Medicinal plants and the treatment of diabetes in Senegal: survey with patients
- 1 February 2008
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology
- Vol. 22 (2), 211-216
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-8206.2007.00563.x
Abstract
Diabetes is the most common metabolic disorder worldwide and is a major public health problem. Its frequency increases every day in all countries. However, in developing African countries, few people have access to drugs. In addition, in Africa, traditional beliefs induce people to use medicinal plants whenever they have health problems. Thus, many people in these developing countries use plants for the treatment of diabetes. Yet, few studies are focused on the knowledge and attitudes of the users on medicinal plants in Africa in general and in Senegal in particular. Hence we undertook this survey on the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of diabetes in Senegal in order to make recommendations which could contribute to the increase of the value of herbal medicines in developing countries. We did a cross-sectional survey by direct interview at a university teaching hospital, in Dakar with a representative sample of 220 patients. Forty-one plants were used by the patients and the two most frequently cited were Moringa oleifera Lam (65.90%) and Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich) Hochst (43.20%). Patients gave several reasons for using medicinal plants (traditional treatment: 40%, efficacy: 32%, low cost: 20%). The principal suppliers of plants were tradesmen in the market (66.8%) and traditional therapists (5%). Sixty-five per cent of patients think that medicinal plants are efficient for the treatment of diabetes and 20% have reported adverse effects which could be caused by medicinal plants. In conclusion, many people in our study think that medicinal plants are efficient for the treatment of diabetes, which requires research work by scientists in developing countries in this field in order to prove their efficacy and innocuousness.Keywords
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Acute toxicity and mutagenic activity of Mexican plants used in traditional medicineJournal of Ethnopharmacology, 2007
- The Use of Medicinal Herbs by Diabetic Jordanian PatientsJournal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy, 2006
- The role of complementary and alternative medicine in diabetesCurrent Diabetes Reports, 2006
- Herbal medicine and treatment of diabetes in Africa: an example from GuineaDiabetes & Metabolism, 2006
- The Use of Medicinal Herbs by Diabetic Jordanian PatientsJournal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy, 2006
- Rural Vincentians’ (Caribbean) beliefs about the usage of non‐prescribable medicines for treating Type 2 diabetesDiabetic Medicine, 2005
- Hypoglycaemic and antidiabetic activity of acetonic extract of Vernonia colorata leaves in normoglycaemic and alloxan-induced diabetic ratsJournal of Ethnopharmacology, 2005
- Evaluation of the hypoglycemic effect and antioxidant activity of three Viscum album subspecies (European mistletoe) in streptozotocin-diabetic ratsJournal of Ethnopharmacology, 2005
- Hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic effect of Semecarpus anacardium Linn in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic ratsMethods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, 2004
- Hypoglycemic effect of Sclerocarya birrea {(A. Rich.) Hochst.} [Anacardiaceae] stem-bark aqueous extract in ratsPhytomedicine, 2003