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Indigenous use

A review on traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of the genus Peganum

May 5, 2017 / Ayahuasca, Ethnobotany, Indigenous use, Medicine, Papers, Safety, Toxicology / By / , ,

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance

The plants of the genus Peganum have a long history as a Chinese traditional medicine for the treatment of cough, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, jaundice, colic, lumbago, and many other human ailments. Additionally, the plants can be used as an amulet against evil-eye, dye and so on, which have become increasingly popular in Asia, Iran, Northwest India, and North Africa.

Aim of the review

The present paper reviewed the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, analytical methods, biological activities, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and drug interaction of the genus Peganum in order to assess the ethnopharmacological use and to explore therapeutic potentials and future opportunities for research.

Materials and methods

Information on studies of the genus Peganum was gathered via the Internet (using Google Scholar, Baidu Scholar, Elsevier, ACS, Pudmed, Web of Science, CNKI and EMBASE) and libraries. Additionally, information was also obtained from some local books, PhD and MS’s dissertations.

Results

The genus Peganum has played an important role in traditional Chinese medicine. The main bioactive metabolites of the genus include alkaloids, flavonoids, volatile oils, etc. Scientific studies on extracts and formulations revealed a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as cholinesterase and monoamine oxidase inhibitory activities, antitumor, anti-hypertension, anticoagulant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, insecticidal, antiparasidal, anti-leishmaniasis, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory.

Conclusions

Based on this review, there is some evidence for extracts’ pharmacological effects on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, cancer, diabetes, hypertension. Some indications from ethnomedicine have been confirmed by pharmacological effects, such as the cholinesterase, monoamine oxidase and DNA topoisomerase inhibitory activities, hypoglycemic and vasodilation effects of this genus. The available literature showed that most of the activities of the genus Peganum can be attributed to the active alkaloids. Data regarding many aspects of the genus such as mechanisms of actions, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, potential drug interactions with standard-of-care medications is still limited which call for additional studies particularly in humans. Further assessments and clinical trials should be performed before it can be integrated into medicinal practices.

Li, S., Cheng, X., & Wang, C. (2017). A review on traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of the genus Peganum. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 10.1016/j.jep.2017.03.049
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Shaping Strong People: Napo Runa Therapeutic Narratives of Medicinal Plant Use

December 31, 2016 / Anthropology, Ethnobotany, Indigenous use, Other substances, Papers, Publications, Sociology / By /

Abstract

Indigenous people living in contemporary Upper Amazonia marshal their ethnomedical knowledge and praxis to greet pressing challenges and to derive meaning from phenomena operating at wider scales of influence. In this chapter, I provide ethnographic examples of how Napo Runa deploy subaltern therapeutic narratives about medicinal plant use that contest violence they experience in their everyday lives and that reaffirm the purpose and consequences of social circulation of medicinal plants. These therapeutic narratives situate bodies in contexts of lived experience by drawing on historical, social–political, and environmental realties of the people crafting them. Here, ethnomedical knowledge is leveraged to contend with transnational processes that have direct and dangerous impacts on individual bodies. This work seeks not only to document how Napo Runa use plants to promote health and well-being but also to demonstrate that how they talk about their plant use illustrates their resistance to everyday forms of violence.

Bridges, N. C. (2016). Shaping Strong People: Napo Runa Therapeutic Narratives of Medicinal Plant Use. In Plants and Health (pp. 93-116). Springer International Publishing. 10.1007/978-3-319-48088-6_4

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How Religion, Race, and the Weedy Agency of Plants Shape Amazonian Home Gardens

December 4, 2016 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Ethnobotany, Indigenous use, Papers, Publications, Religious studies / By /

Abstract

Across Brazilian Amazonia, it is common to find rural households that keep plants with magico-medicinal properties in their home gardens. Despite widespread occurrence of such plants, some Amazonians—especially in Evangelical communities—openly criticize their use as incongruent with Christian belief and practice. In this article, I offer ethnographic observations that indicate divergent attitudes toward magico-medicinal plants between Evangelical Christians and Amazonian folk Catholics, the latter of whom borrow heavily from Afro-Brazilian and indigenous religions. I contend that Evangelicals’ attempts to establish distance from such plants is due in part to histories of ethnic and racial marginalization that are indexed in their use. Still, many magico-medicinal plants are weedy species that actively colonize areas occupied by humans, thus openly defying Evangelical attempts to evade them. In this manner, magico-medicinal plants are not just subject to human agencies, but are arguably agents in their own right.

