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Hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in Lao PDR: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission
BACKGROUND: In Lao PDR, the Hmong ethnic group has extensive knowledge about the use of medicinal plants. However, despite the importance of the Hmong pharmacopeia as a primary health care resource, no study has been undertaken to thoroughly document medicinal plant knowledge and its transmission. O...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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BioMed Central
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6567612/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31196205 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-019-0307-2 |
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author | Dubost, Jean Marc Phakeovilay, Chiobouaphong Her, Chithdavone Bochaton, Audrey Elliott, Elizabeth Deharo, Eric Xayvue, Mouachan Bouamanivong, Somsanith Bourdy, Geneviève |
author_facet | Dubost, Jean Marc Phakeovilay, Chiobouaphong Her, Chithdavone Bochaton, Audrey Elliott, Elizabeth Deharo, Eric Xayvue, Mouachan Bouamanivong, Somsanith Bourdy, Geneviève |
author_sort | Dubost, Jean Marc |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: In Lao PDR, the Hmong ethnic group has extensive knowledge about the use of medicinal plants. However, despite the importance of the Hmong pharmacopeia as a primary health care resource, no study has been undertaken to thoroughly document medicinal plant knowledge and its transmission. Objectives of this study are (i) to describe and characterize Hmong pharmacopeia, and (ii) to understand how medicinal plant knowledge is transmitted and spread among Hmong in Lao PDR, in order to assess whether this knowledge base is under threat. METHODS: In order to describe Hmong pharmacopeia, a total of 14 interlocutors were interviewed in three provinces (Bokeo, Xieng Khouang, and Vientiane), using “walk in the wood” methodology. To gain insight about knowledge transmission, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 people. Twenty of them were herbalists. Data analysis was performed using univariate analysis for the description of the pharmacopeia. Medicinal plant knowledge consistency was assessed through use and plant name overlapping. Answers to the semi-structured interview on knowledge transmission were analyzed qualitatively. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty-three different medicinal species were collected. The majority of uses attributed to plants were gastrointestinal conditions (22% of total use reports), gynecological conditions and sexually transmitted disease (12%), skin affections (8%), kidney and bladder problems (5%), physical traumas (5%), and aphrodisiac (or male tonics; 5%). Use convergences are more marked in the gynecological sphere, but there is a strong heterogeneity in practices and knowledge. Medicinal plant knowledge transmission is oral, gained from direct experience since childhood, matrilineal, and kept strictly within the family lineage. Apparent limited consensus on uses might stem from the method of knowledge transmission and to the economic value given to medicinal plants. DISCUSSION: Use pattern of species from the Hmong pharmacopeia does not appear to be strikingly different from the national Lao pharmacopeia. Differences may lie in the methods and reasons for knowledge transmission. It can be proposed that the economic value given to plants helps in keeping the knowledge alive, and encourages its transmission. CONCLUSION: Hmong traditional medicine is constantly evolving in a dynamic process and aims to respond to health problems faced by the local population. Herbalists appear as health fully fledged actors and should be recognized and valued as such. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13002-019-0307-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6567612 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | BioMed Central |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-65676122019-06-27 Hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in Lao PDR: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission Dubost, Jean Marc Phakeovilay, Chiobouaphong Her, Chithdavone Bochaton, Audrey Elliott, Elizabeth Deharo, Eric Xayvue, Mouachan Bouamanivong, Somsanith Bourdy, Geneviève J Ethnobiol Ethnomed Research BACKGROUND: In Lao PDR, the Hmong ethnic group has extensive knowledge about the use of medicinal plants. However, despite the importance of the Hmong pharmacopeia as a primary health care resource, no study has been undertaken to thoroughly document medicinal plant knowledge and its transmission. Objectives of this study are (i) to describe and characterize Hmong pharmacopeia, and (ii) to understand how medicinal plant knowledge is transmitted and spread among Hmong in Lao PDR, in order to assess whether this knowledge base is under threat. METHODS: In order to describe Hmong pharmacopeia, a total of 14 interlocutors were interviewed in three provinces (Bokeo, Xieng Khouang, and Vientiane), using “walk in the wood” methodology. To gain insight about knowledge transmission, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 people. Twenty of them were herbalists. Data analysis was performed using univariate analysis for the description of the pharmacopeia. Medicinal plant knowledge consistency was assessed through use and plant name overlapping. Answers to the semi-structured interview on knowledge transmission were analyzed qualitatively. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty-three different medicinal species were collected. The majority of uses attributed to plants were gastrointestinal conditions (22% of total use reports), gynecological conditions and sexually transmitted disease (12%), skin affections (8%), kidney and bladder problems (5%), physical traumas (5%), and aphrodisiac (or male tonics; 5%). Use convergences are more marked in the gynecological sphere, but there is a strong heterogeneity in practices and knowledge. Medicinal plant knowledge transmission is oral, gained from direct experience since childhood, matrilineal, and kept strictly within the family lineage. Apparent limited consensus on uses might stem from the method of knowledge transmission and to the economic value given to medicinal plants. DISCUSSION: Use pattern of species from the Hmong pharmacopeia does not appear to be strikingly different from the national Lao pharmacopeia. Differences may lie in the methods and reasons for knowledge transmission. It can be proposed that the economic value given to plants helps in keeping the knowledge alive, and encourages its transmission. CONCLUSION: Hmong traditional medicine is constantly evolving in a dynamic process and aims to respond to health problems faced by the local population. Herbalists appear as health fully fledged actors and should be recognized and valued as such. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13002-019-0307-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. BioMed Central 2019-06-13 /pmc/articles/PMC6567612/ /pubmed/31196205 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-019-0307-2 Text en © The Author(s). 2019 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. |
spellingShingle | Research Dubost, Jean Marc Phakeovilay, Chiobouaphong Her, Chithdavone Bochaton, Audrey Elliott, Elizabeth Deharo, Eric Xayvue, Mouachan Bouamanivong, Somsanith Bourdy, Geneviève Hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in Lao PDR: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission |
title | Hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in Lao PDR: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission |
title_full | Hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in Lao PDR: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission |
title_fullStr | Hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in Lao PDR: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission |
title_full_unstemmed | Hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in Lao PDR: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission |
title_short | Hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in Lao PDR: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission |
title_sort | hmong herbal medicine and herbalists in lao pdr: pharmacopeia and knowledge transmission |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6567612/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31196205 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-019-0307-2 |
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