While examining the relationship between health, culture and medicine in post-colonial India, the dominant perspective in sociological and anthropological literature conceptualizes medicine and culture as autonomous domains and views the relationship between the two in oppositional terms where culture (lay persons' beliefs and practices) is seen largely as impeding the progress of biomedicine (allopathic, modern medicine). In this conceptual scheme, all medical knowledge systems other than biomedicine is denied any valid medical status, clubbed as culture devoid of any cognitive content, and is seen as coterminous with religion and superstition. This perspective largely ignores the ground reality of the existence of ethno-medicine among Tribal communities. Tribal contributed tremendously to the development of indigenous medical systems in India. However, their contributions have not been documented and studied properly. This book makes a modest attempt to bridge this gap and offers a platform for debate and discussion towards safeguarding and development of Tribal medicine in India.
Traditional medicinal knowledge, especially the use of ethnomedicinal plants in developing countries, has been passed down for generations. Today, however, scientists are poised to combine traditional medicinal plants and modern drug discoveries to further develop essential products that have followed the leads of indigenous cures used for centuries. Ethnomedicinal Plant Use and Practice in Traditional Medicine provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of indigenous knowledge and therapeutic potential within ethnobotany. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as drug discovery, traditional knowledge, and herbal medicine, this book is ideally designed for doctors, healers, medical professionals, ethnobotanists, naturalists, academicians, researchers, and students interested in current research on the medical use and applications of natural-based resources.
The majority of modern drugs are based on phytochemicals produced from ethnomedicinal plants.This new volume provides an understanding of the importance of sustainability and bioprospecting of ethnomedicinal plants for formulating novel chemical compounds and new drugs from raw materials from plants cultivated and collected from the wild for healthcare and nutrition practices. It provides extensive information on medicinal plant diversification, cultivation techniques, biotechnological approaches, and modern and traditional usages. It also provides information for developing new strategies and formulating new policies for the systematic management and conservation of medicinal resources for future use.
Plants have been a source of medicines and have played crucial role for human health. Despite tremendous advances in the field of synthetic drugs and antibiotics, plants continue to play a vital role in modern as well as traditional medicine across the globe. In even today, one-third of the world’s population depends on traditional medicine because of its safety features and ability to effectively cure diseases. This book presents a comprehensive guide to medicinal plants, their utility, diversity and conversation, as well as biotechnology. It is divided into four main sections, covering all aspects of research in medicinal plants: biodiversity and conservation; ethnobotany and ethnomedicine; bioactive compounds from plants and microbes; and biotechnology. All sections cover the latest advances. The book offers a valuable asset for researchers and graduate students of biotechnology, botany, microbiology and the pharmaceutical sciences. It is an equally important resource for doctors (especially those engaged in Ayurveda and allopathy); the pharmaceutical industry (for drug design and synthesis); and the agricultural sciences.
Medicinal Plants for Holistic Health and Well-Being discusses, in depth, the use of South African plants to treat a variety of ailments, including tuberculosis, cancer, periodontal diseases, acne, postmacular hypomelanosis, and more. Plants were selected on the basis of their traditional use, and the book details the scientific evidence that supports their pharmacological and therapeutic potential to safely and effectively treat each disease. Thus, this book is a valuable resource for all researchers, students and professors involved in advancing global medicinal plant research. Many plants found in South Africa are also found in other parts of the world. Each chapter highlights plants from other worldwide locations so that scientists can study which plants belong to the same family, and how similar qualities can be used to treat a specific disease. - The book details the scientific evidence that supports their pharmacological and therapeutic potential to safely and effectively treat each disease - Each chapter highlights plants from worldwide locations so that scientists can study plants belonging to the same family, and how similar species can be used to treat a specific disease - Use of traditional medicine as an efficient means to identify and further investigate South African, similar plants and plant-derived compounds in modern drug discovery - Includes a number of chapters dedicated to using medicinal plants to treat various skin disorders, which is often not covered in other books on medicinal plants - Organized by specific diseases, with vital evidence-based data related to the bioactivity, pharmacological potential, chemical structure and safety information
This book is focused on clarifying the anticancer effects (i.e., apoptotic, antiproliferative, antimetastatic, antiangiogenic) and mechanisms of most of the medicinal plants found in the world against solid and/or hematological cancers.
