José Ramón Vallejo

Interactions of Valeriana officinalis L. and Passiflora incarnata L. in a patient treated with lorazepam

There is an increasing interest in the health risks related to the use of herbal remedies. Although most consumers think that phytomedicines are safe and without side effects, interactions between complementary alternative and conventional medicines are being described.

The use of wild vertebrates in contemporary Spanish ethnoveterinary medicine

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE This review documents the wide and varied repertoire of traditional practices based on the use of wild vertebrates in Spanish ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) from the early 20th century to the present. Empirical practices, both ritual and magical, are recorded, and these EVM data are compared with those of other countries in the Mediterranean Region and Latin America. The data collected here could form a scientific foundation for future inventories of traditional knowledge and help in the discovery of new drugs for livestock. MATERIALS AND METHODS A qualitative systematic review of international and national databases in the fields of ethnobiology, ethnoveterinary medicine, folklore and ethnography was made. Information was obtained from more than 60 documentary sources. RESULTS We recorded the use of 30 wild vertebrates and a total of 84 empirical remedies based on the use of a single species. The two most relevant zoological groups are reptiles and mammals. A wide diversity of body parts or products have been and are used. The meat and skin of snakes are the animal products most commonly used. These zootherapeutic resources have been and are used to treat or prevent ca. 50 animal diseases or conditions, in particular digestive and reproductive ailments, together with some infectious diseases. Sheep, cattle and equines form the group of domestic animals in which the greatest number of useful species are employed. In addition, many remedies and practices of the magical type are documented. In comparison with other culturally related areas, this is a rich heritage. CONCLUSIONS Contemporary Spanish EVM practices amass a great richness of wild animal-based remedies. A diversity of animal parts or products have been used, offering a cultural heritage that could be a fundamental step in the discovery of new and low-cost drugs for treating livestock and alternative materials for pharmaceutical purposes. This overview contributes to the inventory of some uses and rituals seriously threatened by the progressive loss of local veterinary knowledge.

The use of the head louse as a remedy for jaundice in Spanish folk medicine: an overview

BackgroundIn Spain, head lice are considered a therapeutic resource for the treatment of jaundice. All folk remedies based on the ingestion of these insects meet in the present document, previously dispersed among a large number of references.MethodsAn overview of the Spanish literature has been carried out. The most important databases have been consulted. All related works have been examined.ResultsAlthough the method of preparation is diverse and the dose varies, the primary recommendation is a transference ritual consisting of taking nine live lice for nine days on an empty stomach without the patient’s knowledge. This traditional knowledge survives in Spanish society, and constitutes an example of the interrelation between Spanish and Latin American folk medicines.ConclusionsThe survival of this therapy in the worldview of certain rural communities suggests the need to take into account the beliefs, ideas and behaviour patterns of popular culture in relation to health and disease.Resumen (in Spanish)AntecedentesEn España, los piojos de la cabeza son considerados un recurso terapéutico para el tratamiento de la ictericia. Todos los remedios populares basados en la ingestión de estos insectos se reúnen en el presente documento, previamente dispersos por un gran número de referencias.MétodosSe ha llevado a cabo una revisión exhaustiva de la literatura española y han sido consultadas las bases de datos más importantes. Se han examinado todos los trabajos relacionados.ResultadosAunque el método de preparación es diverso y la dosis varía, la recomendación principal es un ritual de transferencia consistente en tomar nueve piojos vivos durante nueve días en ayunas y sin el conocimiento del paciente. Este conocimiento tradicional sobrevive en la sociedad española, y constituye un ejemplo de la interrelación entre las medicinas populares española y latinoamericana.ConclusionesLa supervivencia de esta terapia en la cosmovisión de algunas comunidades rurales sugiere la necesidad de tener en cuenta las creencias, ideas y patrones de comportamiento de la cultura popular en relación con la salud y la enfermedad.

