Ethno Medicinal Plants Used for the Treatment of Common Diseases by the Deori Community People of Lakhimpur District, Assam

Abstract

Herbal medicine is currently experiencing a revival in the world, along with other complementary therapies such as traditional Chinese Medicines, Osteopathy and Homeopathy. Many of the pharmaceuticals currently available to physicians have a long history of use as herbal remedies, including opium, aspirin, digitalis, and quinine. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80% of the world's population presently uses herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. Herbal medicine is a major component in all traditional medicine systems, and a common element in Ayurvedic, homeopathic, naturopathic, traditional Chinese medicine, and Native American medicine. The district of Lakhimpur, Assam, situated at the far east corner of North East India is a region of rich biodiversity. Because of its location at the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh, an environment with heavy rainfall and high humidity, conducive for a significant floristic diversity prevails in this region. The native people of this region, the greater Assamese community, therefore depends to a large extent on the varied plant species for food and medicine besides other uses. An attempt has been made to explore and enumerate the potential ethno-medicinal plants used by the people of Lakhimpur district, Assam. The survey was conducted in some remote areas of the district occupied by Deori communities specially restricted to Narayanpur sub-division and a total of 58 medicinal plants comprising of 39 families were recorded. The ethonomedicobotanical exploration is carried out by concerning of the people who are related with making traditional medicine that orally prescribed. Different parts of these plants are used by the local inhabitants for the cure of some common ailments occurring in the areas. The data includes the list of such medicinal plants along with their local names, families, parts used, the method of treatment and the disease cured.