Kawa, N. C. (2016). How Religion, Race, and the Weedy Agency of Plants Shape Amazonian Home Gardens. Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment, 38(2), 84-93. 10.1111/cuag.12073
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Medicine, religion and ayahuasca in Catalonia. Considering ayahuasca networks from a medical anthropology perspective

October 18, 2016 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Indigenous use, Medicine, Papers, Publications / By / ,

Abstract

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive beverage from the Amazon, traditionally used by indigenous and mestizo populations in the region. Widespread international use of the beverage began in the 1990s in both secular contexts and religious/spiritual networks. This article offers an analysis of these networks as health care systems in general and for the case of Spain and specifically Catalonia, describing the emergence and characteristics of their groups, and the therapeutic itineraries of some participants. The medical anthropology perspective we take enables us to reflect on the relationship between medicine and religion, and problematize the tensions between medicalization and medical pluralism. Closely linked to the process of medicalization, we also analyze prohibitionist drug policies and their tensions and conflicts with the use of ayahuasca in ritual and ‘health care’ contexts. The paper ends with a reflection on the problem of ayahuasca as ‘medicine’, since the connection between religion and medicine is a very difficult one to separate.

Apud, I., & Romaní, O. (2017). Medicine, religion and ayahuasca in Catalonia. Considering ayahuasca networks from a medical anthropology perspective. International Journal of Drug Policy, 39, 28-36. 10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.07.011
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Ayahuasca and Sumak Kawsay: Challenges to the Implementation of the Principle of “Buen Vivir,” Religious Freedom, and Cultural Heritage Protection

September 15, 2016 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Ethnobotany, Indigenous use, Other subjects, Papers, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

The current environmental crisis can be approached, through many perspectives, as a civilizational crisis. Alternatives of human transcendence are identified in the Inca civilization to compensate for the malaise that characterizes the actual crisis. There is a multicultural dimension to the manifestations of Hoasca (or Ayahuasca) occurring in Amazonian countries. As employed by the Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal (UDV) in a religious context, it can contribute to the reconstruction of buen vivir (or in Quechua, sumak kawsay, meaning complete wellness), which served as the principle of the civilizations that preceded the colonization of the Americas by Europeans. Today, the State openly confronts the manifestation of the constitutional principles of buen vivir, religious freedom, and the protection of this cultural heritage. Here, the implications of the civilizational crisis and ways of overcoming it are approached from the standpoint of deep ecology, but the implications also reflect the doctrinal vision of the UDV to which the authors are affiliated.

Irigaray, C. T. J., Girard, P., Irigaray, M., & Silva, C. J. (2016). Ayahuasca and Sumak Kawsay: Challenges to the Implementation of the Principle of “Buen Vivir,” Religious Freedom, and Cultural Heritage Protection. Anthropology of Consciousness, 27(2), 204-225. 10.1111/anoc.12057
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Ayahuasca Treatment Center Safety for the Western Seeker

September 15, 2016 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Ethnobotany, Indigenous use, Papers, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Publications, Safety / By / ,

Abstract

Ayahuasca, an ancient Amazonian psychedelic tea traditionally used ceremonially among indigenous peoples, has recently become known as a possible treatment for a wide range of disorders. The awareness of this sacred medicine has grown exponentially over the past decade, attracting westerners from a wide variety of backgrounds, hoping to find treatment for a myriad of emotional and physical illnesses, as well as spiritual needs. In the wake of the commercialization and westernization of the use of ayahuasca, and the subsequent proliferation of ayahuasca treatment centers, this paper examines the benefits and possible risks of this form of therapy in an effort to create a safety protocol for Westerners in this context. The most practical approach to increasing safety for Westerners attending these Amazonian treatment centers is to educate the seeker prior to treatment and to provide access to specialized therapeutic aftercare services.

Ray, R. R., & Lassiter, K. S. (2016). Ayahuasca Treatment Center Safety for the Western Seeker. Anthropology of Consciousness, 27(2), 121-150. 10.1111/anoc.12060
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Psychological and neuropsychological assessment of regular hoasca users

September 12, 2016 / Ayahuasca, Ethnobotany, Indigenous use, Papers, Personal development, Psychiatry, Psychology, Publications, Sociology, Spirituality / By / , , , , ,

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hoasca (also called ayahuasca) is a N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) – containing psychedelic brew originally used for magico-religious purposes by Amerindian populations of the Amazon Basin. Recently, Brazilian syncretic churches have helped spread the ritual use of hoasca to Western societies. The aim of this study was to evaluate substance use, and neuropsychological and psychological functioning of regular hoasca users within a religious setting.