Therapeutic and prophylactic uses of invertebrates in contemporary Spanish ethnoveterinary medicine

Zootherapeutic practices in ethnoveterinary medicine are important in many socio-cultural environments around the world, particularly in developing countries, and they have recently started to be inventoried and studied in Europe. In light of this, the purpose of this review is to describe the local knowledge and folk remedies based on the use of invertebrates and their derivative products in contemporary Spanish ethnoveterinary medicine. An overview in the fields of ethnozoology, ethnoveterinary medicine and folklore was made. Automated searches in the most important databases were performed. All related works were examined thoroughly and use-reports were obtained from 53 documentary sources. The traditional use of 18 invertebrate species and five ethnotaxa and a total of 86 empirical remedies based on the use of a single species was recorded. The two most relevant zoological groups were found to be insects and molluscs. A broad diversity of body parts or derivative products have been and are used to treat or prevent ca. 50 animal diseases or conditions, in particular diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, different infectious livestock diseases, and disorders of the eye and adnexa. Cattle, sheep and equines form the group of domestic animals in which the greatest number of remedies are mentioned. In addition, seven magical remedies and practices are documented. In comparison with other culturally related areas, this is a rich heritage. The use-reports included here will help in the search for new and low-cost drugs for treating livestock and alternative materials for pharmaceutical purposes, future research addressing the validation of the effects and the development of organic farming.

Plant-based remedies for wolf bites and rituals against wolves in the Iberian Peninsula: Therapeutic opportunities and cultural values for the conservation of biocultural diversity

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Combined approaches to local knowledge and folk plant use improve awareness and promote effective strategies for the conservation of significant biocultural patrimony. Moreover, the information reported might be the basis for further appropriate phytochemical and pharmacological research. Therefore we provide an insight into traditional herbal remedies and practices for healing bite injuries in humans and domestic animals caused by the Iberian wolf. Wolf bites are associated with inflammatory processes and rabies is a potential complication AIMS: This paper describes and summarises the medicinal-veterinary empirical and ritual uses of the Iberian flora for wolf injuries and reviews the ethnopharmacological data of specific plants that are already published. The Iberian wolf is a critically endangered subspecies of the grey wolf. Livestock attacks attributed to wolves are increasingly frequent in the Iberian Peninsula, resulting in serious social problems. Interesting strategies for Iberian wolf conservation might be related to traditional grazing practices that are deeply linked with empirical knowledge and local practices passed on by oral tradition, which are also vulnerable now. MATERIALS AND METHODS Based on documentary sources from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, we systematically searched old monographs, regional documents, technical papers, project reports, as well as the international and national databases and the available scientific literature, without restrictions regarding the language of the publications consulted. RESULTS A total of 39 remedies for healing wolf bite injuries in humans and domestic animals was reported, highlighting the medicinal use of 33 species of vascular plants, mostly wild herbs, belonging to 18 botanical families. The use of wood ashes was also reported. The number of use-reports found represents a very high number considering similar European studies. Leaves were the predominant plant part mentioned. Boiling plant materials in water for topical uses was the most frequent method of preparation found. Some traditional remedies combined two or more plant species in order to potentiate their effects. Moreover, some plant-based traditional practices and rituals to ward off wolves and to prevent wolf attacks were also documented. In these practices eleven other species (belonging to seven more families) were used. CONCLUSIONS Despite the decline of the Iberian wolf over the last few decades, wolves are still in the imaginary of rural communities that perceive this large carnivore as both a diabolic creature and a mythic and benign animal. Wolf-related cultural heritage is of great interest in terms of conservation strategies. This review emphasises the importance of local knowledge and provides useful information about several potential sources of phytochemicals and their claimed therapeutic effects, aiming at contributing to the conservation and appreciation of the Iberian biocultural heritage.

Herding Ecologies and Ongoing Plant Domestication Processes in the Americas

Understanding both domestication processes and agricultural practices is an interdisciplinary endeavor. Ethnographic research is potentially helpful for reconstructing past events. Such knowledge is also crucial for documenting the links between biological and cultural diversity, as well as for future purposes such as innovation in food production and sustainability. Here, we review six ethnographic case studies in different pastoral socioecological systems of the American continent. The livestock species involved include the native South American camelids and Arctic reindeer, as well as some Old World species (mainly goats, sheep, and cattle). Starting with the Columbian exchange (15th-16th centuries) and continuing up to the present, Old World herbivores launched novel uses of the local flora which resulted in entirely new livelihoods and cultures, i.e., pastoralism with its variants. Three of these case studies approach specifically how herding ecologies (human–animal–plant relationships) stirred specific management practices (human–plant relationships) that in some instances have moved toward conscious human selection of plant phenotypes. The other examples correspond to three potential instances of similar ongoing processes that we propose on the basis of ethnobotanical and ethnozoological data that were produced separately by other authors. Based on the studies we have reviewed, along with additional information from other parts of the world, we are able to conclude that: (a) New World pastoralist societies are/have been continuously adding species to the humanity’s portfolio of useful plants; (b) animals have been aiding in this processes in different ways; and, (c) how human–animal–plant relationships unfold in the present could have been similar in the past, thus analogies may be proposed for explaining prehistoric multispecies interactions and their outcomes. With our review, we intend to bring more attention to contemporary pastoralists as plant managers, animals as agents in human-plant interactions, and domestication as a behavioral complex and multispecies process that is as important in the present or future as it was in the past. Our understanding of food production practices is not only fundamental for improving our current frameworks of governance, conservation, and restoration of useful species populations, but also of biocultural diversity altogether.

