical treatment, ?Hodopathy?. Aditi got instant relief from her headache.

The little-known hodopathy is an old treatment of mixing herbs found in dense forest areas.

L.S. Hembrom, an expert in tribal medicines in Ranchi, prescribed roots of a plant called ?Hazam? mixed with honey for a week for Aditi.

?I had been suffering for the past 15 years. I can now concentrate in my studies and perform well in my class tests,? said Aditi, a Class X student.

Hembrom is practising hodopathy for the past 30 years in the state capital. The profession was handed over by his father and forefathers.

He told The Telegraph, ?I make medicines from herbs collected from the jungles in Habab, 20-km from Ranchi, and also from the dense jungles of Dasam falls. More than 300 herbs are collected to make different medicines.?

The tribal doctor is known to have treated patients suffering from TB, diabetes, mouth cancer, skin cancer, coughs and headaches.

He said, ?After making the medicines, I experiment it on myself before prescribing it to the patients. Hodopathy has no side effects. A patient has to stay on a liquid diet during the treatment.?

Many have been successfully treated by him. One of the patients in Ranchi, Jacob Tirkey, who had mouth cancer, was prescribed herbal medicine mixed with ghee for a week. He responded quickly to the medication.

Tirkey said, ?I had visited the local physicians but they failed to detect that the cancer was in the initial stage. The medicines didn?t help. My friend suggested I try tribal medicines, which was effective. The treatment cost is also cheap.?

Hembrom?s treatment charge comes to Rs 5 only. And this is the reason why most of his patients are the poor.

The tribal doctor said, ?I am trying to spread hodopathy through training programme in all the districts. I will soon go to Simdega and Sahebganj to give training to the people.?

Doodh ghas, chotidoodhi and mahua chal are some of the ingredients used for the tribal medicines. For the snakebite, he uses the roots of a plant Nag Dawan.

?I?m advising people to grow plants and other herbs in their gardens which will help in the treatment,? he said.

His herbal treatment has also pulled patients from Delhi and Calcutta.