Herbal medicine is used as the primary source of healthcare for approximately 75-80% of the world population and its use is particularly widespread in the developing countries, where it is considered more culturally acceptable, less dangerous and a more natural form of medicine that is compatible with the human body. Herbal products are defined as “herbal preparations produced by subjecting her...

Medicines obtained from natural sources have become the basis for pharmaceutical drugs. Traditional herbal medicines are naturally occurring plant derived substances; these have been used for treatment and cure of various diseases and as a nutraceuticals. Toxicological research and testing help to live safely and predict benefit from synthetic and natural substance while avoiding harm. The toxi...

Herbal medicines are the synthesis of therapeutic experiences of generations of practising physicians of indigenous systems of medicine for over hundreds of years while nutraceuticals are nutritionally or medicinally enhanced foods with health benefits of recent origin and marketed in developed countries. The marketing of the former under the category of the latter is unethical. Herbal medicine...

BACKGROUND Main concerns for lactating women about medications include the safety of their breastfed infants and the potential effects of medication on quantity and quality of breast milk. While medicine treatments include conventional and complementary medicines, most studies to date have focused on evaluating the safety aspect of conventional medicines. Despite increasing popularity of herbal...

This article profiles ten examples of chemicals derived from herbal preparations that influence ionotropic receptors for the brain’s major inhibitory neurotransmitter g-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Many herbal medicines are used to influence brain function in order to treat anxiety, cognitive disorders, and insomnia. Such disorders are considered likely to involve GABA receptors, particularly iono...

BACKGROUND Traditional medicine (TM) occupies a special place in the management of diseases in Uganda. Not with standing the many people relying on TM, indigenous knowledge (IK) related to TM is getting steadily eroded. To slow down this loss it is necessary to document and conserve as much of the knowledge as possible. This study was conducted to document the IK relevant to traditional medicin...

In Mexico, local empirical knowledge about medicinal properties of plants is the basis for their use as home remedies. It is generally accepted by many people in Mexico and elsewhere in the world that beneficial medicinal effects can be obtained by ingesting plant products. In this review, we focus on the potential pharmacologic bases for herbal plant efficacy, but we also raise concerns about ...

OBJECTIVE Over the last 50 years, there has been a surge of interest by both the public and medical practitioners in therapies and disciplines that are not considered part of mainstream medical care. The title given to these is complementary and alternative medicine. Of all these branches, our interest is the increasing use of herbal medicines, traditional medicines (such as Chinese or Indian),...

Herbal medicines have been used for centuries to treat different illnesses. Among more than 20,000 herbal medicines available for humans, a limited number have sufficiently been studied and numerous remained to be investigated for their efficacy in treating human diseases. A number of herbal products are in use for their immunosuppressive effects. This capacity of herbs may have useful applicat...

The number of patients seeking alternate and herbal therapy is growing exponentially. Herbal medicines are the synthesis of therapeutic experiences of generations of practicing physicians of indigenous systems of medicine for over hundreds of years. Herbal medicines are now in great demand in the developing world for primary health care not because they are inexpensive but also for better cultu...