Ethnomedicine is a study or comparison of thetraditional medicine based on bioactive compounds in plants and animals and practiced by variousethnic groups, especially those with little access to western medicines, e.g.,indigenous peoples. The wordethnomedicine is sometimes used as asynonym fortraditional medicine.^[1]

Ethnomedical research isinterdisciplinary; in its study of traditional medicines, it applies the methods ofethnobotany andmedical anthropology. Often, the medicine traditions it studies are preserved only byoral tradition.^[1] In addition to plants, some of these traditions constitute significantinteractions with insects on the Indian Subcontinent,^[2][3] inAfrica, or elsewhere around the globe.^{[citation needed]}

Scientific ethnomedical studies constitute eitheranthropological research ordrug discovery research.^[4] Anthropological studies examine the cultural perception and context of a traditional medicine. Ethnomedicine has been used as a starting point in drug discovery,^[5] specifically those usingreverse pharmacological techniques.

This sectionneeds morereliable medical references forverification or relies too heavily onprimary sources. Please review the contents of the section andadd the appropriate references if you can. Unsourced or poorly sourced material may be challenged andremoved.Find sources: "Ethnomedicine" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2019)

Ethnopharmacology is a related field which studies ethnic groups and their use of plant compounds. It is linked topharmacognosy,phytotherapy (study ofmedicinal plants) use andethnobotany, as this is a source oflead compounds fordrug discovery.^[6] Emphasis has long been ontraditional medicines, although the approach also has proven useful to the study ofmodern pharmaceuticals.^[7][8]

It involves studies of the:

1. identification and ethnotaxonomy (cognitive categorisation) of the (eventual) natural material, from which the candidate compound will be produced
2. traditional preparation of the pharmaceutical forms
3. bio-evaluation of the possible pharmacological action of such preparations (ethnopharmacology)
4. their potential for clinical effectiveness
5. socio-medical aspects implied in the uses of these compounds (medical anthropology).

• Lee, Roberta; Balick, Michael J. (2001)."Ethnomedicine: Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Healing"(PDF).Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.7 (3):28–30.PMID 11347282. Retrieved12 June 2013.
• Fábrega, Horacio, Jr. Evolution of Sickness and Healing. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. Access Apr. 2015
• Willem, Jean-Pierre (2006).L'Ethnomédecine, une alliance entre science et tradition [Ethnomedicine: An Alliance Between Science and Tradition] (in French). Paris: Jouvence & Biocontact.ISBN 978-2-88353-472-8.
• Willem, Jean-Pierre (2009).Mémoires d'un médecin aux pieds nus [Memoires of a Barefoot Doctor] (in French). Paris:Éditions Albin Michel.ISBN 978-2-226-18987-5.

• Ethnobiology
• Medical anthropology
• Traditional medicine

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