Volume 108, Issue 2, 24 November 2006, Pages 299–310
Mexican migrant ethnopharmacology: Pharmacopoeia, classification of medicines and explanations of efficacy
Abstract
This paper describes the ethnopharmacological
knowledge of women in an urban Mexican migrant community in Athens, GA,
USA. Data were collected using free-list, pile-sort and semi-structured
interviews. The pharmacopoeia of this community includes herbal
remedies, over-the-counter medications such as non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and prescription medicines.
Multi-dimensional scaling analysis of pile-sort data revealed that
Mexican women living in Athens classify medicines into four categories:
herbal remedies, salves, pastillas (pills—both prescription and
non-prescription) and other commercial preparations. Herbal remedies
are viewed as natural and safe while pastillas are thought to be dangerous and potentially addictive. Comparisons of Mexican explanations for the actions of five medicines (Matricaria recutita L. [Asteraceae], Mentha spp. L. [Lamiaceae], Ruta spp. L. [Rutaceae], Ocimum basilicum
L. [Lamiaceae] and paracetemol) with the pharmacological literature
show several similarities and confirm that migrant women use these
medicines effectively. Mexican migrant women use medicinal plants in
combination with commercially produced medicines, but most have a strong
preference for the herbal remedies that they make themselves, over
drugs prescribed by physicians. Some of their descriptions of the
actions of medicines are supported by the pharmacological literature,
but ethnopharmacologists have not fully investigated all of the
attributes that migrant women ascribe to them.
Abbreviations
- AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome;
- GI, gastrointestinal;
- LT, leukotriene;
- MDS, multi-dimensional scaling;
- NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug;
- PG, prostaglandin;
- PGE2, prostaglandin E2;
- USA, United States of America
Keywords
- Urban ethnopharmacology;
- Mexican migrants;
- Herbal medicines;
- Pharmaceuticals
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Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
