Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objective of the present study was to reveal patterns in the treatment of health conditions in a Quechua-speaking community in the Bolivian Andes based on plant use data from traditional healers and patient data from a primary health care (PHC) service, and to demonstrate similarities and differences between the type of illnesses treated with traditional and biomedical health care, respectively.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A secondary analysis of plant use data from semi-structured interviews with eight healers was conducted and diagnostic data was collected from 324 patients in the community PHC service. Health conditions were ranked according to: (A) the percentage of patients in the PHC service diagnosed with these conditions; and (B) the citation frequency of plant use reports to treat these conditions by healers. Healers were also queried about the payment modalities they offer to their patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Plant use reports from healers yielded 1166 responses about 181 medicinal plant species, which are used to treat 67 different health conditions, ranging from general symptoms (e.g. fever and body pain), to more specific ailments, such as arthritis, biliary colic and pneumonia. The results show that treatment offered by traditional medicine overlaps with biomedical health care in the case of respiratory infections, wounds and bruises, fever and biliary colic/cholecystitis. Furthermore, traditional health care appears to be complementary to biomedical health care for chronic illnesses, especially arthritis, and for folk illnesses that are particularly relevant within the local cultural context. Payment from patients to healers included flexible, outcome contingent and non-monetary options.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Traditional medicine in the study area is adaptive because it corresponds well with local patterns of morbidity, health care needs in relation to chronic illnesses, cultural perceptions of health conditions and socio-economic aspects of health care. The quantitative analysis of plant use reports and patient data represents a novel approach to compare the contribution of traditional and biomedical health care to treatment of particular health conditions.</p

The relationship between plant use and plant diversity in the Bolivian Andes, with special reference to medicinal plant use

This paper examines the relationship between plant use and plant diversity in 36 transects of 50 x 2 m(2) laid out in the surroundings of Apillapampa, a community of Quechua subsistence farmers in the Bolivian Andes. Use data were obtained through individual interviews with 13 local key participants and were organized in eight plant use categories. Regression slope analysis showed that for nearly all plant use categories the proportion of used species to available species decreased with increasing plant diversity in transects. Two main groups of plant use categories could be distinguished: diversity followers, for which the number of useful plant species in transects keeps abreast with increasing plant diversity (e.g. medicine) and diversity laggards, for which the number of useful plant species increases only moderately with increasing diversity (e.g., food). We hypothesize that the main difference between both groups is related to the human process of plant selection. In categories that are diversity followers, plants are partly selected and used in an immediacy context, whereby emic perception of efficacy may be of secondary importance. By contrast, plant use in categories of diversity laggards is strongly guided by emic perception of efficacy because plant use takes place in a context in which plants are generally not needed on a short notice

Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia-0

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/4/1/1</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2008;4():1-1.</p><p>Published online 14 Jan 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2265262.</p><p></p

Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia-2

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/4/1/1</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2008;4():1-1.</p><p>Published online 14 Jan 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2265262.</p><p></p

Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia-1

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/4/1/1</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2008;4():1-1.</p><p>Published online 14 Jan 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2265262.</p><p></p

Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia-4

Points are indicated as black dots and represent the community of Apillapampa, community of Arampampa and the village of Capinota.<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/4/1/1</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2008;4():1-1.</p><p>Published online 14 Jan 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2265262.</p><p></p

Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia-3

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/4/1/1</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2008;4():1-1.</p><p>Published online 14 Jan 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2265262.</p><p></p