Leaves of Life
Leaves of Life

Author: Kazembe Olugbala Bediako

Publisher:

Published: 2011-05-01

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9780984571536

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Leaves of Life, Volume1: Single Plants, the author of the Behutet series and native of Guyana, posits the view that herbal medicine is becoming more popular in contemporary life and that there is a herbal remedy for any ailment. Scientists have come to recognize the capacity of the rainforest to treat or cure ailments and diseases that plague modern life, such as AIDS, cancers, venereal diseases, heart problems, diabetes, Alzheimer's, arthritis, infertility, leukemia, multiple sclerosis and more. This priceless resource of over one hundred and twenty single Plants, thought to be lost over the generations, will ever be at your finger tips. Leaves of Life, Volume1: Single Plants, cites the enormous importance of the natural world of plants at a time when plant resources are decreasing at a rapid rate. No other time in history have human beings placed such importance on the natural world of plants. Guyana, which lies at the point where the Caribbean meets South America on its North Atlantic seaboard, consists of 80% rainforest and is home to one of the richest regions of the world with expanses of untouched neotropical forests and different species of plants found nowhere else on earth. Leaves of Life, Volume1: Single Plants reveals the true secrets of its tropical vegetation which was traditionally confined to the "Bush Men," the individuals who make their living off the local plant lore. These secrets have eluded European explorers like Walter Raleigh, the first European to record the existence of curare, a paralytic, plant-derived poison used in fishing and hunting in Guyana. Curare causes death by asphyxiation through the loss of control of muscles essential in respiration and is used in modern medicine as a muscle relaxant for shock treatment of mental illness, and as an adjunct to anaesthesia in heart surgery.

A Guide to the Medicinal Plants of Coastal Guyana
A Guide to the Medicinal Plants of Coastal Guyana

Author: Deborah A. Lachman-White

Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0850923875

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This book describes and illustrates plants used medicinally in coastal Guyana. It includes entries for 173 native and naturalised Guyanese plants, as well as a few cultivated species. Of these, 148 are illustrated by line drawings, the majority of which have been created by local artists. The methods used in compiling the data included interviews, plant collection and identification, literature search for chemical and pharmacological information and some basic screening carried out locally.

Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice

Author: Mark J. Plotkin

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1994-08-01

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 014012991X

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The fascinating account of a pioneering ethnobotanist’s travels in the Amazon—at once a gripping adventure story, a passionate argument for conservationism, and an investigation into the healing power of plants, by the author of The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know For thousands of years, healers have used plants to cure illness. Aspirin, the world's most widely used drug, is based on compounds originally extracted from the bark of a willow tree, and more than a quarter of medicines found on pharmacy shelves contain plant compounds. Now Western medicine, faced with health crises such as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, has begun to look to the healing plants used by indigenous peoples to develop powerful new medicines. Nowhere is the search more promising than in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest, home to a quarter of all botanical species on this planet—as well as hundreds of Indian tribes whose medicinal plants have never been studied by Western scientists. In Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, ethnobotanist Mark J. Plotkin recounts his travels and studies with some of the most powerful Amazonian shamans, who taught him the plant lore their tribes have spent thousands of years gleaning from the rain forest. For more than a decade, Dr. Plotkin raced against time to harvest and record new plants before the rain forests' fragile ecosystems succumb to overdevelopment—and before the Indians abandon their own culture and learning for the seductive appeal of Western material culture. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice relates nine of the author's quests, taking the reader along on a wild odyssey as he participates in healing rituals; discovers the secret of curare, the lethal arrow poison that kills in minutes; tries the hallucinogenic snuff epena that enables the Indians to speak with their spirit world; and earns the respect and fellowship of the mysterious shamans as he proves that he shares both their endurance and their reverence for the rain forest.

Medicinal Plants of Barbados for the Treatment of Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases
Medicinal Plants of Barbados for the Treatment of Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases

Author: Damian H. Cohall

Publisher: University of West Indies Press

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 83

ISBN-13: 9789766404994

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Barbados has a strong base in the practice of folklore botanical medicines. Consistent with the rest of the Caribbean, the practice is often criticized due to the lack of efficacy and safety testing of the plants. Cohall identifies common medicinal plants used historically and currently in Barbados for the treatment of common communicable and non-communicable diseases and describes the historical to current context of communicable and non-communicable diseases in Barbados. He also outlines the historical and current context of the use of medicinal plants, including factors influencing their use by Barbadians.The medicinal plants in the book were reviewed previously and grouped on their practice to treat communicable and noncommunicable diseases and also botanical classification. The identified phytochemicals from the plants were compared to established drug compounds approved for the conventional treatment of illnesses and also established phytochemicals. Medicinal Plants of Barbados will be of interest to Barbadians and other Caribbean nationals who use herbal remedies and are keen to validate their applications; it will also appeal to academics who wish to investigate these herbal remedies as sources of new drug compounds and clinicians who wish to be guided about possible drug?herb interactions.

