Exploring traditional anti-diabetic herbal practices in a Western Himalayan village Pancheri of Udhampur District, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by either insufficient insulin production or reduced effectiveness of insulin action in the body. This condition leads to persistent hyperglycemia and, over time, may result in severe complications affecting the nervous, cardiovascular, retinal, and renal systems. The likelihood of diabetes increases with advancing age, tobacco use, sedentary behavior, poor dietary habits, excess body weight, prior gestational diabetes, and having relatives with the condition. These co-morbidities result in premature deaths Traditional plant remedies have been used throughout the world for the treatment and control of diabetes mellitus. These remedies are cost effective and have no side effects. The present study was conducted in a mountainous village Pancheri of Udhampur district, Jammu and Kashmir with an aim of enlisting the anti-diabetic plants used by the locals of the region. The study revealed 26 plants species belonging to 23 genera and 18 families used for treatment of diabetes by local inhabitants. Use Value (UV) of the plant species was also recorded. On the basis of use value, the prominent plants used for treatment of diabetes were Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels (UV=0.81)., Momordica charantia L. (UV=0.78), Ajuga integrifolia Buch.-Ham. (UV=0.75) , Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don (UV= 0.73) and Psidium guajava L. (UV=0.69).