Culturally salient herbal medicines for female-specific reproductive conditions in rural Dominica, West Indies

Katherine Elizabeth Flores

In Dominica, as elsewhere, women commonly experience dysmenorrhea, delayed menses, menorrhagia, emesis gravidarum, parturition, post-partum placental expulsion, mastitis, and menopause, including menopausal hot flashes. Dominican ethnomedicine, however, does not medicalize these conditions; they are viewed as natural bodily functions and therefore do not have "cures." Herbal medicines, nonetheless, are available to alleviate any negative side effects women may experience. Dominican humoral theory is incorporated into the traditional ethnomedical system and provides a framework for the condition classification and their respective remedies. This research focuses on the most culturally salient plants for the aforementioned conditions and analyzes their place within the Dominican ethnomedical system. Qualitative data on local explanatory models and treatment of female-specific reproductive conditions were collected using participant-observation, focus groups, and informal and unstructured key informant interviews. Quantitative ethnobotanical data come from freelist (or "free-list") tasks, conducted with fifty-four adults. Mean salience values calculated from freelisted data reveal that Allium cepa (Liliaceae), Aristolochia trilobata (Aristolochiaceae), Chamaesyce prostrata (synonym Eclipta prostrata) (Euphorbiaceae), Cinnamomum verum v (synonym Cinnamomum zeylanicum) (Lauraceae), Dysphania ambrosioides (synonym Chenopodium ambrosioides) (Chenopodiaceae), Mentha spicata (Lamiaceae), Mentha suaveolens (Lamiaceae), Myristica fragrans (Myristicaceae), Pimenta racemosa (Myrtaceae), Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae), Sphagneticola trilobata (synonym Wedelia trilobata) (Asteraceae), Spondias mombin (Anacardiaceae), and Zingiber officinale (Zingiberaceae) are salient remedies used to treat reproductive conditions. Negative binomial regression analysis reveals that women know more female-specific reproductive plants than men. Occupation, sex, and children are significant factors for phototherapeutic knowledge concerned female and male reproductive and non-reproductive conditions. Significant interactions among education, occupation, and age are present in the data and can affect the number of salient plants an individual is able to recall. Examining the ethnophysiology of female-specific reproductive conditions and their complications provides evidence for the expectations of actions and effectiveness of locally culturally salient medicinal plants.

Culturally salient herbal medicines for female-specific reproductive conditions in rural Dominica, West Indies

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