Knowledge of traditional medicines and veterinary practices used for reproductive health problems

22 Pages·2003·13.3 MB·English

by  Cheryl Lans

Journal of Ethnobiology 187-208
23(2): Fall/Winter 2003
KNOWLEDGE AND
OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINES
VETERINARY PRACTICES USED FOR REPRODUCTIVE
HEALTH PROBLEMS
CHERYL LANS/ GABRIEL BROWN/ GUSTAVE BORDE
b
VERONICA
and OFFIAFP
N.
V8W
"Department 3P5
of Sociology, University of Victoria, B.C.,
>
<cher2lans@netscape. net
b
School Vetc
Jical Sciences,
of
The University and Tobago
the Wksl d
of
—
ABSTRACT.
This paper explores links between women's health knowledge, cul-
tural practices, and traditional veterinary medicine by focusing on nine plants
health conditions. These tavi ^ dias L, s 'cntalis (L.) Link, Pe-
i
tiveria alliacea L., Ruellia tuberosa L., Curcu hus esculentus (L.)
Moench., Bambusa vulgaris Schrad., Oryza and StacltytarpMa jamaicensis
sativa L.,
Vahl.), identified in the course of ethnoveterinary research conducted in Trin-
(L.)
idad and Tobago from 1995-2000, are a small part of the 180 plants recognized
locally to have medicinal value. Non-experimental validation of the nine plants
indicated that they show intermediate to high levels of validity and merit further
investigation. This investigation could include further study into the efficacy of
methods
the of administration of the plants.
m
and
Key Tobago,
words: folk idad
popula
i
de reproduccion.
arias
la
mombin Senna Link,
Estos taxones (Spondias L., occidentalis (L.) Petiveria alliacea L.,
Curcuma Abelmoschus Moench., Bambusa
Ruellia tuberosa longa L., esculentus (L.)
L.,
vulgaris Schrad., Oryza sativa L., y Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl.), identifica-
dos durante un estudio etnoveterinario llevado a cabo en Trinidad y Tobago entre
como
1995-2000, son una pequena parte de las 180 plantas reconocidas localmente
medicinales. La valoracion no experimental de las nueve plantas indico que mues-
que merecen una mas
tran niveles intermedios a altos de validez y investigation
mas
un profundo de
profunda. Esta investigacion podria incluir estudio la eficacia
RESUME.— connaissances gynecologiques,
Cet explore liens entre les
article les
medecine ancienne, a travers l'exemple
veterinaire
les pratiques culturelles, et la
Sf^ffls Sennaot dentalisQ Link, Petkvria
des neuf plantes suivantes: /raonifo;/
I I
Moench.,
alliacea L, Ruellia tuberosa L, Curcuma longa L., Abelmoschus esculentus (L.)
Ces
Bambusa vulgaris Schrad., Oryza sativa L., et Stacltytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl.
reproduction
traditianneUement dans les soins relatifs a la
taxone sent utilises
pour humains animaux. Ces plantes, identifies par une etude
les etres et les
menee Trinidad Tobago de 1995 a 2000, ne represented
ethnoveterinaire a et
par
qu'une modeste partie de la collection de 180 plantes medicinales utilisees la
population La validation non experimental de ces neuf plantes indique
locale.
une de niveau intermediate a elevee meritant une investigation plus
validite
supplemental meth-
poussee qui pourrait inclure une etude sur l'efficacite des
INTRODUCTION
options
Research into traditional veterinary practices typically seeks practical
for the provision of livestock health care that can be of use to farmers with limited
resources (McCorkle et 1996). Traditional veterinary medicine includes local
al.
