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Traditional Uses of Medicinal Plants from the Canadian Boreal Forest for the Management of Chronic Pain Syndromes
Author(s) -
Uprety Yadav,
Lacasse Anaïs,
Asselin Hugo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
pain practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1533-2500
pISSN - 1530-7085
DOI - 10.1111/papr.12284
Subject(s) - medicine , chronic pain , rheumatism , medicinal plants , analgesic , allopathic medicine , migraine , chronic migraine , traditional medicine , alternative medicine , pharmacology , physical therapy , psychiatry , pathology
Objective Chronic pain is more prevalent in indigenous populations who often prefer traditional remedies over allopathic drugs. Our objective was to investigate the traditional uses of medicinal plants from the Canadian boreal forest for the management of chronic pain syndromes. Methods We reviewed the most extensive database on medicinal plants used by aboriginal people of the Canadian boreal forest to investigate the plants used in the management of 3 of the most common chronic pain syndromes: arthritis/rheumatism; back pain; and headache/migraine. We also reviewed the pharmacology and phytochemistry literature to investigate concordance with indigenous knowledge. Results A total of 114 medicinal plant species were reported, of which 27 (23.5%) were used to treat more than 1 chronic pain syndrome. Pharmacological or phytochemical evidence to explain plant function as chronic pain remedy was available in the literature for only 38 species (33%), with several species reported to have anti‐inflammatory and analgesic properties effective in treating chronic pain syndromes. Conclusions Our study showed the potential of boreal plants as alternative and complementary medicines for the treatment of chronic pain syndromes that could be enhanced by further research on efficacy and safety issues.