Indian Herbal Plants and their Uses: A Practical Manual for Primary Health Care

Information about 31 plants used in the treatment of infertility in females and 24 plants used in the treatment of infertility in males were collected. This information including names of plants, parts used, mode and methods of preparation which were obtained from 51 traditional healers interviewed in rural areas of 9 regions of the West Bank/Palestine. This investigation is the first scientific work in the Middle East area which collected information about herbal remedies used by local Palestinian traditional healers for the treatments of infertility in males and females. The highest Frequency of Citation (FC) of herbal remedies used in case of infertility in females, were 98.04% for pollen grains from Ceratonia siliqua, 88.24% for Anastatica hierochuntica fruits and 84.31% for Parietaria judaica leaves, while the highest Frequency of Citation (FC) of herbal remedies used in case of infertility in males were 96.08% for Ferula hermonis roots, 88.24% for Phlomis brachyodon leaves and 86.27% for Phoenix dactylifera pollen grains.

Herbal healers in the West Bank area of Palestine have a wide range of herbal remedies used in case of infertility in males and in females. Unfortunately, most of them lack scientific evidence of pharmacological or toxicological nature. Therefore, the information obtained in this study can serve as a scientific base for further investigations to determine their efficacy and safety which might contribute to better integration of Palestinian traditional medicine into the global health system in the future.

indian herbal plants and their uses pdf download

Download: https://cinurl.com/2vEvfl

Ethnopharmacological surveys have been found to be one of the most reliable tools for the discovery of the natural and semi-synthetic drug. In fact, herbals and other natural products, including their chemical derivatives, represented about 50% of all currently utilized medications worldwide [1]. The usage of plants Kingdom by human beings, as a source of medicines, started from the immemorial time for treatment, protection, and prevention of various illnesses. Till recent time, herbals are considered one of the most important branches of traditional medicine. In fact, this kind of medicine plays until now an important role in health care systems, especially in rural areas in developed and developing countries [2,3,4,5,6]. In fact, traditional medicine is considered a very important branch of pharmacy and medicine and besides that, the used plants in this medicine are considered major sources for the investigation of pharmacologically active drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, the global public interests are in continuous growing toward the use of this type of medicine. In fact, about 80% of people in rural areas of developing countries utilized traditional medicine, since it is available, cheap and has a variety of health benefits [7,8,9].

The treatment of infertility in males and females are varying in their associated risks, intensity, and invasiveness which depend on the duration, cause, age, and personal preferences. Meanwhile, the physical, financial, and time commitment is the required factors for infertility treatment. The infertility treatments can range from medication therapy to induce ovulation to invasive manipulation of eggs and sperm outside of the body [19]. As well as all the infertility treatments are very expensive, many of poor patients or patients who believe in alternative medicine or others people which their previous infertility treatments had failed, all of those are seeking for the alternative herbal medicine to solve this problem [20].

Ethnopharmacological data about herbal remedies used in the treatment of infertility in males and females were collected through open-ended semi-structured interviews with 51 traditional healers (informants) during fieldwork. The interviews were conducted in the Arabic language which is the native language of the informants. This survey was conducted between June and August 2017. During the transect walks, plants were collected under the supervision of the traditional healers. Plant voucher specimens were collected and deposited at the Natural products Laboratory, An-Najah National University for identification. Plant names have been checked and updated with the online website (www.theplantlist.org) of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, accessed on 3 July 2017. Areas visited included some rural regions of the West Bank/ Palestine, including rural areas of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Jericho, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron regions (Fig. 1).

In fact, a huge number of plants families (44 families) were reported to be effective in the treatment of this disorder. However, different plants species were used to treat infertility in females and males as reported in Tables 2 and 3. In addition, Table 4 showed the highest FC and CV values for the herbal remedies used in the treatment of infertility among females and males in the West Bank area of Palestine.

Concerning the used preparation methods, infusions and decoctions were the most frequently used methods of preparation for treatment of infertility in females and males (Figs. 2 and 3). However, these two methods are considered harsh methods and may negatively affect the efficacy and the final organoleptic properties of the obtained extracts. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the efficacy and the organoleptic properties of the most cited plants after being extracted by using the friendliest extraction methods such as the cold press and critical fluid extractors. Concerning the difference between herbal remedies that were advised for male and female, this may be due to the difference between genders in term of physiology and types and level of hormones as well as due to the phytochemical constituents that should affect this physiology and hormonal level.

Reviewed by: Healing Plants: Medicine of the Florida Seminole Indians by Alice M. Snow and Susan E. Stans Janie A. Hall Alice M. Snow and Susan E. Stans. Healing Plants: Medicine of the Florida Seminole Indians. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2015. 176 pp. Paper, $19.95. Alice M. Snow and Susan E. Stans's Healing Plants: Medicine of the Florida Seminole Indians is a revealing book that examines an underrepresented matter pertaining to the healing arts of tribal culture. The authors' intent is to continue the culture of the language and medicine, since few Native Americans have a working knowledge and understanding of Native medicine. Many of the Florida Seminole Indians attend school to prepare for the "big world." The purpose of this book is to serve as a reference for tribal members to continue their healing traditions for many generations for cultural survival. Snow and the Florida Seminole Indians believe in the logic of the healing property of the plants described and listed in the book. 2ff7e9595c