Panda Ashok Kumar, Misra Sangram
Ayurveda Regional Research Institute, Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim - 737 102, India.
J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2010 Jul;1(3):183-9. doi: 10.4103/0975-9476.72617.
Ancient medical systems are still prevalent in Sikkim, popularly nurtured by Buddhist groups using the traditional Tibetan pharmacopoeia overlapping with Ayurvedic medicine. Traditional medical practices and their associated cultural values are based round Sikkim's three major communities, Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepalis. In this study, a semi-structured questionnaire was prepared for folk healers covering age and sex, educational qualification, source of knowledge, types of practices, experience and generation of practice, and transformation of knowledge. These were administered to forty-eight folk healers identified in different parts of Sikkim.490 medicinal plants find their habitats in Sikkim because of its large variations in altitude and climate. For 31 commonly used by these folk healers, we present botanical name, family, local name, distribution, and parts used, together with their therapeutic uses, mostly Rheumatoid arthritis, Gout, Gonorrhea, Fever, Viral flu, asthma, Cough and Cold, indigestion, Jaundice etc. A case treated by a folk healer is also recounted. This study indicates that, in the studied area, Sikkim's health traditions and folk practices are declining due to shifts in socio-economic patterns, and unwillingness of the younger generation to adopt folk healing as a profession.
古代医学体系在锡金仍然盛行，深受佛教团体推崇，他们使用与阿育吠陀医学重叠的传统藏药药典。传统医学实践及其相关文化价值围绕锡金的三个主要群体——雷布查族、菩提亚族和尼泊尔族展开。在本研究中，为民间治疗师准备了一份半结构化问卷，内容涵盖年龄、性别、教育程度、知识来源、实践类型、经验和实践代际以及知识传承。这些问卷被发放给在锡金不同地区识别出的48位民间治疗师。由于锡金海拔和气候差异巨大，有490种药用植物生长于此。对于这些民间治疗师常用的31种植物，我们列出了其植物学名、科属、当地名称、分布、使用部位，以及它们的治疗用途，主要用于治疗类风湿性关节炎、痛风、淋病、发烧、病毒性流感、哮喘、咳嗽和感冒、消化不良、黄疸等。文中还讲述了一个民间治疗师治疗的病例。本研究表明，在研究区域内，由于社会经济模式的转变以及年轻一代不愿将民间治疗作为职业，锡金的健康传统和民间疗法正在衰退。
