Ethnomedicine is a study or comparison of the

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

based on bioactive compounds in plants and animals and practiced by various ethnic groups, especially those with little access to western medicines, e.g.,

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. The word ''ethnomedicine'' is sometimes used as a synonym for ''traditional medicine''.Acharya, Deepak and Shrivastava Anshu: ''Indigenous Herbal Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices''. Aavishkar Publishers Distributor, Jaipur / India 2008, , p. 440. Ethnomedical research is interdisciplinary; in its study of traditional medicines, it applies the methods of ethnobotany and

medical anthropology Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives. It is one of the most highly developed areas of anthropology and applie ...

. Often, the medicine traditions it studies are preserved only by

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...

. In addition to plants, some of these traditions constitute significant interactions with insects on the Indian Subcontinent, in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, or elsewhere around the globe. Scientific ethnomedical studies constitute either anthropological research or drug discovery research. Anthropological studies examine the cultural perception and context of a traditional medicine. Ethnomedicine has been used as a starting point in drug discovery, specifically those using reverse pharmacological techniques.

Ethnopharmacology

Ethnopharmacology is a related field which studies ethnic groups and their use of plant compounds. It is linked to pharmacognosy,

phytotherapy Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...

(study of

medicinal plant Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection ag ...

s) use and ethnobotany, as this is a source of

lead compound A lead compound (, i.e. a "leading" compound, not to be confused with various compounds of the metallic element lead) in drug discovery is a chemical compound that has pharmacology, pharmacological or biological activity likely to be therapeutical ...

s for drug discovery. Emphasis has long been on

s, although the approach also has proven useful to the study of modern pharmaceuticals. It involves studies of the: # identification and ethnotaxonomy (cognitive categorisation) of the (eventual) natural material, from which the candidate compound will be produced # traditional preparation of the pharmaceutical forms # bio-evaluation of the possible pharmacological action of such preparations (ethnopharmacology) # their potential for clinical effectiveness # socio-medical aspects implied in the uses of these compounds (

Ethnopharmacology

See also

References

Further reading