title: Quantitative ethnomedicinal survey of medicinal plants given for cardiometabolic diseases by the non-institutionally trained siddha practitioners of Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The burden of cardiometabolic diseases such as dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension, visceral obesity and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases and the use of traditional medicine for the management of such diseases are high in India; hence there is a need to document and analyze such therapies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study documented and analyzed the medicinal plants prescribed for cardiometabolic diseases by the non-institutionally trained siddha practitioners of Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  The field survey was conducted between December 2014 to November 2015. Successive free listing assisted with field-walks was used to interview the informants. After assessing the sampling sufficiency using rarefaction curve analysis, indices such as Informant Consensus Factor (Fic) and Index of Agreement on Remedies (IAR) were calculated for the data. The indicators of informant's medicinal plant knowledge such as Shannon's index, equitability index, etc., were regressed with the demographic profile of the informants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For this study 70 non-institutionally trained Siddha medical practitioners were approached; the data from 36 practitioners who were treating cardiometabolic diseases were documented. This study recorded the use of 188 species which were used to prepare 368 formulations to treat illnesses categorized under cardiometabolic diseases. In this, 53.04% claims were singletons. Regression analysis showed that single species dominance was reduced and the diversity of medicinal plants was increased with the increase in the age and experience. Increase in the years of formal education increased the equitability in the uses. The plants such as Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (cardiovascular diseases), Allium sativum L. (dyslipidemia), Cuminum cyminum L. (hypertension), Macrotyloma uniflorum Verdc. (obesity) and Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (type 2 diabetes) were the highly cited medicinal plants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This survey has identified the plants most commonly used by Siddha practitioners of Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, India for cardiometabolic diseases. The prevalence of chronic, non-communicable metabolic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity are increasing worldwide due to the rapid changes in the lifestyle. These ailments require a life-long care and in such instances, people tend to use complementary therapies in most cases, alongside with conventional therapies. In view of the high use of traditional therapies for treating cardiometabolic illnesses, this study supports the need for more research to evaluate the potential benefits of the treatments and to identify any safety concern.
authors.affiliation: Division of Ethnopharmacology, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esakkimuthu
authors.affiliation: Division of Ethnopharmacology, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mutheeswaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, PSG College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641 014, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arvinth
authors.affiliation: Division of Ethnopharmacology, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034, India.
authors.forename: M Gabriel
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Paulraj
authors.affiliation: Division of Ethnopharmacology, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034, India. Electronic address: eriloyola@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pandikumar
authors.affiliation: Division of Ethnopharmacology, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034, India; Visiting Professor Programme, Deanship of Scientific Research, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: eriloyola@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ignacimuthu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008515:Medicine, Ayurvedic; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D028321:Plant Preparations
keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; Complementary therapies; Hypertension; Obesity; Traditional medicine; Type 2 diabetes