The therapeutic use of the dog in Spain: a review from a historical and cross-cultural perspective of a change in the human-dog relationship

In Spain, studies about traditional knowledge related to biodiversity have focused on vascular plants. For this reason, our review concentrates on the identification and inventory of zootherapeutic resources, particularly those involving the dog (Canis lupus familiaris Linnaeus, 1758) throughout the twentieth century to the present. A qualitative systematic review in the fields of ethnomedicine, ethnozoology and folklore was made. Automated searches in the most important databases and digital libraries were performed. All related works were examined thoroughly and information was obtained from 55 documentary sources. We have listed a total of 63 remedies to treat and/or prevent 49 human illnesses and conditions. In 20 of the documented reports the whole animal was used and the use of pups was recommended in 12 cases. Saliva was the healing element in 10 remedies, and faeces were the therapeutic basis for nine, while bitch’s milk was for seven of them. Skin, fur and meat were next in significance. Currently, healing remedies based on the use of the dog are not part of Spanish ethnomedicine and considering them so would be ahistorical. Indeed, the custom of allowing a dog to lick one’s wounds to assist in their healing and cicatrisation has survived in only a few groups of people. However, we can state that the ethnomedical use of the dog exists and has been transferred to “animal-assisted therapy”.

Qualitative Analysis of Reproduction Knowledge Through the Drawings Study with webQDA

Research on Health Education and Biology teaching contributes significantly to scientific literacy and health promotion. Thus, the reproduction function is one of the great topics to be considered. Because of that, a cross-sectional study has been designed to analyze the knowledge of Secondary students on this subject. The population under study has been made up of students from a school in Badajoz (Spain). The method used includes research techniques using a questionnaire and drawings of the reproductive system made by the students, which were analyzed using the webQDA program. In a first phase of the study, focused on qualitative methodology, the suitability of the software used is verified. Among the conclusions obtained, the difficulties of the students to locate anatomical structures are highlighted. It is proposed to design activities that will help students better understand anatomical-physiological relationships.

ACTION RESEARCH AS A PROFESSIONALISING METHOD: WORK INVOLVING THE IDEAS OF SECONDARY-LEVEL SCHOOL STUDENTS ON DOCUMENTATION, CULTURE AND SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

A broad consensus exists on the use of cooperative action research as a suitable form of reflection to optimise the teaching-learning process. It is therefore appropriate that future secondary level teachers should know about this methodology as a means to professionalisation. So, is it enough to know of a method? According to our view of training, praxis must be consistent with the aims pursued and consequently the method must be experienced, particularly in an age when there is evidence that points to the need for cooperative work and skills training. In accordance with this theoretical framework, a professionalising training action is described from the Master’s Degree in Secondary Education Teacher Training (MUFPES) course at the University of Extremadura during 2016-2017. The subject of study was the concept of “Science” in secondary level school students and the use of cooperative action research; we try to encourage the development of attitudes that favour investigation, reflection and educational innovation through the study of real cases. The MUFPES students began their experience by reflecting on their own ideas about the nature of science, the meaning of scientific in today’s society, and the scientific themes or content that are relevant to society and for obtaining scientific information. Subsequently, the investigation process started with a discussion on the problems of students in compulsory education who “don not want to learn” and their motivation with regard to science. The groups selected to apply the method were students from Years 1 and 3 of compulsory secondary education; the initial diagnostic tool used was an open questionnaire, together with an analysis of concept maps made by secondary level students and a multiple choice questionnaire using the INFLESZ scale to evaluate and validate the readability of the statements and options. Following analysis and interpretation of the qualitative and quantitative data an action plan was designed based on the incorporation of sequenced tasks through a taxonomy focused on thought models, and with these to develop key competences. The title of the proposed plan was “My programme and documentary schedule, and selection of my favourite science magazines”. Regarding the latter, we present a selection of the activities developed by the Master’s students so that secondary level students can work using a way of thinking that is reflective, analytical, logical, critical, systemic, analogical, creative, deliberative and practical. Finally, the students’ evaluation of the process is reviewed and the results of the survey on the students’ satisfaction are provided.