Introduction to Medicinal Plants & Quality Control https://sites.google.com ١
Introduction ٢
Definition of medicinal plants: -The use of plants and plant extracts to treat illness and remain healthy in face of chronic stress and pollution. ٣
- It is also called herbalism, folk medicine,herbal medicine, botanical medicine or herbology -Sometimes herbal medicine is extended to include fungi, bee products, minerals and shells beside certain animal parts. ٤ Definition of Medicinal Plants
Plants that are considered as medicinal plants, those whose roots, leaves, seeds, bark or other constituent possess therapeutic, tonic or other pharmacologic activity when administrated to higher animals. (WHO's definition) ٥ Definition of medicinal plants
Or any plant which provides health-promoting characteristics, temporary relief or symptomatic problems or has curative properties.) ٦ Definition of medicinal plants
- Medicinal plants are used both in herbal and conventional medicine and offer benefits that pharmaceutical drugs often lack, helping to combat illness and support the body's efforts to regain health. - The active constituents found in plants have a direct action on the body. ٧ Definition of medicinal plants
What are the medicinal plants? -Plants (70,000 species) including lichens to higher plants (herbs, shrubs or trees). ٨
-herbs (annual, biennial or perennial plants without woody tissues) have been used and described more, because they have an important historical and tradition in healing. ٩ What are the medicinal plants?
- Few drug plants are cultivated. Most of the supply of drugs is obtained from wild plants growing in all parts of the world especially in the tropics ١٠ What are the medicinal plants?
Brief Historical Background: -Herbs have been used for medical treatment since the earliest days of mankind. - 50 years ago, humans have relied almost entirely on plants to treat all kinds of illness, from minor problems such as coughs and colds to life-threatening diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria. ١١
-Various Chinese, Egyptian, Babylonian, Geek, Arab and Moslem- Scientists enriched our today's knowledge with their expertise in herbal medicine. ١٢ Brief Historical Background
-The advancement of synthetic medicine overshadowed traditional herbal medicine for over 50 years. Thus, herbal medicine became less common in the last decades, but existed in remote areas or for small and poor sections of the population. ١٣ Brief Historical Background
Today herbal remedies come back because efficiency of conventional medicine such as antibiotic become weaker, since infectious organisms have developed resistance to synthesized drugs. ١٤ Brief Historical Background
For example the herb Artemisia annua and its active constituent artemisin are now being used to treat malaria in areas of the world where the protozoa causing the infection no longer respond to conventional treatment. ١٥ Brief Historical Background
2-It found that herbal medicine has advantages over conventional medicine as: *Some synthetic drugs are with serious side effects (10-20% of hospital patients in the West are there due to the side effects of conventional treatment) where as herbal medicine is considered as a gentle form of treatment) ١٦ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society? 1-The recent call for "back to nature" has affected all public people. ١٧
*or conventional medicine could not cure discovered illnesses including AIDS. *Herbal medicine provides safe, welltolerated remedies for chronic illness which many of them still have no effective conventional treatment as asthma, arthritis. ١٨ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
3-The majority of the world's populations in developing countries still rely on herbal medicines to meet their health needs ١٩ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
4-There are considerable economic benefits in the development of the use of medicinal plants in treatment of various diseases. ٢٠ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
5- Where Synthetic medicine could not relieve patients who suffer from hard-to-cure illnesses, they have found peace of mind and psychological comfort with folk medicine practitioners. ٢١ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
In the developed countries 25% of the medicinal drugs are based on plants and their derivatives. -Some researchers trained in both western and Chinese medicine have attempted to reconstruct ancient medicinal texts in the light of modern science. ٢٢ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
-So herbs have again become popular in the developed world as people strive to stay healthy in the face of chronic stress and pollution and to treat illness with medicines that work in concert with body's defenses. It is a type of resolution has been taking place. ٢٣ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
For example tens of millions of people now take herbs as ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) to help to maintain mental and physical health. ٢٤ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
Ginkgo biloba http://en.wikipedia.org. http://www.dickcontino.com ٢٥
-Increasingly too scientific evidences is accumulating to show that herbal medicine can provide treatment that is as effective as conventional medicine but with few side effects. ٢٦ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
Sales of herbal medicines have grown dramatically and several pharmaceutical companies now manufactures and market herbal products within conventional medicine, although whole plants are rarely used. ٢٧ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
- in general the herbs provide the starting material for the isolation or synthesis of conventional drugs: ٢٨ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
*Digoxin drug used for heart failure was isolated from plant foxglove Digitalis purpurea (Digitalis purpurea) http://no.wikipedia.org. ٢٩
*Contraceptive pills was synthesized from constituents found in wild yam Dioscorea villosa (Dioscorea villosa) http://wisplants.uwsp.edu. ٣٠
But the scientifically well-oriented and experienced herbalists are few and many have found a good trade, started to deal with herbal medicine without proper background. ٣١ Why herbal medicine developed at all levels in the society?
