Use and popular knowledge of medicinal plants by undergraduate students in the city of Remígio/PB

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants by the population is an ancient tradition passed between generations and valued by communities. This study aimed to identify whether students in the city of Remígio / PB use medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes and if they received an indication from health professionals about the manipulation of these herbal medicines. It is extremely important to understand whether the traditions of past generations continue to perpetuate future generations. An online questionnaire was applied on the SURVIO platform, where 35 students were interviewed, most of whom stated that they use medicinal plants to treat their illnesses, and that they noticed results after their application, about 68.6% use medicinal plants to treatment since childhood, most learned to handle through their relatives. Its most cited application forms were: 91% in the form of tea, 40% licking and 23% compress. 66% said they only use plants when they are sick. The most cited plants were: Boldo for belly pain with 31%, 29% Chamomile and 23% Capim santo as a tranquilizer. 69% do not seek medical attention before using medicinal vegetables. About 86% do not seek hospital services while using herbal medicines. Around 63% of the students never received indication of medicinal plants by health professionals, while 29% already received more did not know how to inform what was pointed out by them, and another 3% already received recommendation. 100% of respondents said they would like to receive information about the use of plants to treat diseases. However, the vast majority of students from Remígio-PB make use of plants for the treatment of diseases and had this knowledge disseminated by family members, this shows the importance of the transmission of knowledge between generations.