how
descriptions of diseases and knowledge of to treat or avoid them. Vaccina-
and brandings have not been observed Caribbean veterinary
tions in traditional
and There
medicine, but tools, technologies, magico-religious beliefs are found. is
herbal medicines be used primary health care
potential for locally available to in
and agricultural development. In Trinidad and Tobago traditional veterinary prac-
and beliefs are based on Caribbean folk medicine, which incorporates knowl-
tices
edge from Africa, Europe, India, and South America (Longuefosse and Nossin
1996). Knowledge of folk remedies is transmitted orally from generation to gen-
who
eration, often from grandparents to the grandchildren live with them or from
young
elder female relatives to the (Lans 1996; Longuefosse and Nossin 1996).
knowledge
Folk exists in (marginalized) parallel to western science but often
is
minor
tried first, especially for conditions (Laguerre 1987; Lans 1996).
we
In this paper focus on the non-experimental validation of nine plants used
women
for reproductive health by and for animals. This study part of a larger
is
one concerned with documentation and
the non-experimental
validation of tra-
ditional veterinary medicine in Trinidad and Tobago (Lans The
1996, 2001). first
phase of the larger research project involved data collection carried out for five
A
months by
in 1995 Lans. This data was divided
collection into four parts.
method was
called the school essay used This involved 242 students from
initially.
who
nine secondary schools (age 12-15 years) interviewed friends and neighbors
on their use of folk medicine and then wrote essays that identified 28 respondents
knowledgeable about traditional veterinary practices. Lans then held group and
individual interviews with the 28 local experts, 30 veterinarians, 27 extension
animal
19 health (AHAs), and
officers, assistants 7 additional local experts that
AHAs
the identified. Five focus group workshops were then conducted with 55
An
of the non-veterinarians interviewed order and
in to validate verify the data.
information seminar was
also given at the veterinary school of the University of
West
the Indies.
In the second phase of the research, 1997-2000, Lans worked through
previ-
ously existing social networks to build a purposive sample, which maximized
the
number
knowledgeable The
of respondents. respondents in the second phase
in-
cluded 23 people involved
in the horse-racing
industry, involved both horse
five in
and
two who
racing cockfighting, involved in cockfighting did not claim horse-
racing involvement, one group of seven hunters, and ten individual hunters. Thir-
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
who
ty other respondents were interviewed knew
of folk remedies but did not
admit any knowledge
to of traditional veterinary remedies. The study
results
were
divided into nine case studies: pigs, commercial poultry gamecocks,
ru-
minants, ruminants and
reproductive health, pet dogs, hunting dogs, and
horses,
The
folk medicine. case studies of pigs, commercial poultry, ruminants, pet dogs,
and hunting dogs have been
published.
In 1995, Lans noticed that male and female farmers were using
certain plants
to assist in the health care of their animals and became evident that the knowl-
it
edge came from
of these plants the reproductive knowledge of female farmers
or
the female relatives of the male farmers (Lans The administration
1996). of the
was humans
plant remedies different for and animals. In order examine
to
this
we
discrepancy
as part of the non-experimental validation of the plants
felt
it
necessary to incorporate women's reproductive knowledge (and
ramifica-
all its
study on animal
tions) into a health.
now
Several ethnobotanists recognize that the parameters used to validate
ethnomedicines cannot be derived only from the objective sciences, as sickness
and
and
health incorporate social, cultural, psychological as well as biological
phenomena Our
(Weniger non-experimental methodology was
1991). validation
adapted from and from
the social sciences the ethnopharmacological literature
(Browner
et 1988; Heinrich et 1992). Heinrich et (1992) have claimed that
al. al. al.
have body
ethnobotanical investigations resulted in a large of descriptive data,
now
which should be evaluated in order to select those plants that should be
submitted to further investigation. Several scientists have begun the task of em-
we
pirically evaluating indigenous medicine (Ankli et 1999). Like them, do not
al.
assume number
that the of users of the plants a guide to their merit; instead
is
the non-experimental validation of the plants determines which of the plants
is
be and thus worthy of further investigation (Eigner and Scholz
likely to effective
1999; Elisabetsky and de Moraes 1990). Incorporating cultural details into the
study of traditional veterinary medicines ensures that future scientific validation
not wasted on plants that are used only for cultural or religious reasons (Etkin
is
This important not only because of the waste of resources, but because
1993).
