The EXTRACT Tradscore for traditional herb use
The following system is used to grade claims logged in the EXTRACT database for traditional use. The initial “null” assumptions are 1) that non-specific cultural (eg. placebo) factors may account for all of the claimed efficacy in any individual ethnobotanic or anthropological record, 2) that the same factors can then allow a claim to be cemented as a more orthodox local treatment without any independent scrutiny of efficacy (eg blood letting), and 3) that many recorded claims are in any case too diverse and relative for consistent conclusions to be drawn. The prospect of an independent specific action is improved if the claimed indications are sorted into therapeutic categories, if these are consistent across a wider range of traditions, and if traditional use has become established in modern practice in officially accepted monographs. It is also possible to link claims for plants that are close taxonomic relatives where the phytochemical profile is similar. The likelihood of an independent specific action for a plant is particularly increased if:
1) the same plant or a close relative is used consistently in separate locations around the world, where this agreement is not likely to result from transmission of information;
2) the traditional use is for a plant that contains significant levels of constituents or phytochemical groups that are known to have pharmacological activity.
These factors are quantified as the EXTRACT TRADSCORE below and are offered as a rigorous distillation of the traditional uses of plants and as a valuable pointer to potential benefits.
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Criteria
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Score |
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Single citations for traditional use or two citations for the same plant (or for plants in the same genus) for the same therapeutic category* from regions with shared cultural traditions.
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0 |
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Two citations for traditional use for the same plant (or for plants in the same genus) for the same therapeutic category* from distinct world regions or cultures+ or citations in current official monographs or rigorous practice guides linked to ancient classic medical texts or strong traditional reputations or from three or more regions within a major cultural (eg. Galenic, Chinese, Ayurvedic, Unani, American Hispanic) orbit.
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1 |
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Three citations for traditional use for the same plant (or for plants in the same genus) for the same therapeutic category* from distinct world regions or cultures+.
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2 |
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Four or more citations for traditional use for the same plant (or for plants in the same genus) for the same therapeutic category* from distinct world regions or cultures.
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3 |
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1 |
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Where scores above refer to plants with therapeutic levels of constituents or phytochemical subgroups that separately have demonstrated pharmacological activity consistent with the traditional use and that in other plant species are associated with traditional uses for the same therapeutic category* an additional
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1 |
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Where the traditional use is exceptionally well recognized in one or more major cultures or where human experience of this use is easily confirmed in modern contexts a discretionary additional
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1 |
* actions are classified in the EXTRACT database into a limited range of therapeutic categories
+ EXTRACT citations are tagged to orbits on the Ethnomap: distinctiveness is defined by two orbits not touching or overlapping nor jointly overlapped by any larger orbit