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Folk Medicinal Practices in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, Western Himalaya

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Title Folk Medicinal Practices in Kangra District of Himachal
Pradesh, Western Himalaya
 
Creator Uniyal, S K
Sharma, V
Jamwal, P
 
Subject Chemical Engineering
 
Description The importance of folk knowledge in improving livelihood
and biodiversity conservation is now well recognized
(Alcorn 1993; Gadgil et al. 2000). Of the various sectors
that have benefited from folk knowledge, healthcare is the
most important (Patwardhan 2007; Chadwick and Marsh
2007). Considering the growing acceptance of herbal
medicine, almost 25% of prescribed drugs available in the
market are plant based (Farnsworth et al. 1985), and novel
plant based cures are being sought. In this regard,
observations of folk medicinal practices are of great
significance (Fabricant and Farnsworth 2001).
In India, utilization of plants for medicinal purposes has
been documented in ancient texts (Charak and Drdhbala
1996; Tulsidas 1631) and more than 40% of the Indian flora
is reported to be used for medicinal purposes (Pushpangadan
1995). In the interior of the country such as the Himalayan
region, dependence on plants for healthcare is much higher.
No wonder it is said “folk medicine is the mother of the
healing systems of India” (Valiathan 2006). However, now
concerns are being raised about the erosion of this
knowledge (Uniyal et al. 2003). Keeping this in view, the
present study was conducted in Kangra district of Himachal
Pradesh where dependency on medicinal plants is high
(Brij Lal et al. 1996; Chauhan 2003; Kapur 1993; Sharma
and Chauhan 2000; Singh and Kumar 2000; Uniyal et al.
2006), yet detailed information on the plants used for
treating different diseases by the local people and the
techniques of treatments is lacking.
 
Date 2011
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier http://ihbt.csircentral.net/957/1/09-02-2012_Folk_medicinal.pdf
Uniyal, S K and Sharma, V and Jamwal, P (2011) Folk Medicinal Practices in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, Western Himalaya. Journal of Human Ecology, 39. pp. 479-488.
 
Relation http://ihbt.csircentral.net/957/