Ethnobotanical studies of medicinal plants used by Traditional Health Practitioners in the management of diabetes in Lower Eastern Province, Kenya.
BACKGROUND
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.


METHODS
Data was collected using structured open- and close-ended questionnaires.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Traditional Medicine and Drug Research, Mbagathi Road, P.O. Box 54840-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. lketer@kemri.org
Lucia K
LK
Keter
Patrick C
PC
Mutiso
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019448:Ethnobotany; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D055815:Young Adult
D010936:Plant Extracts