Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Avenida das Baraúnas, Campina Grande, Paraíba 58109-753, Brazil.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2011 Mar 7;7:9. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-7-9.
Zootherapy is the treatment of human ailments with remedies made from animals and their products. Despite its prevalence in traditional medical practices worldwide, research on this phenomenon has often been neglected in comparison to medicinal plant research. This review discusses some related aspects of the use of animal-based remedies in Latin America, identifies those species used as folk remedies, and discusses the implications of zootherapy for public health and biological conservation. The review of literature revealed that at least 584 animal species, distributed in 13 taxonomic categories, have been used in traditional medicine in region. The number of medicinal species catalogued was quite expansive and demonstrates the importance of zootherapy as an alternative mode of therapy in Latin America. Nevertheless, this number is certainly underestimated since the number of studies on the theme are very limited. Animals provide the raw materials for remedies prescribed clinically and are also used in the form of amulets and charms in magic-religious rituals and ceremonies. Zootherapeutic resources were used to treat different diseases. The medicinal fauna is largely based on wild animals, including some endangered species. Besides being influenced by cultural aspects, the relations between humans and biodiversity in the form of zootherapeutic practices are conditioned by the social and economic relations between humans themselves. Further ethnopharmacological studies are necessary to increase our understanding of the links between traditional uses of faunistic resources and conservation biology, public health policies, sustainable management of natural resources and bio-prospecting.
动物疗法是指用动物及其产品制成的药物来治疗人类疾病。尽管这种疗法在世界范围内的传统医学实践中很普遍,但与药用植物研究相比,对这种现象的研究往往被忽视。本文讨论了拉丁美洲动物疗法的一些相关方面,确定了被用作民间疗法的物种,并讨论了动物疗法对公共卫生和生物保护的影响。文献综述显示,在该地区,至少有 584 种动物分布在 13 个分类类别中被用于传统医学。被列入药用物种目录的数量非常庞大,这表明动物疗法作为拉丁美洲替代治疗模式的重要性。然而,由于关于该主题的研究非常有限,因此这个数字肯定被低估了。动物为临床开方提供了药材,也以护身符和符咒的形式用于魔法宗教仪式和典礼。动物疗法资源用于治疗不同的疾病。药用动物群主要基于野生动物,包括一些濒危物种。除了受到文化方面的影响外,人类与以动物疗法实践形式的生物多样性之间的关系还受到人类自身社会和经济关系的制约。需要进一步进行民族药理学研究,以加深我们对动物资源的传统利用与保护生物学、公共卫生政策、自然资源可持续管理和生物勘探之间联系的理解。