Ethnomedicinal Plants of Two Village Folk Medicinal Practitioners in Rajshahi District, Bangladesh: Comparison of their Folk Medicinal Uses with Ayurvedic Uses

Abstract

Folk medicinal practitioners, otherwise known as Kavirajes, are possibly the most numerous practitioners among the various branches of traditional and modern medicine in Bangladesh. Kavirajes can be found in almost all villages of the 86,000 villages of the country. Each Kaviraj uses his or her individualistic formulations, which primarily consist of medicinal plants. The formulations are simple; the origins of such formulations remain mostly obscure, though occasionally the formulations can be considered simplistic versions of the traditional Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda. The objective of the present study was to conduct an ethnomedicinal survey among two village Kavirajes in Rajshahi district, and compare their uses of plants for therapeutic purposes with classical Ayurvedic uses of the same plants. The two Kavirajes were observed to use a total of 51 plant species distributed into 32 families for treatment of diseases like menstrual disorders, urinary disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, chest diseases, piles, weakness, anemia, pain, fever, sexual disorders, heart disorders, gall bladder stone, paralysis, cuts and wounds, skin diseases, helminthiasis, jaundice, respiratory disorders, appendicitis, edema, and bone fracture. A comparative analysis with reported Ayurvedic uses of the plants show that a number of the plants are known in Ayurveda, and the therapeutic uses in Ayurveda are quite similar to the Kavirajes in the majority of cases, suggesting that the Kavirajes were making their own selections for some plants but may be also influenced by Ayurvedic uses in case of other plants.