Ethnomedicinal plants and their traditional knowledge are slowly decaying. The restoration, preservation, and conservation of ethnomedicinal knowledge is for the greater interest of society.
The rural and remote communities in India are still dependent on indigenous medicines to treat different ailments. Using various medicinal plants to treat various ailments has been a part of human culture since ancient times.
Exploring the man-nature relationship helps us conceive the different communities' undertone lifestyles and the ecosystem in which they dwell together.
It is essential to mention that the last decade has witnessed a considerable rise in ethnomedicinal studies and ethnomedicine in the traditional healthcare system.
What is Ethnomedicine?
Ethnomedicine refers to the study of traditional medical practice, which is concerned with the cultural interpretation of health, disease, and illness and addresses the healing practices. The practice of ethnomedicine is a complex multi-disciplinary system constituting plants as the primary healthcare for the people for millennia.
Ethnomedicine is a sub-category of medical anthropology focused on the cause and effect of disease and illness. Ethnomedicine is a product of cultural development and not a derivative from the conceptual framework of modern medicine.
Ethnomedicinal practice is founded on traditional knowledge and belief that uses various plant extracts to treat and prevent various ailments.
In India, all the medicinal systems like Ayurveda and Unani, with ethnomedicinal except allopathy, depend largely on herbal medicines.
Is Ethnomedicine an age-old practice?
India has an ancient heritage of traditional medicine, and it is greatly acknowledged in India. The Indian traditional medicine is based on various systems, including Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, etc.
The earliest document of medicinal plant use in the Himalayan Region is Rig Veda, the oldest archive of human knowledge and 67 medicinal plants.
Ayurveda is considered the oldest of the medical system, which was developed around 4500-500 BCE (Vedic period), and the ayurvedic texts were written down around 1000-800 BCE. In Ayurveda, we will mention various traditional usages of herbs, plant extracts, God as a healer to destroy disease-causing demons and restore health.
Traditional medicine is the sum of knowledge, skills, practice-based theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures used to maintain health and prevent or treat physical and mental illness.
From time immemorial, this traditional knowledge of medicinal practice has been documented. This documentation of traditional healthcare knowledge has paved the way for discovering important medicines in modern society.
Ethnomedicine is an ancient practice of various tribes and communities of India. Bengalis, a tribe of Himachal Pradesh, predominantly use ethnomedicine as a means of treatment for ages.
World Health Organisation and Ethnomedicine
According to the World Health Organisation data, ethnomedicine is popular in all regions of developing countries. In Ghana, Bali, Nigeria, and Zambia, herbal medicine is used to treat malaria. In San Francisco, London, and South Africa, 70% of people who have HIV/AIDS use traditional medicines for treatment.
World Health Organisation has anticipated that 80% of the people in the world rely on traditional medicine, including ethnomedicine, for primary health care needs.
The association of man with the plant can be traced back to the ‘Pleistocene Epoch’ (2.3 million years ago). From the works of Acharya Charaka and Acharya Sushruta, we know that Indo- Aryans were acquainted with a large number of medicinal plants.
Importance of Ethnomedicine
India is considered one of the world's mega-diversity countries blessed with rich diversity with various medicinal value plants. The use of plants and plant extracts for medicinal purposes can be traced back to the beginning of human civilization.
In recent years, various researches on ethnomedicine have given rise to new thoughts to apply the traditional knowledge of medicine to modern health care. The prime interest of ethnomedicine is to determine the existing relationship between man and environment and how different tribes look into the diseases and towards their prevention and cure.
Ethnomedicine is a branch of medical anthropology that can also be applied to ponder the contemporary issues relevant to the biomedical system. It focuses on a culture that deals with sickness and its end.
It will prove to be an asset shortly.
Many developing countries are trying to incorporate this traditional knowledge of medicine in their healthcare system for treating various diseases.
Why is the Growth of Ethnomedicine Dwindling?
During the past century, there has been a rapid extension of India's allopathic medical treatment system. Several research institutes have undertaken studies on the cultivation practices of medicinal plants, which were found remunerative for commercial cultivation.
Over time, the limitation of ethnomedicine to treat only small-scale diseases on the one hand and development and innovation of other medicines; on the other hand, the traditional knowledge of medicine is slowly vanishing. Despite this, many tribal communities of India has attempted to survive this knowledge by using them in various therapy.
Lack of organized, sustainable cultivation and lack of awareness about the social factors and mismanagement of traditional plants have decreased their size rapidly.
Globalization and the green revolution is also a reason for the dwindling natural resources. Human civilization is primarily challenged by rapid climate change, reduced biodiversity, and negligible emphasis on enriched natural resources.
Many traditionally used medicinal plants are endemic and stand threatened in the face of extinction and need due attention for conservation.
Conclusion
Realizing the importance of plant-based chemicals has been a vigorous field of research to western scientists. There is a growing appreciation of herbal medicines all over the world.
In the wake of modernization and acculturation, communities have lost solidarity with natural medicinal plants used by their ancestors for various ailments. However, increasing acceptance of herbal drugs has rendered a drastic increase in the price of useful medicines. The natural occurrence of plant material is also depleting fast due to over-exploitation.
It is pertinent that we preserve and protect the indigenous knowledge of ethnomedicine which faces the danger of extinction in the hands of cultural transition and integration. Our attachment to modern medicine and ignorance of traditional understanding of ethnomedicine may eventually vanish unless treated as an alternative to modern health care.
It is necessary to explore indigenous knowledge based on ecological, economic, and environmental sustainability.
The tribes and communities should be encouraged to cultivate ethnomedicinal plants with improved cultivation techniques. This will also boost their income generation and improve their livelihood.
Traditional medicine is a valuable resource for the development of medicine, and therefore it is more important to take steps for their preservation and protection.
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