Practitioners like you have been turning to Micozzi's comprehensive CAM text for the past 20 years. Filled with the most up-to-date information on scientific theory and research and updated contributions from world experts, Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 5th Edition gives you a solid foundation of the therapies and evidence-based clinical applications for CAM – and expands your global perspective with new and updated chapters on healing systems from around the world. Dive into interesting discussions on massage, manual therapies and bodywork, yoga, chiropractic, osteopathy, herbal medicine, aromatherapy and essential oils therapy, "nature cure," naturopathy and naturopathic medicine, and nutrition and hydration. With its wide range of topics, this 20th anniversary edition is your ideal CAM reference! • A broad perspective traces CAM therapies from their beginnings to present day practices. • Clinical guides for selecting therapies, and new advances for matching the appropriate therapy to the individual patient, enables you to offer and/or recommend individualized patient care. • Expert contributors include well-known writers such as Kevin Ergil, Patch Adams, Joseph Pizzorno, and Marc Micozzi himself. • A unique synthesis of information, including historical usage, cultural and social analysis, current basic science theory and research, and a wide range of clinical investigations and observations, makes this text a focused, authoritative resource. • Suggested readings and references in each chapter list the best resources for further research and study. • Coverage of CAM therapies and systems includes those most commonly encountered or growing in popularity, so you can carefully evaluate each treatment. • An evidence-based approach focuses on treatments best supported by clinical trials and scientific evidence. • Observations from mechanisms of action to evidence of clinical efficacy answers questions of how, why, and when CAM therapies work. • Global coverage includes discussions of traditional healing arts from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. • NEW! Updated chapters feature new content and topics, including: challenges in integrative medicine, legal issues, CAM in the community, psychometric evaluation, placebo effect, stress management, and much more! • NEW! Updated guides on common herbal remedies in clinical practice, East and Southeast Asia, and native North and South America deliver the latest information. • NEW! Revised chapters with new contributors offer fresh perspectives on these important and relevant topics. • EXPANDED! Basic science content and new theory and research studies cover a wide range of sciences such as biophysics, biology and ecology, ethnomedicine, psychometrics, neurosciences, and systems theory. • NEW! New and expanded global ethnomedical systems include new content on Shamanism and Neo-Shamanism, Central and North Asia, Southeast Asia, Nepal and Tibet, Hawaii and South Pacific, Alaska and Pacific Northwest, and contemporary global healthcare.
For centuries it has been recognized that plants relate to human health and well-being in many ways beyond their fundamental role as primary sources of food and energy. Many of the unique plant constituents have pronounced effects on animal systems or in the human body; some of them are potentially harmful and represent a risk in the use of a parttcular plant or in the exposure to it, others are useful as medicinal agents in the treatment of diseases. Many of the latter are extracted from plant materials on a large scale for marketing as drugs and even more of them have served as structural prototypes which inspired chemists to synthesize analog drugs with even more desirable properties. Clearly, today's drug therapy had its origins in the explora tion and exploitation of pharmacologically active plant con stituents. It is therefore appropriate that a symposium of the Phytochemical Society of tlorth America \'1as devoted to this subject. The present volume consists of eleven rapers dealing with various aspects of the topic "Phytochemistry as Related to Disease and Medicine", which were presented at the Four teenth Annual Meeting of the Phytochemical Society of tlorth America held tn August 1974 at Hestern Carol ina University in Cullowhee, N.C. Plant hallucinogens are the subject of the first three chapters. The first, by Schultes, reviews the occurrence of hallucinogenic agents in plants, in tabular form. Emphasis is on plants from Central and South America.