Nature's Pharmacopeia
Nature's Pharmacopeia

Author: Dan Choffnes

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780231166607

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This beautifully illustrated textbook pairs research on the biochemical properties and physiological effects of medicinal plants with a history of the ways in which humans have cultivated plant species and investigated their effects. Nature's Pharmacopeia fosters an appreciation of the chemistry and cultural resonance of herbal medicine.

Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants
Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants

Author: Lim T. K.

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-01-30

Total Pages: 1113

ISBN-13: 9400717644

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This book continues as volume 2 of a multi-compendium on Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants. It covers edible fruits/seeds used fresh or processed, as vegetables, spices, stimulants, pulses, edible oils and beverages. It encompasses species from the following families: Clusiaceae, Combretaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Dilleniaceae, Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Ericaceae and Fabaceae. This work will be of significant interest to scientists, researchers, medical practitioners, pharmacologists, ethnobotanists, horticulturists, food nutritionists, agriculturists, botanists, herbalogists, conservationists, teachers, lecturers, students and the general public. Topics covered include: taxonomy (botanical name and synonyms); common English and vernacular names; origin and distribution; agro-ecological requirements; edible plant part and uses; botany; nutritive and medicinal/pharmacological properties, medicinal uses and current research findings; non-edible uses; and selected/cited references.

Hand Book of Indian Medicinal Plants
Hand Book of Indian Medicinal Plants

Author: M.C. Joshi

Publisher: Scientific Publishers

Published: 2019-02-01

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 9387913295

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This Handbook contains the brief information on medicinal plants mainly used in Indian Systems of Medicine. Nearly 1000 plant species belonging to 164 families either used as main sources of the drugs or as their substitutes and adulterants are given in it. The drug plants have been given familywise following the Bentham and Hooker's system of classification. The brief information about the drug plants i.e. Names (Sanskrit & Botanical) habit of the plants, part(s) used in medicine, main properties/uses and broadly the name of area(s) where the plants naturally occur has been given in tabular form. The names of common substitutes and adulterants of important drug plants have also been provided. Indexes of botanical and Sanskrit names have also been given at the end. The book has been written in a very easy and simple manner, so that an average reader can follow it. The specific features of this small reference book are: (a) The information, including the names of substitutes and adulterants are given in tabular form, so that one can see it at a glance. (b) The book can be kept easily is hand in field and other places. (c) Important medicinal plants of the families have been indicated. (d) The book contains nearly all those plants which are prescribed in various courses of Ayurveda, pharmacy, Medico-botany etc. The book is useful to the students, teachers, researchers on medicinal plants, herbal based pharmaceutical concerned, N.G.O's and other those who are interested in medicinal plants.

Popular Medicinal Plants in Portland and Kingston, Jamaica
Popular Medicinal Plants in Portland and Kingston, Jamaica

Author: Ina Vandebroek

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-12-05

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 3030489272

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This book highlights the results from over a year of ethnobotanical research in a rural and an urban community in Jamaica, where we interviewed more than 100 people who use medicinal plants for healthcare. The goal of this research was to better understand patterns of medicinal plant knowledge, and to find out which plants are used in consensus by local people for a variety of illnesses. For this book, we selected 25 popular medicinal plant species mentioned during fieldwork. Through individual interviews, we were able to rank plants according to their frequency of mention, and categorized the medicinal uses for each species as “major” (mentioned by more than 20% of people in a community) or “minor” (mentioned by more than 5%, but less than 20% of people). Botanical identification of plant specimens collected in the wild allowed for cross-linking of common and scientific plant names. To supplement field research, we undertook a comprehensive search and review of the ethnobotanical and biomedical literature. Our book summarizes all this information in detail under specific sub-headings.

Medicinal Plants in Papua New Guinea
Medicinal Plants in Papua New Guinea

Author:

Publisher: Wpro Publication

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789290612490

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Traditional medicine, including the knowledge, skills and practices of holistic health care, exists in all cultures. It is based on indigenous theories, beliefs and experiences, and is widely accepted for its role in health maintenance and the treatment of disease. Medicinal plants are the main ingredients of local medicines, but rapid urbanization is leading to the loss of many important plants and knowledge of their use. To help preserve this knowledge and recognize the importance of medicinal plants to health care systems, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has published a series of books on medicinal plants in China, the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam and the South Pacific. Medicinal Plants in Papua New Guineais the fifth in this series. This book covers only a small proportion of the immense knowledge on traditional medicine, the plant species from which they are derived, the diseases they can treat and the parts of the plants to be used. The diverse cultures, languages and traditional practices of Papua New Guinea made this a particularly challenging project. But we believe the information and accompanying references can provide useful information for scientists, doctors and other users.