Roberto Luís de Melo Monte-Mór

Medicinal plants and other botanical products from the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia

In this paper, we describe the results of a thorough survey in the four editions of the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia (FBRAS), in a search for data about the plants and other botanical products included in them. The growth of the pharmaceutical industry since the second half of last century markedly affected the Brazilian official medicine. The paper analyses the transformation within the Pharmacopoeia, focusing on the presence of Monographs for Native medicinal plants. The result showed a strong substitution of Native American medicinal plants by industrialized medicine and foreign medicinal plants in FBRAS and confirms the necessity of investiments in research for the validation of Brazilian Native plants.

Brazilian medicinal plants described by 19th century European naturalists and in the Official Pharmacopoeia

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE The American flora represents one of the worlds wealthiest sources of material with pharmacological activity due to its biodiversity. Medicinal plants are widely used as home remedies in Brazil but several species used are native of other continents and were introduced here since the colonization, beginning in 1500. The Traditional Medicine Division of the WHO recognizes the importance of plant species used by the Amerindian as medicines, and recommends that their efficacies should be evaluated through pharmacological and toxicological assays. AIM OF THE STUDY To verify which Brazilian medicinal plants, especially those of Amerindian origin, were used in 19th century and have been evaluated by pharmacological studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data about the use of native plants in traditional medicine were searched in bibliographic material from European naturalists who traveled throughout Minas Gerais in the 19th century. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION Two hundred and three species were described as useful by these naturalists and thirty-nine of them were also included in the first edition of Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia (FBRAS) in 1929, showing their use also in conventional medicine. Seventeen species have medicinal properties of Amerindian origin but despite the long tradition of medicinal plant use, only nine have been evaluated by pharmacological studies. That the studies which have been conducted to date have in each case confirmed the traditional uses of the plants examined. We suggest that the remaining species must be regarded as a priority for pharmacological studies, as they have promising phytotherapeutic potential.

Traditional uses of American plant species from the 1st edition of Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia.

The first edition of the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia (FBRAS), published in 1929, is a rich source of information about American medicinal plants, since it lists species used in both traditional and conventional medicine. In this study, we have performed a survey of the traditional uses of plants described in eighty-seven Monographs from the FBRAS in twenty bibliographies written from the 19th century to the 1970s. Eighty-six different traditional uses are described in three or more books; some of them were cited in ten or more books, illustrating their widespread use and importance in medicine. The species from the first edition of the FBRAS have a long tradition of medical utility, which is confirmed by historical records. In surveying these medically relevant species, we hope to encourage policy makers and the scientific public as a whole to engage in a strong debate in an attempt to improve and facilitate the pharmacological study of these species.

Other medicinal plants and botanical products from the first edition of the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia

In a previous work, we described the list of medicinal plants and botanical products present in the four editions of the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia (FBRAS). The work also discussed the replacement of native Brazilian plants by imported products and synthetics over the last decades. In this paper, we present new data concerning medicinal plants and botanical products present in the first Edition of the FBRAS an in its two supplements.

Complementary/Alternative Medicine in Latin America: Use of Herbal Remedies among a Brazilian Metropolitan Area Population

We interviewed 1072 people interested in medicinal plants and phytotherapy living in Belo Horizonte and its immediate surrounding areas, in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The questionnaire was designed to document patterns of use of herbal remedies in a metropolitan area and to identify the plants most commonly used by this population. The interest in this theme is higher among women, particularly among housewives. People aged 41 to 50 years old also reported higher rates of use. One of the main reasons for the interest in herbal remedies was the belief that plants are more effective than conventional therapies and are associated with lower incidence of side effects. This population uses a total of 316 different plants and one third of them are indigenous to Brazil. The results suggest that there is a strong interest in using herbal remedies by this population and special efforts are thus required to improve the access and quality of such products in Brazil and other larger cities in Latin America.

Urban hierarchy in the brazilian Amazon

The Grade of Membership (GoM) model is used to outline profiles based on a heterogeneous and multidimensional database, which allows identifying clusters and describing the differences among them. In this study, GoM uses several types of variables so as to improve the understanding of the greatness and power of Amazonian cities. To accomplish this task, a model that takes into account a variety of aspects, which exceed a purely economic or demographic analysis, is proposed. Understanding the hierarchical organization of the cities in the Amazon seems to be a very important exercise in order to understand the dynamics and specific characteristics of regional urban nets. In this way, it is evident that policies which stimulate the establishment of more structured urban nets in the Amazon are needed. A more balanced population distribution throughout the territory could bring a series of benefits, especially when it comes to the offer and access to all different sorts of services.

