The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of CONCYTEC from Peru and DSF-IRD (JEAI) from France. We express our thanks to members of the Yanesha community who were willing to share with us their knowledge about medicinal plants. The authors are grateful to Candy Ruiz from LID-UPCH, for technical assistance in plants extractions. Céline Valadeau, Adriana Pabon and Denis Castillo received grants from the Institut Franc¸ ais des Etudes Andines, Colciencias and the Belgian technical cooperation respectively. Part of this work was supported by a grant from the International Foundation for Sciences attributed to Dionicia Gamboa

Objective: To develop a narrative synthesis on polycythemia, a prevalent condition that poses diagnostic challenges in primary health care. Materials and methods: A non-systematic literature review was conducted using six databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, ScienceDirect, SciELO, Redalyc, and Google Scholar), covering publications from January 2005 to December 2024. Result: Polycythemia is an underdiagnosed blood hyperviscosity condition with high prevalence and a strong association with cardiovascular events, particularly in cases of polycythemia vera and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Conclusion: This review provides a practical approach for early etiological diagnosis and timely treatment of polycythemia. The proposed algorithm optimizes resource use in primary care and may reduce diagnostic delays, improving clinical decision-making.