is
negative results can destroy confidence in a field already struggling for recogni-
and
tion (Eigner Scholz 1999).
was
veterinary medicines un-
Non-experimental validation of the traditional
become benchmark
dertaken in recognition of the fact that western science has the
and
by which knowledge evaluated (Watson- Verran Turnbull
other cultures' is
Many and claim that scientists should not
anthropologists social scientists
1995).
decide whether indigenous and practices are or are not scientific, as this
beliefs
has overtones (Hastrup and Elsass 1990), or that indigenous knowl-
colonialist
development and cannot be
edge systems represent the cultural dimension of
(Warren These
reduced to the empirical knowledge that they contain et al. 1995).
anthropological reservations have some merit, yet validation of traditional vet-
Many no themselves
people longer treat
erinary medicines important. local
is
have not been validated by
or their animals with folk medicines because they
may
indeed be
some medicines
any recognized body, yet of these
"scientific"
efficacious.
Non-experimental Validation— The traditional validation process used in the devel-
and
drug
drug design,
opment drugs can be described as discovery,
of synthetic
an
The screening
and studies (Schuster 2001). process requires
pre-clinical clinical
compound
compounds successfully
average of 10,000 active to find a single that
and
makes way through drug approval and then prescriptions
validation to
its
process time consuming and too expensive for most developing coun-
sales; this is
used
(Elisabetsky and de Moraes 1990). Well-controlled clinical trials are to
tries
evaluate the efficacy and side effects of herbal medicines before they are accepted
for use in allopathic medicine. This process of randomized, double blind, multi-
and expensive (Bodeker
with standardized protracted
centered extracts
trials is
and
and Chaudhury 2001). Non-experimental validation seeks to reduce the time
expense of evaluating medicinal plants by providing a preliminary review of the
This review indicates whether the plants merit the time and expense of
plants.
the traditional investigation described above.
The step of the non-experimental validation involved a review of a variety
first
published gain an understanding Caribbean, Asian, African,
of literature to of
and Latin American concepts of reproductive health, especially those related to
were
the use of medicinal plants. This step served to establish whether the plants
used for cultural reasons, medicinal reasons, or both. The second step involved
known
on and
searching for information the plants' chemical constituents phar-
macological effects. The third step built on the two and was an evaluation
first
of the claims of the respondents. In other words, there a plausible biological
is
mechanism by which and known
the plant chemicals or possible physiological
assume
effects could achieve the results that they described? Heinrich et (1992)
al.
more
that the information there that validates the popular use of a plant in
is
more
treating a certain illness, the likely it is to be effective. If sufficient data are
one
available, of four levels of confidence can be assigned to the plant appraisal:
no may
information supports be
0) If use, indicates that the plant inactive.
it
A
plant (or closely related species of the same genus) used geographi-
1) in
cally or temporally distinct areas in the treatment of similar illnesses at-
tains the lowest level of validity.
phytochemical
or pharmacological
2) If information also validates the tradi-
tional use, the plant assigned one
is level validity.
ethnobotanical, phytochemical, and
3) If pharmacological data supports the
folk use of the plant, assigned two and be
it is level validity likely to
is
effective.
Terms.—The
Relevant Medical medical terms used
in this article are defined below.
normal menstrual
In a cycle there is a balance between the hormones estrogen
and progesterone. These hormones
regulate the buildup of the endometrium
blood and
(uterine lining of tissue) that shed each month during menstruation.
is
Dysmenorrhoea
is the medical term for pain in the lower abdomen begin-
the
at
ning of menstruation. Menorrhagia
excess bleeding during which
is menstruation,
may
from
result
insufficient secretion of progesterone,
the release of estradiol
from due
fat tissue to obesity, or recent weight
significant
loss; as a result the
endometrium
keeps adding when
and
layers, eventually shed sub-
it is there is
bleeding.
stantial Estradiol a steroid produced by Emmen-
is the ovarian
follicle.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Fall/Winter 2003
agents promote menstrual and
that flow
abortifacients are agents
pregnancy (Conway and Slocumb
Ososki
1979;
et 2002).
al.
