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Ethnopharmacological relevance Being one of the most common types of life threatening diseases in Southern Assam, India, the digestive system disorders (DSD) have gained much attention in recent decades. Traditional beliefs and inadequate income of mass population result in the use of alternative phytotherapies to treat the diseases. Aim of the study The present paper documents the medicinal knowledge and utilization of plants for treatment of digestive system disorders in Southern Assam, India by Disease Consensus Index (DCI). It also determines the most suitable plant species used to treat digestive system disorders in the study area. Materials and methods The study was based on ethnomedicinal field survey covering a period of 1 year from 2014–2015. The ethnomedicinal information was collected by using semi-structured questionnaires from different traditional Bengali people having knowledge on medicinal plants. Collected data were analyzed by calculating DCI. Results During the survey, 29 informants were interviewed and a total of 49 plants under 46 genera belonging to 33 families were listed. Data analysis revealed that Litsea glutinosa , Momordica charantia , Andrographis paniculata , Lawsonia inermis , Cleome viscosa , Psidium guajava , Ageratum conyzoides , Cuscuta reflexa , Cynodon dactylon and Carica papaya are the most prominent plants among the people of Southern Assam for treating DSD. Conclusion This explorative survey emphasizes the need to preserve and document the traditional healing practices for managing DSD inviting for more imminent scientific research on the plants to determine their efficacy as well as safety. With the help of statistical analysis (DCI), we propose 10 priority plants for DSD in present work. Systematic pharmacological study with these plants may contribute significant result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchies of power among healthcare professionals are well documented, nonetheless, power remains neglected, understudied and under-theorised in health systems analysis and policy discussions, especially in the domain of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM). Sociological and public health scholarship has documented the persistence of medical dominance in the health system, theorised as the limitation, subordination, exclusion and incorporation of other professions. This paper explores how interprofessional power dynamics shape the integration of TCAM into Indian primary healthcare centres, as part of a nationwide policy of TCAM integration and medical pluralism implemented since 2005. We conducted interviews (n = 37) with health system administrators, nurses, pharmacists, TCAM and biomedicine doctors, and observed day-to-day activities of primary healthcare centres for six months in Odisha state, India. Thematic analysis enabled the identification of themes and exploration of sub-themes. The analysis revealed multilayered forms of medical dominance within the primary healthcare system and identified multiple sites where everyday power is mobilised. Biomedicine practitioners exercised authoritative power and restricted TCAM doctors' access to facility-level resources, i.e. financial and workforce support, which inhibited the integration policy implementation. Significantly, TCAM doctors were 'ordered' to practice biomedicine at primary healthcare centres, which was beyond the scope of the integration policy. However, TCAM doctors were also able to exercise countervailing power in their day-to-day activities in the primary healthcare centres and sought to assist patients' health behaviour change through their authoritative knowledge about 'how to live a healthy life'. The health system actors involved in policy implementation hold a range of forms of power specific to the circumstances, influencing the integration processes. We explain these dynamics in relation to existing theories of medical dominance and countervailing power, while introducing a previously unreported dimension of dominance: 'co-optation', which enrols TCAM practitioners in the practice of biomedicine. • Medical dominance in Indian primary health care centres (PHCs) is multi-layered. • AYUSH doctors working in PHCs experience subordination, exclusion and limitation. • A new form of medical dominance – co-optation – was also uncovered in this setting. • Co-optation here involved AYUSH doctors being ordered to undertake biomedical tasks. • Via countervailing power, AYUSH doctors retained autonomy in community-based work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]