Medicinal Plants in Tropical Countries

The rationale for this book is the data from the WHO suggesting that 80% of the world’s population is primarily reliant on traditional methods of healing, which uses empirical knowledge based on the use of medicinal plants. In many rural areas of developing countries there are no alternatives to traditional methods of healing, as there are neither the financial means nor the necessary infrastructure to allow the use of imported pharmaceuticals. The plants described in this book were chosen from a list of 4776 medicinal plants predominantly used in Africa. Fifty-four of these plants were described in ethno-pharma-cological reports from five or more African countries, and from this list 25 of the most frequently reported plants were chosen for this collection. The objective of these monographs is to provide helpful summaries of the often contradictory information on the use of medicinal plants. The book is divided into three sections: 1) traditional medicine and modern medicine: the need to collaborate; 2) the example of malaria: how helpful are medicinal plants?; and 3) monographs of medicinal plants. The third section is the largest and most important part of this book. It contains monographs ranging from Allium sativum (garlic), and Aloe barbadensis (aloe), through Cassia senna (senna), Curcuma longa (turmeric) and Eucalyptus globulus (glue gum) to Ricinus communis (castor) and Zingiber officinale (ginger). Some of the herbs discussed are familiar to most who have an interest in herbal medicine. Each monograph is structured into plant parts used, constituents, traditional uses, results of experimental studies, results of clinical studies, cautions and undesired effects, drug interactions, use and dosage, and an overall assessment, which also contains a 4-star rating system. The assessment for Allium sativum, for example, indicates the highest level of evidence for both hyperlipidaemia and hypertension. According to the most recent evidence from high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses there is, however, a small short-term benefit on lipid and platelet factors and insignificant effects on blood pressure.¹ Overall, this small book is interesting but comes with a hefty price tag and would have benefited from a methods section indicating how and when the literature was searched and how the data were assessed.

Reference

1. Ackermann RT, Mulrow CD, Ramirez G et al. Garlic shows promise for improving some cardiovascular risk factors. Arch Intern Med 2001; 161: 813–24. [Abstract]