Nerve damage. Dry mouth can be a result of nerve damage to the head and neck area from an injury or surgery. Dehydration. Conditions that lead to dehydration, such as fever, excessive sweating, vomiting, diarrhoea, blood loss and burns can cause dry mouth. Surgical removal of the salivary glands.
Ethnopharmacology is a related study of ethnic groups and their use of drugs. Ethnopharmacology is distinctly linked to plant use, ethnobotany, as this is the main delivery of pharmaceuticals. Ethnopharmacy is the interdisciplinary science that investigates the perception and use of pharmaceuticals within a given human society.
Many of the medicines we rely on today, from aspirin to morphine to the anti-cancer drug, Taxol, were derived from plants. The cross-cultural study of medicines derived from naturally occurring substances like plants and fungi is known as ethnopharmacology. Although these plants have often been used in traditional medicine for many, many years, there is still a lot to learn from them.