Traditional Medicine Research Paper

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Given the increased use of traditional medicines, there are possibilities that would ensure its successful integration into a public health framework should be explored. This paper discusses some of the links between biodiversity and traditional medicine, and addresses their implications to public health. We explore the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services to global and human health, the risks which human impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity present to human health and welfare. In this review a total of 14 diseases have been included which particularly affects the major three organs i.e liver, gastrointestinal tract infections and lungs.
By comparing the plant species recorded to cure these diseases with available pharmacological …show more content…

Traditional medicine (TM) is a comprehensive term used to refer both to systems such as traditional Chinese medicine, Indian Ayurveda and to various forms of indigenous medicine. In countries where the dominant health care system is based on allopathic medicine, or where traditional medicine has not been incorporated into the national healthcare system, traditional medicine is often termed “complementary”, “alternative” or “non-conventional medicine”.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are becoming more numerous and more virulent thanks to continuing overuse of antibiotics. Herbal medicine offers an alternative to these increasingly ineffective drugs. Approximately, 500,000 species of both identified and unidentified plants have been estimated on Earth. Among them, only 1–10% are being used as foods by animals and humans (Borris 1996; Cowan …show more content…

The use of plant-derived natural products in medical treatments is attracting more attention due to its potential efficacy and no side effects (Cowan 1999). Indeed, plants are a rich source of valuable secondary metabolites, such as quinones, tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, and polyphenols that are used by plants as defence mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Some, such as terpenoids, give plants their odors; quinones and tannins are responsible for plant pigmentation. Many compounds including terpenoids are responsible for plant flavor and some of the herbs and spices, which are being used by humans to season foods, could yield useful medicinal

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