Demografia do consumo urbano: um estudo sobre a geração de resíduos sólidos domiciliares no município de Belo Horizonte

This study explores the relationships between socioeconomic and demographic factors in the production of household solid waste – household trash – in the city of Belo Horizonte in 2002. We propose to investigate whether socioeconomic differentials (particularly income and schooling) and demographic differentials (specifically age and household structure) are important in defining the volume of waste generated in the city’s subregions. Consumption, in this sense, is seen as the link between the dimensions “population” and “waste generation”. The source of data on solid waste generation is the Superintendence of Urban Cleaning (SLU,in Portuguese), responsible for collecting and systematizing information in a digital cartographic grid. This spatial representation of information was concatenated with the data from the digital grid of Enumaration Areas of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, in Portuguese) for the 2000 Census. Multivariate statistical methods were employed to investigate the associations between population variables and waste production. The work stands out in the Brazilian population studies scenario by its unprecedented use of information on solid waste production and the interaction of socioeconomic and demographic factors. The results indicate that the concentration of single person households, general population and heads of the family aged 60 and over, and high mean age, an “urban-contemporary demographic profile”, arises recurrently as demographically central in differentiating areas of higher per capita waste generation. These factors are constantly associated with higher income and schooling.

Urbanisation, Sustainability and Development: Contemporary Complexities and Diversities in the Production of Urban Space

This chapter reframes concepts of urbanisation, sustainability and development. Focusing on Brazil, in which social space has not been entirely transformed into abstract space, it argues for a conceptualisation that moves beyond present urban-industrial society: the urban-natural, geared towards the urban-utopia. From this approach comes a window to reframe the word sustainability, based on the disalienation of people and the reconnection between human and nature. It also requires the visibility of the life spaces (urbanised) of invisible peoples engaged in multiple everyday activities not valued, or even seen, in capitalist societies. Those activities are related to old/previous knowledges connected to everyday life and social reproduction that depend on rooted uses of new technical and informational resources. From this point on, it should be possible to change the focus of development (de-involvement) from capital accumulation to the pursuing of happiness and social well-being, from exogenous to endogenous demands, implying people’s reconnection (or re-involvement) with their life space. It also implies replacing classical claims for equality with claims for the right to diversity, considering that diversity opens new possibilities for differences, rooted in human and non-human nature. In this context, extended (and planetary) urbanisation may truly spread citizenship beyond cities and lead to the replacement of anthropocentrism by ecocentrism. Considering the complexity of contemporary society experiences, the suggested matching of extended urbanisation with extended naturalisation might become a virtual version of the urban-utopia, where the urban merges in nature, to become concrete utopia, rather than disappear.

Implosão e explosão na Exópolis: evidências a partir do mercado imobiliário da RMBH

Entre os fenomenos espaciais das metropoles contemporâneas, destacam-se neste trabalho as chamadas “Implosao” e “Explosao”, derivadas da obra de Henri Lefebvre. A implosao e interpretada como tendencia a aglomeracao nas areas centrais das metropoles, signifi cando uma retomada dessas areas como espacos privilegiados. A explosao informa um processo de urbanizacao estendida, indicando a ocupacao de areas distantes das centralidades principais. Essas duas tendencias sao relacionadas a chamada Exopolis, interpretacao da metropole fornecida por Edward Soja. No exercicio empirico para Belo Horizonte e sua Regiao Metropolitana, foram usados dados do mercado imobiliario residencial, e o metodo Fuzzy Clustering Analysis foi empregado. Os resultados sobre a hipotese da implosao destacam a heterogeneidade da area central da cidade, e para a explosao, esse mercado da RMBH forneceu evidencias de estar de fato se estendendo pela regiao, seja em aglomeracoes de moradias de trabalhadores no tecido urbano, seja em condominios fechados para as elites.

El cambio cultural y los museos: reflexiones a partir del Instituto Inhotim de Arte Contemporáneo

Since late last century and early twenty-first century the number of cultural institutions has increased singularly. Countries like Japan, the UK and also Brazil are undertaken with new museums in a unique rhythm. This text has the intention to expand the understanding of the growing number of cultural facilities, new formats museums and prospects for innovation in museum spaces through the perspective of visitors. Surveys at Inhotim Institute, in Brazil, pointed out that the existence of museums in new formats is consistent with the expectations of a contemporary society where people seek new experiences, value sensations and favour present time.