METHODS: Assessment of socio-economic status, mood, personality traits, impulsiveness, drug use, quality of life, extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity, and neuropsychological function was performed on 30 volunteers from a U.S. branch of União do Vegetal (UDV), a Brazilian religion which uses hoasca ritually. We also assessed 27 non-hoasca-using control subjects matched by socio-demographic profile and church attendance. Mann-Whitney U, chi-squared and Fisher tests were used to analyze differences between groups. Spearman’s association and simple logistic regression tests were used to analyze the impact of frequency of hoasca use on dependent variables.

RESULTS: Relative to the control group, the UDV group demonstrated lower scores for depression (p=0.043, r=.27) and confusion (p=0.032, r=.29) as assessed by the Profile of Mood States (POMS); higher scores on the instrument Big Five Inventory (BFI) for the personality traits agreeableness (p=0.028, r=.29) and openness (p=0.037, r=.28); higher scores on the quality life domain role limitations due to physical health as determined by the instrument Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 – SF-36 (p=0.035, r=.28); less recent use of alcohol (p<0.001, φc=.57), greater past use of alcohol to intoxication (p=0.007, φc=.36) and past use of cannabis (p=0.001, φc=.45) as measured by the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), 5th edition; better score on a measure of memory vulnerability to proactive interference as measured by the California Verbal Learning Test – CVLT (p=0.040, r=.27). Lifetime use of hoasca was positively correlated with role limitations due to physical health (p=0.032, rs=.39) and negatively associated with lifetime heavy alcohol use (p=0.034, OR=0.979).

CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that religious use of hoasca does not adversely affect neuropsychological functioning and may have positive effects on substance abuse and mood.

Barbosa, P. C. R., Strassman, R. J., da Silveira, D. X., Areco, K., Hoy, R., Pommy, J., … & Bogenschutz, M. (2016). Psychological and neuropsychological assessment of regular hoasca users. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 71, 95-105. 0.1016/j.comppsych.2016.09.003

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Spirituality, drugs, and tourism: tourists’ and shamans’ experiences of ayahuasca in Iquitos, Peru

June 22, 2016 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Indigenous use, Papers, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

This study critically evaluates the complex inter space of spirituality, drugs, and tourism through tourists’ and shamans’ accounts of ayahuasca tourism in Iquitos, Peru. Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic beverage traditionally consumed for spiritual and health purposes. Using micro-ethnography, one of the researchers was immersed for one month in the tourism experience of ayahuasca. The findings reveal the ambivalent nature of tourists’ experiences and the changing meaning and practices of ayahuasca. Tourists’ encounters with ayahuasca were perceived as spiritual due to better understanding and perception of ‘self’ and ‘others’. Shamans’ encounters with tourists were mostly positive but negative consequences on their practices were evident. The study highlights issues of fluidity, positionality, and self-identification of roles in tourism.

Prayag, G., Mura, P., Hall, C. M., & Fontaine, J. (2016). Spirituality, drugs, and tourism: tourists’ and shamans’ experiences of ayahuasca in Iquitos, Peru. Tourism Recreation Research, 1-12. 10.1080/02508281.2016.1192237
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On the Origin of the Genus Psilocybe and Its Potential Ritual Use in Ancient Africa and Europe

May 10, 2016 / Ethnobotany, History, Indigenous use, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Other subjects, Papers, Publications / By / , ,

Abstract

On the Origin of the Genus Psilocybe and Its Potential Ritual Use in Ancient Africa and Europe. The role of altered states of consciousness in the production of geometric and figurative art by prehistoric cultures in Africa and Europe has been hotly debated. Helvenston and Bahn have tried to refute the most famous hypothesis, Lewis-Williams’ neuropsychological model, by claiming that appropriate visual hallucinations required the ingestion of LSD, psilocybin, or mescaline, while arguing that none of these compounds were available to the cultures in question. We present here mycological arguments that tell another story. A prehistoric worldwide distribution of the mushroom genus Psilocybe, and therefore of psilocybin, is supported by the existence of endemic species in America, Africa, and Europe, the disjunct distribution of sister species, and the possibility of long-distance spore dispersal. It is more difficult to point to instances of actual prehistoric ritual use in Africa and Europe, but there are a growing number of suggestive findings.

Froese, T., Guzmán, G., & Guzmán-Dávalos, L. (2016). On the Origin of the Genus Psilocybe and Its Potential Ritual Use in Ancient Africa and Europe1. Economic Botany, 1-12. http://http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12231-016-9342-2
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