Caribbean Women’s Health and Transnational Ethnobotany

Abstract

Immigrants from the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti are among the top foreign-born communities in New York City (NYC). As people migrate to new countries, they bring their ethnomedical beliefs and practices, and adapt their plant pharmacopoeias. Haiti and the DR share a flora on the island of Hispaniola. In NYC, the flora is limited to what is available in the city. We selected plants for future laboratory research based on ethnobotanical data from two surveys among Dominicans in the DR and NYC, and a Haitian literature review. In both Dominican datasets, gynecological infections were the top women's health condition treated with plants. We identified 10 species for this purpose reported by Dominicans that are also known medicines in Haitian culture, although not yet documented for women's health. Plants for gynecological infections potentially cause dysbiosis of the vaginal microbiota, and may increase rather than prevent disease. There is a public health need to assess traditional medicines for their ability to inhibit pathogenic bacteria, while causing minimal disruption to the vaginal flora. Several species are known antibacterials, but remain to be tested for their efficacy. These results also provide a foundation for a planned ethnobotanical survey among NYC Haitian women.

Mujeres andinas: actitudes en el uso de plantas para el tratamiento de eventos ginecológicos

“…Sin embargo, esta práctica aparentemente inofensiva, puede conllevar riesgos mayores a la salud de las mujeres si se utilizan plantas de manera inadecuada, debido a una falsa percepción de que son inocuas y que no provocarán daños posteriores 9,10,20 . Por ello, la importancia del acercamiento intercultural del equipo de salud a las mujeres andinas, para brindar la consejería y orientación necesaria, al mismo tiempo que contribuyen a mantener un estado de salud óptimo en aquellas 14 .…”

“…Los desórdenes ginecológicos más frecuentes se relacionan con la menstruación, la menopausia y lesiones en el cuello uterino y para atenuar sus síntomas, las plantas de mayor uso en la población son el jengibre, la ruda común, ginseng hembra, hinojo, cimífuga, trébol rojo, árbol casto, hierba de salvia, toronjil, ginkgo biloba, comino negro y alfalfa, si bien su uso lo hacen con fines paliativos, se requieren de mayores evidencias científicas que respalden su consumo o aplicación segura, a fin de evitar complicaciones [7][8][9] . Así mismo, su uso indiscriminado y sin una guía adecuada podría cambiar el pH y la microbiota vaginal, lo que incrementa la susceptibilidad a infecciones sobreagregadas y a la resistencia de las existentes 10 .…”

Women's wellness in the mountains: An exploration of medicinal plants among tibeto-burman groups in Thailand

“…Medicinal plants usage for women's health is often based on generations of experience and handed down through traditional knowledge systems. This continued use of medicinal plants for women's health underscores the significance of these practices in maintaining cultural and community wellbeing, especially in instances when other effective healthcare options are not readily available to the population [ 3 ].…”

“…Refs. [ [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] ]]. Furthermore, traditional women's healthcare practices often incorporate the use of medicinal plants to support and complement modern medical practices.…”