Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Traditional Medicine and Drug Research, Mbagathi Road, P.O. Box 54840-00200, Nairobi, Kenya.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2012 Jan 6;139(1):74-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2011.10.014. Epub 2011 Oct 14.
Diabetes mellitus is a growing problem in many developing countries and the financial burden associated with it is enormous. In traditional African communities, majority of people relies on traditional medicines and Traditional Health Practitioners as the primary source of health care. Hence, this study was undertaken in the Lower Eastern province of Kenya to document the medicinal plants used by the traditional practitioners to treat diabetes and to assess the existing knowledge in management of this condition.
Data was collected using structured open- and close-ended questionnaires.
Thirty-nine species belonging to 33 genera and 26 families were encountered and the most frequently cited species were from Caesalpiniaceae, Ebenaceae, Solanaceae and Labiatae families. Twenty-eight percent of the plant species are reported to have hypoglycaemic activity.
Currently there is no data on medicinal plants used to treat diabetes in Kenya. Therefore, these findings are important in the management of diabetes and future research on traditional medicine in drug development.
糖尿病在许多发展中国家是一个日益严重的问题，与之相关的财务负担巨大。在传统的非洲社区，大多数人依赖传统药物和传统医疗从业者作为主要的医疗保健来源。因此，本研究在肯尼亚下东部省进行，旨在记录传统从业者用于治疗糖尿病的药用植物，并评估管理这种疾病的现有知识。
使用结构化的开放式和封闭式问卷收集数据。
共遇到 39 种，属于 33 属和 26 科，最常被引用的物种来自豆科、柿科、茄科和唇形科。据报道，28%的植物物种具有降血糖活性。
目前肯尼亚没有关于用于治疗糖尿病的药用植物的数据。因此，这些发现对于糖尿病的管理以及传统医学在药物开发方面的未来研究非常重要。
