Socio-cultural contribution to medicinal plants assessment and sustainable development: case of antidiabetic and antihypertensive plants in Cameroon.

Diabetes and hypertension rank among human diseases that are very difficult to control. The medicinal material of Cameroon can provide much information on ethnic folklore practices and traditional aspects of therapeutically important natural products. Cameroon has a very rich cultural diversity with different traditional systems of medicine that need more evidence-based studies on both crude extracts and purified phytomolecules. Therefore, an ethnobotanical study was conducted on 58 socio-cultural population groups living in different phytogeographic units of Cameroon in order to collect various medicinal plants or recipes. A two by two comparison of social-cultural groups of the same phytogeographic unit indicated a significant difference in 86.97% of medicinal plants or recipes comparisons' cases. A total of two hundred and eight recipes were identified, among which 75 were used for diabetes and hypertension treatment, 74 for hypertension alone, and 59 for diabetes alone. Also, two hundred and three plants were identified among which 33 were cultivated and marketed by 25 farming families engaged in integrated agriculture and selling of antidiabetic and antihypertensive plants to enhance their socio-economic status.

Treatment of Diabetes and/or Hypertension Using Medicinal Plants in Cameroon.

Medicinal plants have served as valuable starting materials for drug development in both developing and developed countries. Today, more than 80% of the people living in Africa were depended on medicinal plants based medicines to satisfy their healthcare needs. The main goal of the present study was to collect and document information on herbal remedies traditionally used for the treatment of diabetes and/or hypertension in Cameroon. To reach this objective, data were collected from 328 patients who have been diagnosed at least once by a physician as diabetics and/or hypertension patients. One hundred and eighty two (182) among them took for a period of 10 days different varieties of medicinal plants which were prepared in form of decoction, maceration and infusion and administered orally twice or three times daily. As result, 70% of patients who used plants were relieved at the end of the treatment. Thirty-three plants have been recorded and documented for the treatment of diabetes and/or hypertension. The results of this study can stimulate a sustainable development by providing the basis for drugs discovery and by documenting biodiversity for long time exploitation.