Lactogogues drugs
are or herbs that cause milk secretion or which are believed
to increase milk production (Browner
1985).
—
Ruminant Reproduction. Ruminants in this paper include sheep, and
cattle, goats.
In sheep the length of estrus or time between periods of standing heat (when
the
animal willing be bred) between and
is to varies 14 19 days. Estrus or standing
heat lasts about 24 to 36 hours with ovulation occurring approximately 24 hours
after the beginning of estrus (Mason and Atkins 2002). The ovaries release the
ova (eggs) at 17-day intervals during the breeding season or until the ewe becomes
The and
pregnant. ovaries ruminant placentae produce the following hormones
during pregnancy: estrogens, progesterone and other progestins, and placental
Cows
(Mason and
lactogen Atkins 2002). have an estrus cycle of 17 to 25 days.
In the week before a cow comes into heat a dominant follicle develops on one of
When
her ovaries. she comes into heat and willing to be bred, the
is follicle
ruptures, shedding an egg into the oviduct.
Gonadotropin hormone (GnRH)
releasing stimulates the rupture of the
follicle
and hormone
(LH)
the release of luteinizing at ovulation. Follicle cells secrete
when
estrogen until just before ovulation occurs they begin to secrete progester-
one. After ovulation the capsule of the follicle develops into a corpus luteum (CL),
which matures for the next 12 to 13 days of the cycle, producing progesterone
new
(Mason and Atkins 2002). Progesterone prevents the development of follicles
and and
keeps the uterus in a receptive state for conception also sustains preg-
nancy if the ovulated egg is fertilized. If conception does not occur, oxytocin from
CL
the stimulates the release of prostaglandin (Prostaglandin F2-alpha) from the
A
which
uterus on days 16 to 18 of the cycle, causes the regression of the CL.
new embryo
dominant then develops. In the pregnant cow, the secretes
follicle
proteins block oxytocin from generating secretions of Prostaglandin F2-alpha
to
CL
from the uterus, thus maintaining the and pregnancy. Progesterone also plays
a role in protecting the embryo from immunological rejection by the mother. Gen-
immunosuppressive
ital tract infections can occur due to the actions of proges-
As by Castenada programs
Reproduction and Culture.— usefully stated et al. (1996),
when
aimed improving reproductive health can only be successful they take
at
and with pregnancy,
associated
into account the customs, values, beliefs fertility,
and
enormously
and Previous studies have contributed to the elaboration
birth.
underlie the use of medicinal
discussion of the strong cultural traditions that
Browner
Brody
plants reproductive health (Bayley 1949; 1981; et al. 1988;
for
Conway Landman and Hall Nations
and Slocumb 1979; Etkin 1988; 1983; et al.
Newman any
Sobo Weniger Before definitive testing
1997; 1985; 1996; et al. 1982).
between amenorrhoea (absence or
distinguish
takes place often difficult to
it is
and
due depression, or malnutrition) early
suppression of menstruation to illness,
women
unconsciously blur the
pregnancy. Knowing deliberately or
this difficulty,
them
This gives
and menses-stimulating
between effects.
differences abortifacient
some have religious or
control over reproduction in countries that strict social,
American
Native
Etkin claims that the
legal restrictions against abortion. (1988)
This obfuscation has been called cognitive
contains similar obfuscation.
literature
ambiguity or a "hidden reproductive transcript" that an unconscious or artful
is
women
manipulation by poor, otherwise powerless against their culture's anti-
and family planning
abortion ideology a protest against a lack of facilities
ambiguity
(McClain 1989; Nations et 1997). In practical terms this cognitive
al.
emmenagogues
means that there can be no clear operational distinction between
(agents used to bring on delayed menses) and abortifacients (agents used to ter-
minate pregnancy) other than the dosage and the timing. Treating a "late" or
women
"missed" period rather than a possible pregnancy helps these avoid the
dilemma (Conway and Slocumb
of possibly inducing an abortion 1979).
