Traditional Herbal Medicine Used by Iraqi Herbalists in Managing Diabetes Mellitus Type II: A Cross-Sectional Survey in the Middle Euphrates Area
Abstract
Background Conventional medicine is widely used to manage diabetes, but little research has examined herbal medicines used for diabetes management in southern Iraq. Therefore, this study was designed to gather ethnobotanical data on medicinal plants used to manage diabetes in the Middle Euphrates region. Methods The study was conducted as a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey between July 2024 and February 2025. Herbalists completed a 12-item questionnaire arranged in three sections. Data were analyzed using SPSS, and the use value (UV) and informant consensus factor (Fic) were calculated to assess plant importance and the degree of agreement among informants. Results A total of 132 male herbalists from five Iraqi provinces participated in this survey, with most practicing in Al-Najaf. Approximately 51.5% of the participants were between 31 and 50 years old. About half of the herbalists had over 11 years of experience, and nearly all had educational qualifications, with 43.9% holding a graduate degree. The study documented the use of 15 medicinal plants for managing diabetes mellitus, distributed across 12 families. The overall Fic value for diabetes management was 0.973, indicating a high level of agreement among herbalists. Based on the UV values, high usage was observed for six medicinal plants, namely Artemisia herba-alba, Boswellia carterii, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Coriandrum sativum, Moringa oleifera, and Trigonella foenum-graecum, which were reported by participants across the five provinces. Regarding herbalists’ practice, the results showed that 66.6% of herbalists relied on physicians’ diagnoses, and nearly all advised patients to monitor their blood glucose levels. A concerning finding was that 49.2% of herbalists reported advising patients to discontinue prescribed antidiabetic medication and use herbal remedies instead. Conclusion The findings provide ethnobotanical information on the most frequently used medicinal plants for diabetes management and highlight the need for greater awareness among herbalists regarding the safety of herbal remedies.