A cross-cultural comparison of folk plant uses among Albanians, Bosniaks, Gorani and Turks living in south Kosovo.

BACKGROUND: Kosovo represents a unique hotspot of biological and cultural diversity in Europe, which allows for interesting cross-cultural ethnobotanical studies. The aims of this study were twofold: 1) to document the state of traditional knowledge related to local (esp. wild) plant uses for food, medicine, and handicrafts in south Kosovo; and 2) to examine how communities of different ethnic groups in the region (Albanians, Bosniaks/Gorani, and Turks) relate to and value wild botanical taxa in their ecosystem. METHODS: Field research was conducted in 10 villages belonging to the Prizren municipality and 4 villages belonging to the Dragash municipality, located in the Sharr Mountains in the southern part of Kosovo. Snowball sampling techniques were used to recruit 139 elderly informants (61 Albanians, 32 Bosniaks/Gorani and 46 Turks), for participation in semi-structured interviews regarding the use of the local flora for medicinal, food, and handicraft purposes. RESULTS: Overall, we recorded the local uses of 114 species were used for medicinal purposes, 29 for food (wild food plants), and 20 in handicraft activities. The most important species used for medicinal purposes were Achillea millefolium L., Sambucus nigra L., Urtica dioica L., Tilia platyphyllos Scop. Hypericum perforatum L., Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert, Thymus serpyllum L. and Vaccinium myrtillus L. Chamomilla recutita was the most highly valued of these species across the populations surveyed. Out of 114 taxa used for medicinal purposes, only 44 species are also included in the European Pharmacopoeia. The predominantly quoted botanical families were Rosaceae, Asteraceae, and Lamiaceae. Comparison of the data recorded among the Albanian, Bosniak/Gorani, and Turkish communities indicated a less herbophilic attitude of the Albanian populations, while most quoted taxa were quoted by all three communities, thus suggesting a hybrid character of the Kosovar plant knowledge. CONCLUSION: Cross-cultural ethnobiological studies are crucial in the Balkans not only for proposing ways of using plant natural resources, which could be exploited in sustainable local development projects (e.g. focusing on eco-tourism and small-scale trade of medicinal herbs, food niche and handicrafts products), but also for fostering collaboration and reconciliation among diverse ethnic and religious communities.

Ethnobotanical study on medicinal use of wild and cultivated plants in middle, south and west Bosnia and Herzegovina.

AIM OF THE STUDY: The results of an ethnobotanical study on the use of wild and cultivated plants in middle, west and south Bosnia and Herzegovina (Western Balkan Peninsula; Southeast Europe) carried out in the years 2006-2009 are presented. Despite the country's extraordinary high plant diversity with about 3600 known species of vascular plants, plant usage in traditional medicine remained largely unexplored in the past. The purpose of this study was the systematic collection of information about usage of wild and cultivated plants in human therapy from Bosnia and Herzegovina. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Information was gathered by performing so called open ethnobotanical interviews by which data on the name, age and occupation of the interviewed person; the geographic locality and date of the interview; the name of the used plant; part of the plant used; the prescription background and preparation procedure as well as the indication was systematically collected. Plants mentioned to be used by the informants were collected, taxonomically determined and corresponding material was deposited in the herbarium of the Department of Pharmacognosy of the University of Vienna. RESULTS: In total, 34 places including villages and mountain areas were visited and 51 people, known as 'traditional healers' by the rest of the inhabitants, questioned. 228 wild and cultivated species and 730 different preparations for the use in human therapy were recorded. Species of the genera Achillea, Hypericum, Mentha, Teucrium, Thymus, and Urtica were particularly highly recommended by the majority of the informants. The most frequently mentioned indications were urogenital tract disorders, respiratory system disorders, gastrointestinal tract disorders, skin ailments, blood system disorders, nervous system disorders, cardiovascular system disorders, and rheumatism. Infusions were the most frequently prepared formulation. Other applied preparations mentioned with decreasing frequency were decocts, ointments, direct application of plants without prior preparation, fluid unctions, sirups and tinctures or collars, freshly pressed juices, powders, and finally macerations. Balms known as "mehlems" were special to Bosnia and were prepared from freshly chopped or freshly pressed herbal parts of various plants. Warmed resins from Abies or Picea species, bees wax, raw cow or pig lard, olive oil and honey were used as additives in the mehlem formulations. Representatives of the genera Arctium, Carlina, Euphrasia, Hypericum, Plantago, Teucrium, and Urtica were most frequently used in these balms. Prescriptions were verbally delivered, usually from mother to daughter and for even more than six generations. For the purpose of further analyses and comparisons, the collected data were inserted in the so called "VOLKSMED" data base of Austrian prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS: The identified broad variety of indications and their frequent applications suggests that traditional plant use is of high importance and still crucial for the medicinal accommodation of Bosnian people. Fifty-seven of the species reported by Bosnian people were used in official pharmacy. In addition, a variety of less known plants has been used since ages in traditional therapy of this country and hence may be potential sources for new therapies. Therefore, further pharmaceutical research into this particular and scientifically still underexplored proportion of Bosnian plant biodiversity appears promising and is recommended by the authors.

Use of complementary, non-pharmacological pain reduction methods during childbirth among foreign-born and Swedish-born women.

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the association between country of origin of women and their use of complementary pain reduction methods (i.e. non-pharmacological) during childbirth in Sweden. DESIGN: cross-sectional design. SETTING: a national register-based study. PARTICIPANTS: 215,497 singleton deliveries (including the first birth of each woman during the period) of women aged 18-47 years in Sweden between 1996 and 1998, divided into 12 subgroups of countries or regions. MEASUREMENTS: the use of complementary pain reduction methods during childbirth was analysed by logistic regression, adjusting for parity, level of education, number of antenatal care visits, complications in pregnancy, complications during childbirth, use of any pharmacological methods and use of epidural/spinal analgesia during childbirth. FINDINGS: all subgroups of foreign-born women, except those from Finland, had lower odds of complementary pain reduction methods during childbirth than Swedish-born women. Women from Bosnia, Arab countries, Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey, Iran and Asia had about 40% lower odds for use of complementary pain reduction methods during childbirth than Swedish-born women. Women who used epidural analgesia had higher odds for use of complementary pain reduction methods during childbirth than women who did not use any pharmacological methods. KEY CONCLUSION: most subgroups of foreign-born women showed lower odds for and a different pattern in the use of complementary pain reduction methods during childbirth than Swedish-born women. These findings raise questions of whether the Swedish health-care system and care providers have sufficient awareness of and insight into the socio-cultural context of giving birth.

[Counseling of immigrant families]. / Erziehungsberatung mit Migrantenfamilien.

The quality and efficiency in the process of psychological counseling with migrant families depends on the counselor's insight in the constellations of migration and culture. Both have a special influence on the way of coping with problems and the relation between client and counselor during the therapy. It is therefore necessary to adapt the own therapeutical approach to the migrant's experiences and abilities of comprehension. The author presents one example of intercultural family counseling by three short case explorations.