| dc.description.abstract | 1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.
Plants have an important role in the treatment of various diseases by both traditional
and conventional or 'modern' medicine. Modern medicine utilises scientific and
technological methods to age old practices e.g. a plant that is known to have specific
activity against a certain disease is harvested and modern isolation techniques and
pharmacological procedures are carried out to find the active substance, that is then
purified and presented in various formulations e.g. tablets, capsules, syrups,
suspensions etc rather than in the 'crude' form that is normally the case in traditional
medicine (Trease and Evans, 2006)Therefore in essence 'modern' medicine borrows
heavily from traditional medicine and is an outcome of the evolvement of the
knowledge and experience of traditional practitioners. This shows that traditional and
modern medicine should have a mutually beneficial relationship in order for both to
prosper and for the betterment ofthe health of patients.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine as 'therapeutic
practices that have been in existence, often for hundreds of years, before the
development and spread of modern scientific medicine and are still in use today. This
is mostly the case in the African and Asian continents where traditional medicine is
widely used .Chinese medicine and herbs are becoming more and more popular in the
west.
Conventional medicine has its origins in Mesopotamia and Egypt (Egyptian papyrus
ebers c 1600BC),The Unani medicine(Kitab-al-shifa, the magnum opus of Avicenna',
I Corrupteellatin for Abu All al-Husayn ibn Abel Allah ibn Slna popularly known as lbni STna see
ell_ll'i kipedi (I- org/\ \'i kif A vicellll(f
KHALIF A.M
5
AD 980-1037) which is of Islamic origin and Ayurvedic' medicine (Ayurveda 2500-
600 BC).The most ancient form of medicine that used plants were the Unani3 and
Ayurvedic medicine both of which have origins in the Mediterranean. The materia
medica of both unani and ayurvedic medicine is derived from many herbs and the final
preparations for administration include pills, syrup, alcoholic extracts, etc, Chinese
medicine also has a long history with the earliest known texts being unearthed in
Hunnan province and dates from the 4th century Be. It lists over 200 herbs with
instructions for 52 pharmaceutical preparations. This shows that plants have been
exploited for their medicinal use for ages and are still being used worldwide as a
source of conventional medicine, this at times puts a strain on existing plant sources
e.g. as a result of demand for new drug galanthine for treatment of Alzheimers
disease,Leucojwn aestivum is now in danger of extinction ((Trease and Evans, 2006),
Hence research into cultivation or artificial propagation by cell cultures or use of a
related species with the same active ingredient has been tried as a solution.
2 ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to Indiall] and practiced in other parts of the world as a
form of alternative medicine. See hltp://en.wikipedia.orglwikiiAyurveda
3 Unani is the Arab word for Greek or Ionian and is a development of Arabic medicine which itsel f was based on the work
of Galen (2AD) see trease and evans.
I<HALIF A.M
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There are many species of plants containing substances of medicinal value which have
yet to be discovered, large number of plants are constantly being screened for their
possible pharmacological value particularly anti-inflammatory ,hypotensive,
amoebicidal, antifertility, cytotoxicity, antibiotic and anti parkinsonism properties. | en_US |
