ABSTRACT
In the indigenous peoples Tu'un savi and Mé'pháá of the mountain region of guerrero, allopathic medicine and traditional herbal medicine are used, due to this, we consider that dialogues of knowledge should be established between the practitioners of both medicines. We collaborated with 46 individuals to discuss the forms of using medicinal species, preparing treatments, and using allopathic medicine. Through semi-structured and in-depthinterviews, 121 plant species were recorded, with which more than 40 diseases are treated, which are distributed in the digestive, muscular, respiratory, and urinary systems:chronic-degenerative and cultural diseases. The dialogue of knowledge between specialists in traditional medicine and allopathic doctors could contribute to the development of their own health project, with which a regional ethnodevelopment plan could be created.
En los pueblos indígenas Tu'un savi y Mé'pháá de la montaña de Guerrero se utiliza la medicina alopática y la medicina tradicional herbolaria, debido a ello, consideramos que deberían establecerse diálogos de saberes entre los practicantes de ambas medicinas. Se trabajó con 46 colaboradores, con los cuales se dialogó acerca de las formas de uso de las especies medicinales, preparación de los tratamientos y utilización de l a medicina alopática. A través de entrevistas semiestructuradas y a profundidad se registraron 121 especies de plantas, con las que se tratan más de 40 enfermedades, las cuales están distribuidas en los sistemas digestivo, respiratorio y urinario; también se atienden enfermedades crónico - degenerativas y culturales. El diálogo de saberes entre especialistas de la medicina tradicional y médicos alópatas podría contribuir a la elaboración de un proyecto de salud propio, con el cual se podría crear un plan de e tnodesarrollo regional
Subject(s)
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice/ethnology , Medicine, Traditional , Plants, Medicinal , Indigenous Peoples , MexicoABSTRACT
Morelos State is one of the regions of Mexico where several plant species are used in traditional medicine. Species from Tagetes genus (Asteraceae) are reported as useful in infusion to treat stomachache and intestinal diseases, but also as tranquilizers. In this study, medicinal uses of T. erecta including its depressant effect on the central nervous system (CNS) were explored by interviewing healers and merchants of local markets of Morelos State, and by investigation of the phytochemical and pharmacological tranquilizing properties. Specific anxiolytic and/or sedative-like responses of different doses of T. erecta (10, 30 and 100 or 300mg/kg, i.p.) were investigated using experimental models in mice such as: open-field, exploration cylinder, hole-board, and the barbituric-induced hypnosis potentiation. The possible anxiolytic mechanism of action was assessed in the presence of WAY100635 (0.32mg/kg, i.p.) and flumazenil (10mg/kg, i.p.), antagonists of 5-HT1A and GABA/BDZs receptors, respectively. Individual flavonoids reported in this species were also evaluated in these experimental models. As a result of this study, healers and merchants from ten local regions of Morelos State recommended T. erecta flowers as an infusion or as a tincture for several culture-bound syndromes associated with CNS, among others. Anxiolytic and sedative-like activities of the T. erecta aqueous and organic polar extracts were corroborated in these models associated to a participation of rutin, kaempferol, quercetin, kaempferitrin, and ß-sitosterol constituents; where 5-HT1A, but not BDZs, receptors were involved as anxiolytic mechanism of action. These data support the anxiolytic and sedative-like properties of T. erecta in traditional medicine by involving mainly serotonergic neurotransmission because of the presence in part of flavonoids and the terpenoid ß-sitosterol.
Subject(s)
Anti-Anxiety Agents/pharmacology , Ethnobotany , Hypnotics and Sedatives/pharmacology , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Tagetes/chemistry , Animals , Diazepam/pharmacology , Flavonoids/pharmacology , Male , Mice , Rats, Wistar , Receptors, GABA-A/metabolism , Receptors, Serotonin/metabolism , Sitosterols/pharmacologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We report on a comparative ethno-ornithological study of Zapotec and Cuicatec communities in Northern Oaxaca, Mexico that provided a challenge to some existing descriptions of folk classification. Our default model was the taxonomic system of ranks developed by Brent Berlin. METHODS: Fieldwork was conducted in the Zapotec village of San Miguel Tiltepec and in the Cuicatec village of San Juan Teponaxtla, using a combination of ethnographic interviews and pile-sorting tests. Post-fieldwork, Principal Component Analysis using NTSYSpc V. 2.11f was applied to obtain pattern variation for the answers from different participants. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Using language and pile-sorting data analysed through Principal Component Analysis, we show how both Zapotec and Cuicatec subjects place a particular emphasis on an intermediate level of classification.These categories group birds with non-birds using ecological and behavioral criteria, and violate a strict distinction between symbolic and mundane (or 'natural'), and between 'general-purpose' and 'single-purpose' schemes. We suggest that shared classificatory knowledge embodying everyday schemes for apprehending the world of birds might be better reflected in a multidimensional model that would also provide a more realistic basis for developing culturally-informed conservation strategies.
Subject(s)
Birds/classification , Conservation of Natural Resources , Ethnology , Indians, North American , Zoology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Animals , Child , Culture , Female , Humans , Judgment , Male , Mexico , Middle Aged , Young AdultABSTRACT
La historia de la biología en México nos muestra numerosos casos en los cuales se discutió sobre la necesidad de optar por la ciencia aplicada en detrimento de la ciencia pura, sobre las relaciones entre ciencia e ideología y entre la ciencia y el poder, que nos permiten investigar hoy la forma en que se dirimieron estos problemas en el pasado. En este articulo se estudian las concepciones y controversias entre dos prominentes científicos mexicanos, Alfonso L. Herrera e Isaac Ochoterena, que tuvieron un papel relevante en las primeras etapas de la Biología en México, y se revisa la hipótesis de la inconmensurabilidad, con la cual se ha tratado este asunto previamente. Se pone bajo análisis centralmente la recepción del lysenkismo, ocurrida durante la primera mitad del siglo XX, con los propósitos de estudiar el problema, los argumentos, los personajes involucrados, y, sobre todo, los efectos que tuvo tal recepción en el desarrollo de la investigación biológica en México, los cuales se prolongaron hasta casi forales de la década de los años sesentas en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. (AU)
