User:Pingnova/sandbox/Hmong herbalism

Hmong herbal medicine is the ancient art of folk medicine originating in Hmong communities. Hmong herbal medicine resembles Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Scholarship around this subject is limited, with indications that advancements are coming.

Hmong are an ethnic group originally from China that were driven into diaspora around Southeast Asia, today with significant populations in the West, particularly in the United States. The majority of literature on Hmong herbal medicine focuses on preserving the practice as Hmong become more urbanized and traditional knowledge is lost. The loss of traditional knowledge is especially affected by the Laotian Civil War known as the Secret War to Hmong people. Many Hmong were forced to flee Laos after the conclusion of the Vietnam War led to the civil war and Hmong were targeted for aligning with the CIA and the United States. Ethnic cleansing and genocide wiped out swathes of the Hmong population and divorced refugee Hmong from the environments which their herbs come from and are able to grow.

Literature indicates that future directions in research include:

• Identifying and describing plants used in Hmong herbal medicine
• Preserving endangered herb species
• Documenting and perpetuating Hmong herbal oral traditions
• Ethnobotany and related research into plant use in Hmong culture
• Documenting differences between Southeast Asian Hmong and Western Hmong herbal practices, including the large population of Hmong Americans
• Incorporating Hmong herbal medicine into Western medical care to increase successful health outcomes, particularly related to childbirth

Herbs of note

The most commonly studied and iconic herb combination is tshuaj rau qaib (chicken soup herbs). Medicinal herbs boiled into soup with freshly butchered chicken are a common Hmong remedy. This dish features especially as the famous Hmong post-partum diet. The herb combination has become of special interest to Western healthcare facilities seeking to improve childbirth outcomes with culturally competent care.

Significant sources

Note that access to sources in English is frequently an issue. Sources may be published in Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, and so forth. Editors that can query foreign language databases and read those languages can access a wider variety of sources.

Additionally, very few sources meet WP:RS/MC guidelines for reliability in medical research, largely because research into Hmong herbal medicine is still in its infancy. Medical information should be crossreferenced with existing articles on identified herbs. At this point in time research is primarily into herbs in cultural context, not medical, although there are indications that the research will trend there someday, particularly with the support of hospitals seeking to provide culturally competent care.

Books

While there are currently no WP:RS books dedicated to Hmong herbal traditions, a number of books about Hmong in healthcare, Hmong food, and Hmong argiculture can provide additional support.

• Fadiman, Anne (1998). The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-52564-4.

Narrative style non-fiction account of an American reporter's experience with Hmong refugees struggling with the US health system.

• Scripter, Sami; Yang, Sheng (2009). Cooking from the Heart. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-5327-0. OCLC 286478281.

Papers

• Crum, Alexandra Hazel (2024). Medicines, Metabolites, and Pigments in Caryophyllales and Beyond (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). University of Minnesota. ProQuest 31327584. Retrieved October 30, 2024.

Breakthrough paper incorporating DNA sequencing and ethnobotany to identify Hmong American herb strains. Author reports plans to publish a book in 2025.

First chapter published open access as:

• Crum, Alex H.; Philander, Lisa; Busta, Lucas; Yang, Ya (2024). "Traditional medicinal use is linked with apparency, not specialized metabolite profiles in the order Caryophyllales". American Journal of Botany. 111 (4). Wiley. doi:10.1002/ajb2.16308. ISSN 0002-9122.

• Nguanchoo, Varangrat; Srisanga, Prachaya; Swangpol, Sasivimon; Prathanturarug, Sompop; Jenjittikul, Thaya (2014). "Food plants in Hmong cuisine in Northern Thailand" (PDF). The Journal of Botany วารสารพฤกษศาสตรไทย. 6 (2): 131–145. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
• Srithi, Kamonnate; Trisonthi, Chusie; Wangpakapattanawong, Prasit; Srisanga, Prachaya; Balslev, Henrik (May 26, 2012). "Plant Diversity in Hmong and Mien Homegardens in Northern Thailand". Economic Botany. 66 (2). Bronx, New York: The New York Botanical Garden Press: 192–206. Bibcode:2012EcBot..66..192S. doi:10.1007/s12231-012-9199-y. Retrieved April 25, 2024 – via Springer Link.