Knowledge and demand for medicinal plants used in the treatment and management of diabetes in Nyeri County, Kenya
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Date
2016-08Author
Kamau, Loice N
Mbaabu, Mathiu P
Mbaria, James M
Karuri, Gathumbi P
Kiama, Stephen G
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Non communicable diseases are currently a major health challenge facing humanity. Nyeri County has one of the highest diabetes prevalence in Kenya (12.6%), compared to the country’s prevalence of 5.6%. The purpose of the study was to document; diabetes knowledge, medicinal plants and demand for the services of traditional medicine practitioners, in the management and treatment of diabetes.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was carried out in the six constituencies in Nyeri, using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires. Thirty practicing traditional medicine practitioners were purposively selected for the study. Field observation and identification was carried out on all plants that were cited during the interview. Plant samples were collected and voucher specimen deposited in the University of Nairobi Herbarium in the – School of Biological Sciences.
Results
The study revealed 30 plant species in 28 genera and 23 families that are used by the traditional medicine practitioners to treat and manage diabetes. Demand for traditional medicine practitioners’ services in the treatment of diabetes is low and often occurs when conventional drugs fail.
Conclusion
Interaction with the TMPs unveiled significant diversity of potential anti diabetic medicinal plants and in-depth ethnobotanical knowledge that they possessed. Preference for traditional herbal medicine was low despite wide ethnobotanical knowledge in the face of high prevalence of diabetes in the locality. The findings form the basis of pharmacological studies for standardization of the documented ethnomedicine used in the treatment and management of diabetes in the study area.
URI
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037887411630294Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/11295/97952
Citation
Journal of Ethnopharmacology Volume 189, 2 August 2016, Pages 218–229Publisher
University of Nairobi