In traditional culture, there were ideas about diseases as external forces that harm humans. Some of them were obvious, for example, injuries and overstrain at work, others were perceived as punishment for sins or caused by the action of unknown mysterious forces. So, the common disease fever was called, according to its various manifestations: "likhomanka", "shaking", "kolotukha", "dryness", "interior", etc. In total, twelve types were distinguished and considered the daughters of King Herod. According to the peasants, God sends fever, smallpox, "rodimets" (cerebral palsy), "tsvet", "likhomanka" and "ognevka" (various fevers) for sins."
Some diseases were presented in the form of living beings similar to humans and animals. For example, in the Tobolsk district, fever was represented as a tall woman in a red headscarf. Other diseases were also represented by zoomorphic creatures. For example, the Khanty and Mansi people mistook smallpox for a hostile spirit that first torments people, then feeds on their bodies. The causes of the disease could also be considered "spoilage" sent by sorcerers and witches. The effect of "spoilage" was explained not only by headaches, fever, aching joints or stomach pain, but also by family troubles.
Priests were asked about the gift of health as intermediaries between people and higher powers. Patients were advised to make pilgrimages to holy places, visit monasteries, and pray in front of miraculous icons. The spiritual verse "The Dream of the Most Holy Theotokos" has gained great popularity among the people. The verse was copied onto long strips of paper that they carried with them. There is a tradition of keeping so-called "witchcraft notebooks", where spells and prayers were recorded, and handwritten herbalists describing the properties of plants.
Herbal treatment was given special importance in folk medicine. Herbal treatment took place among the Russian, Tatar and indigenous peoples of Siberia. Herbs widely distributed in the region were used — chamomile, yarrow, nettle, tansy, mint.
The settlers enriched the knowledge of the people and expanded the arsenal of medicinal products. Under the influence of the settlers, Russian old-timers began to use the fat of domestic and wild animals to prepare ointments and rubs.
As a rule, peasants had the necessary amount of knowledge to treat diseases with folk remedies, when this knowledge was insufficient, they turned to healers, sorcerers and healers.
The success of scientific knowledge in the early twentieth century caused changes in the worldview of the people. The younger generation no longer believed in the idea of diseases as living beings. But such a practice of medicine continued to exist and even competed significantly with official medicine.