METHODS
—
The had
Data Collection. previous study (Lans 1996) noted a difference in the
way
farmers treated their animals (that farmers used plant knowledge learned
is,
from their wives or female relatives, but administered the herbal remedies as
women
decoctions rather than as steam). To find out would consider decoctions
if
way
an effective to treat the animals, Lans conducted interviews with six older
women who
(>50 years) over a six-month period during 1996 and 1997 were
chosen from the group of key informants interviewed during the 1995 traditional
and from
veterinary research a larger ongoing research The sample con-
project.
who
sisted of a female farmer, two healers, and three housewives had more than
the average amount of knowledge of common remedies or core traditions and
know
were
therefore expected to about and have used the plants previously iden-
women
tified as those utilized for reproductive health. The were located in
six
Mason
Hall (in Tobago), Paramin (in north Trinidad), San Fernando south
(in
and
Trinidad) Talparo
(in central Trinidad).
women
The were asked
specifically about the plants used during childbirth
and for reproductive problems and associated They had used
cultural
practices.
own
these medicinal plants for their reproductive health; two had also assisted
women
other (Lans The were
1996, 2001). healers interviewed three times, but the
others only once since they had fewer experiences
to
relate.
The
following information about each plant was common name,
collected:
mode
uses, part(s) used, of preparation, time and
duration of application, doses,
and expected
biological action of the plants (Table This information was doc-
1).
Women
umented and
categorized. were also asked to reconstruct the circumstanc-
and
es contexts of the plant uses so means
that the of administration of the plants
A
could be
identified. qualitative, conversational technique was used in preference
more
to a formal interview schedule. Plants were when
collected available to
common
names
verify that the used by
each respondent were same each
the in
group
ethnic as those recorded in the The paper
literature. plants described in
this
were
authenticated
at the University of the West Indies Herbarium.
1
Published
sources such
as journal articles and books and databases on phar-
macology and
ethnomedicine
on
available the internet were searched
to identify
the plants' chemical compounds and
clinically tested physiological These
effects.
were
data incorporated with on
data the reported reproductive uses and
folk their
and
preparation
administration
in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
These
preliminary were women
results then presented by Lans two groups
to of
The
in 1998. presentations included draft versions of Tables and 2 and discus-
1
sions of the use by women
local of the plants farmers animals and by
for their
for themselves. The first group consisted of 35 rural Indo- and Afro-Trinidadians
attending a seminar on women's health community Road
at a center in Todd's
members
(central Trinidad). Five of group spoke up
this in the question period
following the presentation confirm knowledge and
to of the plants their uses for
women
and nodded
animals, while others agreement. The same was
presentation
made
months women
four later to 15 Indo-Trinidadian rural attending a training
session in Biche (south-eastern Trinidad). Lans was conducting
participant obser-
women
vation with these as part of a separate research Seven
project. of these
women
gave verbal confirmation of the knowledge of the plants and uses
their
humans
and
in in animals.
RESULTS
The
nine plants used in traditional veterinary medicine for reproductive pur-
women
poses and corresponding uses by are presented in Table They come
1.
from hogplum
eight different families. Leafy branches of (Spondias mombin
L.,
Anacardiaceae) are fed for retained placenta. Decoctions of leaves and roots of
wild
coffee (Senna occidentalis Link, Caesalpiniaceae) or gullyroot
(L.) (Petiveria
minny
alliacea L., Phytolaccaceae) or a root decoction of root (Ruellia tuberosa
L.,
A
Acanthaceae) are used to induce estrus. decoction or infusion of the grated
rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa Zingiberaceae) given to increase milk
L., is
production and for retained placenta. Green pods and leaves of okro (Abelmoschus
esculentus (L.) Moench, Malvaceae) and rice paddy (Oryza sativa L., Poaceae) are
Bamboo
fed for retained placenta. (Bambusa vulgaris, Poaceae) leaves are fed to
ruminants and
for fever, after parturition, for milk let-down, for retained placenta.
