Abstract Detail

Society for Economic Botany/BSA Economic Botany Section

Hossan, Md Shahadat [1], Seraj, Syeda [2], Jahan, Farhana Israt [2], Chowdhury, Anita Rani [2], Khudha, Md. Monjur-E- [2], Khan, Md. Shamiul Hasan [2], Aporna, Sadia Afrin [2], Jahan, Rownak [3], Rahmatullah, Mohammed [4].

A survey of medicinal plants used by the traditional healers of the Bede community of Bangladesh for analgesic purposes.

The Bedes are an indigenous community of Bangladesh, who live on boats and do not remain stationary at any given place for a long time. Very little is known about this community because of their nomadic nature. Because they travel by boats on the river-ways of the country, they are referred to as the River Gypsies. The Bedes usually shun modern allopathic medical practices and rely on their own healers for treatment of various ailments. Because of their continuous travel throughout the country, the healers possess quite extensive knowledge of the medicinal plants of the country and their manifold uses. Since pain due to various causes is widely prevalent amongst all human beings, it was the objective of the present study to gather information on medicinal plants that they use for analgesic purposes. Interviews were conducted of the Bede healers with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. The medicinal plants used by the Bede healers for treatment of pain included Justicia gendarussa,Coccinia grandis, Cassia sophera, Ruellia tuberosa, Anonasquamosa, Carissa carandas, Scindapsus aureus, Cocos nucifera, Cotulahemispherica, Bixa orellana, Heliotropium indicum, Crataeva magna, Datura metel, Chenopodium ambrosioides, Euphorbia hirta, Cassia occidentalis, Ageratum conyzoides, Kalanchoe pinnata, and Tragia involucrata. Taken together, the plants present considerable potential for discovery of novel analgesics, which can be efficacious and at the same time, avoid the gastrointestinal discomforts associated with a number of allopathic pain-killing drugs.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University of Bedfordshire, Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Postgraduate Medical School, 3B Oxgate Gardens, London, NW2 6EA, United Kingdom
2 - University of Development Alternative, Pharmacy, 80 Satmasjid Road, Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka, 1205, Bangladesh
3 - University of Development Alternative, Molecular Medicine and Bioinformatics, 80 Satmasjid Road, Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka, 1205, Bangladesh
4 - University of Development Alternative, Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, 80 Satmasjid Road, Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka, 1205, Bangladesh

Keywords:
Bedes
Medicinal plants
Analgesic
Bangladesh.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Khorassan Ballroom/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Monday, July 11th, 2011
Time: 5:45 PM
Number: PEN015
Abstract ID:460