2023-12-30 14:01:57
To the rescue of the knowledge of traditional medicine
• University student Joseline Hernández Hernández carries out research to preserve information on plants used to treat diabetes
• Recent generations have no interest in learning about herbalism, he warned
The student of Industrial Chemistry, from the Faculty of Higher Studies (FES) Cuautitlán of the UNAM, Joseline Hernández Hernández, develops the project Biological chemical study of plant resources used in traditional medicine by healers from the municipality of Benito Juárez, Veracruz, in particular for the treatment of diabetes.
My job is to rescue the valuable knowledge that those who carry out this practice have regarding the use, preparation and administration of medicinal plants, he highlighted in an interview.
Advised by the academic of the university entity, Brígida del Carmen Camacho Enríquez, she went to the towns of Hueycuatitla, La Reforma and Tlatlapango Grande, in the municipality of Benito Juárez, Veracruz, where with the help of 11 local therapists – 10 women and one man – collected 21 medicinal plants that are used in those places to treat the disease.
Joseline Hernández, who for this project obtained the Gustavo Baz Prada 2022 Social Service Award, in recognition of her outstanding work and commitment to society, recalled that it is a chronic non-communicable disease, a health problem that significantly affects the population.
It is one of the three main causes of death in Mexico. According to the people interviewed from the aforementioned populations, it has been increasing in that region due to the rapid transition from rural areas to the adoption of eating habits from urban areas, sedentary lifestyle and difficulties in accessing health. “It is known as sugar in the urine or blood, and according to traditional medicine it is associated with a scare or a muina.”
Hernández Hernández also commented that the therapists or healers interviewed indicated that they had acquired their knowledge about herbalism, its uses, collection and possible contraindications, through dreams; to others they were inherited from their mothers or grandmothers who also practiced it.
In the case of his study, he noted, the majority of people who carry out this activity are over 70 years of age, a significant number have been in this work for more than 50 years and numerous young people from the aforementioned communities do not wish to continue with the tradition.
The university student observed that the work they do has decreased, as has the understanding of plants, because doctors go to those communities and, above all, because recent generations have no interest in learning about herbalism, since it is easier Go to a doctor or health center to receive care.
Before, the work of herbalists was important, as well as that of midwives; In the latter case, some women do not want to give birth at home and go to the hospital, he noted.
The 21 plants that Joseline Hernández collected, in collaboration with her interviewees, and whose common name of several remain in Nahuatl language without translation into Spanish, are: Serene letter, Chichikxohuitl, Kosolmecatl, Ojoxijtli, Pemuch, Guásima, Chichiyajtli, Mango, Stick of Blue, Pionchi, Three leaves, Horsetail, Mozotl, Viper stick, Pig’s horn, Chichijtli, Guanabana, Nopal, Cow’s foot, Cassava and Small Zapote.
It is important to note that throughout the year the plants do not have the same active ingredients and they cannot be harvested all the time; It is an arduous task that traditional doctors carry out when collecting them.
He pointed out that the results of the research, in principle, were left in a bilingual catalog, in which the information collected and the importance of preserving the Nahuatl language were documented; However, it is also necessary to know the side effects of the plants.
In that sense, he indicated that the 21 collected were taken to the FES Cuautitlán Herbarium where they will be studied to obtain the taxonomy and their names in Spanish, in order to investigate more about them and document it.
https://covid19comision.unam.mx/
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