Zootherapy in India
Mahawar MM, Jaroli DP. Traditional zootherapeutic studies in India: a review. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2008 Jul 18;4:17. Review. PMID: 18634551
Filling a significant gap in published literature about animal-derived traditional medicines, the authors gathered data from 15 zootherapeutic studies published in India from 2000 to 2007. The resulting review article catalogs, by condition, 207 therapeutic applications of 109 animals in traditional medicine throughout India.
"In India, since times immemorial, great work was done in this field and documented in works like Ayurveda and charaka Samhita. Additionally immense knowledge has come down to modern times through folklore as various practices became a part of tradition amongst various groups. We can find that people still use various animal products and by-products for cure of various diseases. For example, honey is used as expectorant, cattle urine has been used as a therapeutic. All this knowledge has once again come to the limelight, as there has been a sort of disillusionment with the current allopathic cure, as it has got its own side effect and in fact has no cure for various diseases. Therefore people are looking for traditional remedies for the treatment of ailments. But in India this traditional knowledge is fast eroding due to modernization. Thus there is an urgent need to inventorise and record all ethnobiological information among the different ethnic communities before the traditional cultures are completely lost."
CAMWatch: Posts about free-access, peer-reviewed articles on aspects of complementary medicine theory, practice and policy (about the blogger). This blog is not a source for medical advice.
technorati tags: complementary and alternative medicine integrative medicine ethnobiology ayurveda
Comments and Links Appreciated!
