Article
The faunal drugstore: Animal-based remedies used in traditional medicines in Latin America
Registration in:
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2011, 7:9
Author
Alves, Rômulo
Alves, Humberto N
Abstract
Zootherapy is the treatment of human ailments with remedies made from animals and their products. Despite its
prevalence in traditional medical practices worldwide, research on this phenomenon has often been neglected in
comparison to medicinal plant research. This review discusses some related aspects of the use of animal-based
remedies in Latin America, identifies those species used as folk remedies, and discusses the implications of
zootherapy for public health and biological conservation. The review of literature revealed that at least 584 animal
species, distributed in 13 taxonomic categories, have been used in traditional medicine in region. The number of
medicinal species catalogued was quite expansive and demonstrates the importance of zootherapy as an
alternative mode of therapy in Latin America. Nevertheless, this number is certainly underestimated since the
number of studies on the theme are very limited. Animals provide the raw materials for remedies prescribed
clinically and are also used in the form of amulets and charms in magic-religious rituals and ceremonies.
Zootherapeutic resources were used to treat different diseases. The medicinal fauna is largely based on wild
animals, including some endangered species. Besides being influenced by cultural aspects, the relations between
humans and biodiversity in the form of zootherapeutic practices are conditioned by the social and economic
relations between humans themselves. Further ethnopharmacological studies are necessary to increase our
understanding of the links between traditional uses of faunistic resources and conservation biology, public health
policies, sustainable management of natural resources and bio-prospecting.