Uso popular de plantas medicinais como recurso terapêutico em Santa Cruz – RN.

Abstract

Introduction: Medicinal plants have been used for diseases treatment or any health impairment and over the years, more researches have been performed to improve knowledge on the chemical constitution of these plants and, from this, the phytotherapy was created. Objectives: To evaluate the popular knowledge and indication of use of aroeira, angico and coconut oil in the cure of health conditions. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional and prospective quantitative field research conducted with adults and seniors costumers of a popular fair that use or used coconut oil, aroeira and angico. A pre-structured form in the "Likert Scale" format was developed and applied. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were then applied for statistical analysis. Results: Two-hundred-five participated with the majority of women and the elderly in both sexes. The phitotherapy was most used in monthly frequency (55.2%), being the coconut oil most used. The main source of information about herbal medicine was relatives (65%) and health non-professionals (2.4%), and the income and schooling are related to this issue. For the three herbal medicines, there were indications for respiratory infections, being coconut oil more used in its pure form and aroeira and angico both are prepared by infusion of the bark and with all having few reports of contradictions and side effects. Conclusion: Health education is necessary in the analyzed group, since they use herbal medicines on their own and with little guidance by health professionals. This can lead to masks of disease symptoms, drug interactions and possible major intoxications.