engleski

TRADITIONAL HERBAL PRODUCTS USED FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES IN CROATIA

Having in mind the growing prevalence of diabetes as well as increasing popularity of traditional herbal medicine, the aim of this research was to collect the data on traditional herbal products used in the management of diabetes. In this study 17 herbalists from 14 markets in 6 cities were interviewed. The average age of the herbalists was 52 years. Most of them (9) were woman. They were practicing herbalism for average of 18 years. Approximately 70% of plants for sale were collected in nature either personally by the herbalist (33%), or their helpers (37%). The knowledge of plants was mostly transferred from another herbalist or family member. However, all of them also search for information in books on medicinal plants and even in internet. For diabetes management, 25 plants were employed, most often in herbal mixtures. As a rule, one herbalist sells only one product for diabetes, either as a single herb or in form of a mixture. Sting nettle (Urtica dioica), sold either as leaf or root, was the most often used plant (13 occurences), followed by white beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) (9 occurences), bilberry leaf (Vaccinium myrtillus) (7 occurences), Cichorium intybus (6 occurences), Artemisia absinthium (6 occurences) and Taraxacum officinale (5 occurences), while the other plants were used by less five herbalists. The results of this study show that Croatian herbal tradition offers knowledge of plants potentially useful for diabetes management.

diabetes; traditional medicine

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