A
decoction of plant tops of vervine (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis Vahl., Verben-
(L.)
aceae) given to animals to increase milk production.
is
All the farmer respondents interviewed in 1995 indicated that the plants used
for retained placenta were given to their animals immediately after parturition.
paddy was
Farmer used
respondents described rice as a "heated substance" that
recommended One
for retained placenta but not for pregnant animals. respondent
explained the term "heated substance" by claiming that the "heat of the rice
down
paddy would help break the uterine lining." Both male and female farmers
women
and use the term 'clot blood' to refer to the blood clots and haematomas
women
associated with Besides the nine plants evaluated in this paper, use
birth.
31 additional plants for reproductive problems but these others were not de-
scribed as traditional veterinary plants during the five-year research period (Lans
2001).
work was presented two groups
Forms Administration—-The preliminary to the
of
women an whether the plants were widely used
of in order to get indication of
known The circumstances and con-
be reproductive conditions.
or to useful for
women
and group
by the individual
texts of the plant uses as reconstructed the in
How-
from
sessions corresponded with the descriptions obtained the literature.
Sill
il il
11
1?
1
I
Il I
I
| I
|
|
fl
1
IrilllJ
il Ii
1]
lllIUll!l!8li
^|^|!|l|lsll
8|
I
S
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8
'a
:
fl
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-
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Fall/Winter 2003
main
ever, the reason present the work was how
to to clarify the plants are ad-
ministered and
therefore resolve the previously noted
differences in administra-
women
Very few
non-farming
tion. of the interviewed during the study said that
they
utilized the plants as decoctions; rather, in previous times midwives attended
women
during and
childbirth put these plants in a rub of steaming The
water.
women
would
then sit over the tub on a stool for up to nine days (Herskovits
and
Herskovits compounds
1947). This implies that active plant are sub-
volatile
stances that would be carried by the water vapor. As indicated male
previously,
and
female farmers used decoctions of these plants for their animals, however
women
When
used
rarely decoctions of the plants for themselves. queried about
plant preparation for animals, the farmer respondents described boiling the plants
for 20 minutes and then allowing decoction The term "draw"
this to cool. typi-
means
cally steeping the plant parts in boiling water for about fifteen minutes
When
(an infusion). a small plant involved, these respondents used the above-
is
ground which
part, they call the "leaves" of a particular plant. Dosages were non-
We
women
standard. can recapitulate here that use different forms of adminis-
Women
some
tration for of these plants than the farmers. used the leafy branches
hogplum, bamboo
of a decoction of roots of wild coffee or leafy branches of
for
own
their health care. These plants were put in a tub of boiling water and the
women
then sat over the tub or a stool or over what called a utensil in
is ('tencil)
Women
made
Tobago. decoction of ground turmeric with massala, ginger and
a
own down
salted butter for their use, to "bring everything" after parturition.
Women
used decoctions of turmeric with vervine to "clean out" their bodies.
DISCUSSION
women
The two presentations of the data to the groups of in Biche and Todd's
knew
Road new
did not produce data or insights but indicated that both groups
of the nine plants and their reproductive uses. This suggests that this particular
plant knowledge not restricted to a certain section of Trinidad's female popu-
is
known number
lation. This important because plants that are to a large of
is
and
informants have higher ethnographic validity should be investigated before
a
plants that are known to two or fewer informants (Bourdy and Walter 1992; Hein-
done work-
rich et 1992). Presenting findings to research participants as in the
al.
shops and presentations useful to assess the credibility of the research account
is
(Green and
to the respondents and to verify preliminary results Britten 1998;
Mays and Pope The reactions of the respondents are
1995; Nations et 1997).
al.
and
often used to reduce errors and to help refine researcher's explanations, they
women
Members both groups of confirmed
of
are incorporated into the findings.
