Folk remedies as indicators of common illnesses: examples from the United States-Mexico border.

A sample of 1235 case examples of remedios caseros (home remedies) were analyzed to determine the characteristics of the ethnopharmacological resources currently in use in Mexican American communities along the eastern end of the United States-Mexico border. The data analysis confirms that there is a core group of most frequently used remedies that constitute the bulk of the home treatment of common ailments in that area. The data further indicate that there is a relatively well-defined group of ailments that are considered to be more amenable to ethnopharmacological intervention than to treatment by the conventional medical system. Some of the remedios (both botanical and non-botanical) are presented, and a preliminary model of ailments that receive treatment from home remedies, as opposed to medical treatment, is proposed.