INIBIOMA   20415
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES EN BIODIVERSIDAD Y MEDIOAMBIENTE
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Editorial. Medical Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacology in Latin America
Autor/es:
ALBUQUERQUE, ULYSSES; COOPER EDWIN; MARÍA FRANCO TRINIDADE MEDEIROS; NÓBREGA ALVES R; LADIO
Revista:
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Editorial:
Hindawi
Referencias:
Año: 2012 p. 1 - 3
ISSN:
1741-4288
Resumen:
Through their long exposure and experience with natural
resources, many local communities in Latin America have
developed health care practices. Thousands of years of
observation and experimentation have helped in developing
different empirical medical systems, as well as knowledge of
plants, animals, and minerals. Such knowledge is the subject
of medical ethnobiology and ethnopharmacology, disciplines
that before being exclusive actually complemented each
other. In the broadest sense, both medical ethnobiology and
ethnopharmacology attempt to make sense and to understand
traditional medical systems: the first from perceptions,
healing strategies, natural resources used to fight diseases
or maintain health; the second from traditional medicines,
either plants, animals, or minerals.
We can find new and different types of approaches
and theoretical and methodological developments such
as ethnopharmacological evaluations of traditional drugs
unknown so far; the inclusion of historical perspective in
ethnopharmacological studies; the migration influence on
traditional medical systems both in industrialized countries
and remote locations, or a greater focus on urban contexts
in ethnopharmacology. Moreover, the integrative aspect is
noteworthy; it includesmedical ethnobotany and zootherapy
(the treatment of human diseases using drug-based therapies
derived from animals).
Recent developments in methods and theory, like any
evolving discipline, promote discussions of theoretical scenarios
and help us understand the contexts of traditional
medical systems as well as methods and techniques that
enable access to these systems. Perhaps, a very common
approach has been the development of quantitative techniques
to access information about animals and plants
used in these medical systems, in order to constitute a
way to objectively select resources for phytochemical and
pharmacological studies. Ethnopharmacological evaluations
of traditional drugs is perhaps an approach that concentrates
most investigations, focusing on an assessment of traditional
preparations regarding their effectiveness. Both animals and
plants provide extensive resources for new Complementary
and Alternative Medicine (CAM) approaches which may
prove important for future applications. Despite criticism
about errors in experimentation and data interpretation this
approach has proven useful.