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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1976

Plant folklore: a tool for predicting sources of antitumor activity?

The National Cancer Institute's record of "active plants" (extracts which showed a significant inhibitory effect in experimental tumor systems) was compared with plants reported in folklore to have medicinal or poisonous properties. The occurrence of active plants was found to be higher in plants reported in folk literature than in plants collected at random, suggesting a correlation between plants used in folklore and those with anticancer activity.

Anthelmintics↗
PubMed1976

Folklore and food habits.

The folklore surrounding food habits developed from uncertainty and fear in mankind's quest for food. In an attempt to gain control of his destiny, man developed various magical practices which would perhaps assure an abundance of food. The practice and beliefs did not develop haphazardly, but, on examination, reveal a type of "folk logic" explained by Sir James Frazer's concepts of contagious and homeopathic magic. The "logic" was extended to specific practices in preparing foods, eating of foods on special days, the use of food in curing certain diseases, and forbidding foods at certain times. The folk were attempting to coordinate the phenomena of their world according to cause and effect much the same as modern Americans coordinate their world. However, the basic assuptions were different.

Aged↗
PubMed1977

Modern day menstrual folklore. Some clinical implications.

Clinicians are often unaware of the folk medical beliefs of their patients or consider them to be harmless and unimportant. Such beliefs are instrumental in shaping patient behavior, however, and may contribute to negative health practices. The information presented here demonstrates that attitudes toward a single bodily function, menstruation, may adversely affect women's body image, perception of disease causation, diet, willingness to take medication, contraceptive use, and the ability to plan pregnancies. The data are part of a pilot study in which patients in a clinic serving a multiethnic low-income population were questioned about their knowledge and beliefs concerning the female reproductive cycle. It is concluded that health personnel should strive to learn what women know and believe about their bodies and how they function, to improve health care provision.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Case histories in the great power of steady misrepresentation.

The widespread misrepresentation of behaviorism in the scientific and popular literature has caused its contributions to the understanding of behavior to be systematically ignored or denied. This misrepresentation is manifested, in large part, as a form of academic folklore that codifies erroneous accounts of behaviorism's assumptions, findings, and goals. This article examines three representative "case histories" of the academic folklore about behaviorism: its alleged environmentalism, totalitarian aims, and intellectual intolerance. Because academic folklore has been highly resistant to the corrective efforts of behaviorists, explicit strategies are suggested for identifying and correcting folklore and for promoting more effective interdisciplinary communication.

Behaviorism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Two hundred and sixty eigth medicinal plants used to fertility control in some countries of South America (author's transl)].

A review is made of the various anthropological, botanical and empirical medical papers from a number of the countries of the South-American continent, whose populations use medical plants for fertility control. Also included is a field research conducted among indigenous and rural populations of Paraguay. The scientific name, family and common name 268 plants are described. With each plant, the country and type of population (indigenous or rural) using same is stated, as well as their empiric properties attributed to same and the name of the author. Comments are made upon the background related to the use of said plants at the level of the American indigenous, world folkloric and Paraguayan indigenous & folkloric medicine. Emphasis is given to the significance of these data on contraceptives, abortives, sterilization and fertilization agents of vegetal origin, due to their value for future research in the physiology and clinic of reproduction.

Abortifacient Agents↗