An Excellent Resource for the World Traveller

An Excellent Resource for the World Traveller

By Ming Dinh
DCH, BScOT

If you are considering travel to destinations in tropical and less developed countries, you have many things to check off your to-do list. Along with the usual trip planning, there is the added complication of informing yourself on diseases very different from the ones to be found at home. There are many, and some of them can be very serious.

The World Travellers' Manual of Homeopathy By Dr. Colin B. LESSELL, (available at Whole Health Now: http://www.wholehealthnow.com/books/travellers-manual.html) is an excellent resource for this preparatory stage. It covers a range of conditions that the traveller can be subjected to, from the usual travel sickness, jet-lag and accidents, to infections from bacteria, viruses, parasites, bites, stings, poisonings, etc. There is a special section for women, which includes advice for the pregnant traveler, and even a section at the end of the book that evaluates the quality of water in various regions of the world.

Dr. Lessell spent 5 years preparing this book and the result is a manual that is almost encyclopedic in its scope. It tries to be comprehensive in the multitude of ways in which you could get stung, poisoned, parasitized, bitten, injured, envenomed, infected and infested in the course of travels around the globe. For example, in his chapter on diseases of the skin, he covers windburn, boils, carbuncles, cold sores, impetigo, intertrigo, Dhobi’s itch, ringworm, scalp ringworm, Pityriasis versicolor, surfer’s ear, scabies, louse infestation, human maggot infestation, sandworm infestation, swimmer’s itch, blister beetles, shellfish urticaria, poison ivy rash, stinging tree rash, nettle stings, algae dermatitis, and tropical wood dermatitis.

Aside from vivid descriptions of the conditions you need to be concerned about, he includes commonsense advice on how to avoid getting ill, supportive treatment, when to seek medical advice, and suggestions on homeopathic treatment. This book is an eye opener for the layperson who may have no idea of the myriad things that can befall an unwary traveller when travelling abroad. It is well worth the time to read up on the areas to which you will be travelling, and to assemble a homeopathic kit specific to the conditions to be found there, as an addition to your regular travel kit.