Ecological Effect: -The increased use of medicinal herbs has important environmental implications. Growing herbs as an organic crop offers new opportunities for farmers, but the rise in the popularity of herbal medicines also directly threatens the survival of some wild species. ٣٢
How Medicinal plants work: -The ability of herbal system to affect body systems depends on the chemical constituents that it contains. Plants contain hundreds if not thousands of different constituent chemicals that interact in complex ways. The detail of how a particular herb works is not well known. ٣٣
-Extracting and isolating chemicals from plants first started in the 18th century and since that time the interest in herbs and their effects in terms of their active chemical constituents, started to develop. ٣٤ How Medicinal plants work
Research into isolated plant constituents is important in giving rise to many of the world's useful drugs. For example: -The strongest painkiller of all, morphine, comes from opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) ٣٥ How Medicinal plants work
Papaver somniferum http://explorepharma.wordpress.com. botanical.com ٣٦
-The anesthetic Erythroxylum coca cocaine comes from coca (Erythroxylum coca) http://dying-pharmacist.blogspot.com. ٣٧
- The coughrelieving Ephedra sinica properties of ephedrine from Ephedra sinica) http://www.physiciansselect.co.uk. ٣٨
Plants as food & medicines: Since we have evolved side by-side with plants over hundreds of thousands of years and our digestive system and physiology as a whole are used to digestion and utilizing plant-based foods which often have medicinal value as well as providing food ٣٩
so the human body is much better suited to treatment with herbal remedies than with isolated chemical medicine. ٤٠ Plants as food & medicines
-The dividing line between foods and medicines may not always be clear. Are lemons, onions and oat " foods" or "medicines"? They are both. Lemon (Citrus limon) improves resistance to infection Onion (Allium cepa) relieves bronchial infections Oats(Avena sativa) support convalescence. ٤١ Plants as food & medicines
http://no.wikipedia.org. http://www.metafro.be/prelude. Citrus limon http://hsb.wikipedia.org. Avena sativa Allium cepa ٤٢
Herbal Treatments: There are many thousands of medicinal plants in use throughout the world, with many different actions and degree of potency. Most of them have a specific action on particular body systems and are known to be suitable for treating certain types of ailments. ٤٣
For example medicinal plants can treat: - Digestion, Respiration and Circulation - Cleaning Toxicity and Smoothing Skin - Nervous, Endocrine and Immune systems ٤٤ Herbal Treatments
-Herb is not a magic with a single action, but a complex natural medicine composed of many active constituents that work on different body systems. By combining scientific research into active constituents with clinical observation and traditional knowledge of whole plant, a round picture of each herb's range of medicinal plants can be developed. ٤٥ Herbal Treatments
Using herbs wisely: -Most commonly used herbs are extremely safe to use. However some plants have side effects, so herbal remedies of some plants must be taken or use only under the guidance of well-trained practitioners to avoid adverse consequences. ٤٦ Herbal Treatments
For example Ephedra can be extremely toxic at the wrong dosage. When an herbal medicine is used correctly, the chances of developing a serious side effect are remote. ٤٧ Herbal Treatments
http://www.loupiote.com. Quality Control ٤٨
Quality Control: -Means to make herbal medicine, herbs and herbal products of good quality (properly grown, well dried, correctly processed and within their sell-by date) ٤٩
-Little benefit will be received when poor-quality herbal products are used. ٥٠ Quality Control
-Quality is vital for herbal medicine. Without a guarantee that the correct herb of the right quality is being used, it is hard to be confident that the medicine will prove effective. ٥١ Quality Control
http://www.lookfordiagnosis.com. -Reasons why may we get poor-quality herbal products and so no medicinal value are that: 1- Herb may be poorly harvested, dried or stored. 2- Old and decayed material or even the wrong herb, may have been used. 3- Manufacturing process could be at fault ٥٢ Quality Control
-Strict quality-control procedures must be used to guarantee that good-quality products are made and manufactured, which involves: ٥٣ Quality Control
comparing the dried herb material with listing in a herbal or national pharmacopoeia (a standard reference work that gives the characteristics one would expect to find when analyzing a specific herb) ٥٤ Quality Control
routine checks to establish the herbal material (check using naked eyes and microscopes to see if its botanical profile matches the standard, check to see if it contains appropriate levels of active Constituents (fingerprint of plant) and to ensure that the material is free from contamination ٥٥ Quality Control
What should you look for when buying herbal medicine; dried herbs or herbal products? ٥٦ Quality Control
-Herbal medicine includes: capsules, pills, essential oils, peccaries and tinctures or infusions, decoctions and syrups that you may made by your self. ٥٧ Quality Control
-Buy this medicine: * from reputable herb stores, staffed by people knowledgeable about herbal medicine. * only mail order from established herbal suppliers. * buy organic herbs and products where available. ٥٨ Quality Control
When buying dried herbs: -Buy from shops better than mailing order, since you can examine herbs before purchasing. ٥٩ Quality Control
- Notice that herbs *should not be stored in clear glass jars or in direct sunlight, since this causes oxidation, which affects their efficiency. *Good-quality aromatic herbs should have a distinct scent and taste. *Check for signs of adulteration or infestation due to poor drying techniques and this can be recognized by presence of dried grass or other nonmedicinal material in the jar. *Look for the bright material that has been well dried and stored which are not too old; herbs lose their colors as they age so. ٦٠ Quality Control
When buying herbal products: -Herbal products include capsules, pills, essential oils, peccaries and tinctures -Always check the label on the jar or packet. If label is not found do not buy. ٦١
The label should include the following information: *Name all constituents in the product *state the recommended daily dosage * state the weight of each capsule or pill or volume of bottle *list the weight of each constituent in a capsule, pill etc. * list the ratio of herb in the product (1:3,1 part herb:3 parts liquid) ٦٢