and
reasons
the information given in the presentations of the cultural social for
confirming these were the plants used. There-
the use of the plants as well as that
were
necessary.
findings
ir
The following section gives a brief
Reproductive Health and Use Cleansers.—
the of
which
American and Caribbean views of reproductive health,
description of Latin
women.
by Readers are
use plants the
provides a partial explanation for the of
on Caribbean con-
referred Longuefosse and Nossin (1996) for further details
to
Women
Caribbean squat over
popular medical concepts. in the
ceptualizations of
hot water with medicinal plants because of their belief that the
a vessel of filled
which
steam enters the body and "melts" all recalcitrant matter, then slides out
and Sobo Weniger This practice
(Herskovits Herskovits 1947; 1996; et al. 1982).
may derive from the Amerindian belief that the essence of the plant is inhaled
through the "steam" and serves as a curative or prophylatic for the condition
being treated (Dennis 1988). This form of "steaming" is of little value in treating
and men-
animals. More relevant the Caribbean belief that birth, defecation,
is
mild given induce
struation are cleansing processes; therefore purgatives are to
and pregnancy-related waste matter through
the quick delivery of the placenta
vagina (Sobo
the 1996).
Abortifacients "make baby turn to blood and wash out" (Sobo 1996; Weniger
Emmenagogues used America and Caribbean
are in Latin the to
et 1982).
al.
womb,
and
restore the menses, to "clean out" the to restore vitality after preg-
women
many
nancy (Sobo Purgatives are called "washout" and use "wash-
1996).
emmena-
senna and
out" ingredients like (Senna occidentalis Cassia obovata) as
gogues and (Browner Kay Morton Sobo
abortifacients et 1988; 1996; 1980;
al.
may
This suggests that cultural reasons explain the inclusion of vervine
1996).
although use
(Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) in abortifacient recipes traditional
its is
worms
"wash out" and "cold" (mucous) (Sobo
to 1996).
women
The use vervine milk let-down and can be
of to facilitate in livestock
Amerindian
interpreted as cultural since the original use of Stachytarpheta species
was as one of eight plants added to special baths given eight or nine days after
childbirth to the mother and to the newborn (Hodge and Taylor The use
1957).
women
of Abelmoschus esculentus to facilitate delivery by Jamaican has been re-
(Landman and
ported Hall 1983). This study found that one-quarter of 125 preg-
women
nant Jamaican used okro (Abelmoschus esculentus) as one of four teas to
up
speed delivery, induce labor, ease the pain of delivery, or "free the birth
to
on
canal." Bayley (1949) reported the use of Petiveria alliacea for reproductive rea-
sons in Barbados.
—
American and women
Hot-cold Valence. Latin Caribbean choose plants for repro-
ductive conditions based on the properties correspond
that to the hot-cold valence,
emmenagogic,
irritating action, oxytocic, anti-implantation, and /or abortifacient
(Browner
effects 1985; Etkin 1988). It is useful to consider these beliefs since they
The
play a role in plant choice. hot-cold valence in the context of reproductive
health refers to the traditional belief that heat opens the body and the
facilitates
whereas
blood's free flow, cold causes blood and
the to stop flowing clog the
womb
and
arteries, veins, (Coe and Anderson The body menstruating
1996). of a
woman
pregnant
or considered extremely hot One
is (Nations cause
et 1997).
al.
termed
of infertility is "cold in the uterus" and enhancers considered
fertility are
be "hot" (Ankli Browner
to et 1999; Cosminsky Kay
al. 1985; 2001;
1996).
Two
studies explain the use paddy by
of
rice the respondents. Harrell
(1981)
documented
Taiwanese
that provided
villagers "hot"
a diet consisting of only
sesame wine and month
chicken,
oil, rice for a after childbirth in order to replace
energy with
the lost the mother's blood
at delivery. For traditional veterinary
IIRR recommends
medicine,
(1994) a uterine tonic containing five types of grains