Flashcards on Ethnopharmacology: Traditional Medicine and Drug Discovery

Ethnopharmacology: Traditional Medicine & Drug Discovery Guide

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What is ethnopharmacology?

The study that explores how ethnic and cultural groups use plants, fungi, animals, microorganisms and minerals as traditional medicines.

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Ethnopharmacology

15 cards

Card 1

Question: What is ethnopharmacology?

Answer: The study that explores how ethnic and cultural groups use plants, fungi, animals, microorganisms and minerals as traditional medicines.

Card 2

Question: How is ethnoscience defined in the context of ethnopharmacology?

Answer: A form of shared environmental knowledge, beliefs and rules, and techniques for productive activities (indigenous local knowledge).

Card 3

Question: What is pharmacology as defined in the content?

Answer: A branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action — the study of how substances interact with living

Card 4

Question: Name three disciplines related to ethnopharmacology.

Answer: Possible answers include: ethnobotany (economic botany), pharmacognosy, ethnomedicine, phytochemistry, chemical ecology, anthropology, botany, chemist

Card 5

Question: How does ethnobotany relate to ethnopharmacology?

Answer: Ethnobotany (economic botany) studies the relationship between plants and people and is a multidisciplinary field that overlaps with ethnopharmacology

Card 6

Question: Give an example of a successful drug discovery from ethnopharmacology mentioned in the content.

Answer: Artemisinin, discovered by Youyou Tu from Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood), an antimalarial effective against resistant Plasmodium strains.

Card 7

Question: What traditional medical systems are explicitly listed as related to ethnopharmacology?

Answer: Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda are listed as traditional medicines related to ethnopharmacology.

Card 8

Question: What roles can ethnopharmacology play in low-cost medicine production?

Answer: It can guide production of medicinal plants like Artemisia annua for local antimalarial use, exemplified by production in the Democratic Republic of C

Card 9

Question: What range of global use of alternative or traditional medicines is indicated in the content?

Answer: The presentation lists highly variable use across regions, with many values shown such as >80%, 50–75%, ~50%, 60–70%, and >90% in some areas (indicati

Card 10

Question: How does traditional medicine differ from modern medicine in approach?

Answer: Traditional medicine is holistic and integrates with culture, religion and community life, while modern medicine often targets specific organs and is