Traditional Medicinal Plants and Malaria


Book Description

Malaria is an increasing worldwide threat, with more than three hundred million infections and one million deaths every year. The worlds poorest are the worst affected, and many treat themselves with traditional herbal medicines. These are often more available and affordable, and sometimes are perceived as more effective than conventional antimala




Nature Power


Book Description

When Nature Power was first published twelve years ago, the practice of herbal medicine in Nigeria and in most parts of Africa was identified with witchcraft, sorcery, ritualism, and all sorts of fetish practices. Because herbal medicine was associated with paganism, African Christians secretly patronize traditional healers, and the educated elite and religious figures did not want to be associated in any way with traditional African medicine. Nature Power, like a lonely voice in a wilderness, was written to correct the misconception that African herbal medicine is synonymous with paganism, ritualism, and fetishism. Since its publication, Nature Power has been reprinted more than eight times. It has contributed immensely in changing the attitudes of both the government and Christians toward the practice of herbal medicine. Nature Power has also helped show that health is more than an absence of disease. Health is wholeness of mind, soul, and body. Much of the information in this book is age-old secrets, which herbalists keep close to their chests. I have made them available here so that humanity may profit from them.




Saving Lives, Buying Time


Book Description

For more than 50 years, low-cost antimalarial drugs silently saved millions of lives and cured billions of debilitating infections. Today, however, these drugs no longer work against the deadliest form of malaria that exists throughout the world. Malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africaâ€"currently just over one million per yearâ€"are rising because of increased resistance to the old, inexpensive drugs. Although effective new drugs called "artemisinins" are available, they are unaffordable for the majority of the affected population, even at a cost of one dollar per course. Saving Lives, Buying Time: Economics of Malaria Drugs in an Age of Resistance examines the history of malaria treatments, provides an overview of the current drug crisis, and offers recommendations on maximizing access to and effectiveness of antimalarial drugs. The book finds that most people in endemic countries will not have access to currently effective combination treatments, which should include an artemisinin, without financing from the global community. Without funding for effective treatment, malaria mortality could double over the next 10 to 20 years and transmission will intensify.




Global Report on Antimalarial Drug Efficacy and Drug Resistance


Book Description

This report provides a comprehensive, global overview of antimalarial drug efficacy and the resistance of malaria parasites to the antimalarial medicines used between 2000 and June 2010. Policy-makers in national ministries of health will benefit from this document, as it provides both a global and a regional picture of the efficacy of the antimalarial medicines currently used in national treatment programmes. In addition, the report will be a reference for scientists, enhancing their understanding of the complexity of antimalarial drug resistance.




WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants


Book Description

This is the second volume in a series of monographs which are intended to promote information exchange and international harmonised standards for the quality control and use of herbal medicines. It contains scientific information on 30 selected plants, and each entry includes a pharmacopoeial summary for quality assurance purposes, information on its clinical application and sections on contraindications, pharmacology, safety issues, and dosage forms. It provides two cumulative indexes with entries in alphabetical order by plant name and according to the plant material of interest.




Phytochemical Methods


Book Description

While there are many books available on methods of organic and biochemical analysis, the majority are either primarily concerned with the application of a particular technique (e.g. paper chromatography) or have been written for an audience of chemists or for biochemists work ing mainly with animaltissues. Thus, no simple guide to modern metho ds of plant analysis exists and the purpose of the present volume is to fill this gap. It is primarily intended for students in the plant sciences, who have a botanical or a general biological background. It should also be of value to students in biochemistry, pharmacognosy, food science and 'natural products' organic chemistry. Most books on chromatography, while admirably covering the needs of research workers, tend to overwhelm the student with long lists of solvent systems and spray reagents that can be applied to each class of organic constituent. The intention here is to simplify the situation by listing only a few specially recommended techniques that have wide currency in phytochemical laboratories. Sufficient details are provided to allow the student to use the techniques for themselves and most sections contain some introductory practical experiments which can be used in classwork.




Useful Plants of Ghana


Book Description

Aims to document, as much as possible, the useful plant material of Ghana. Divided into subjects such as food, fuel, potions and medicines, construction and weeds, the plants are listed according to their scientific and Ghanaian common names, as well as by their English names, if available.




Antimalarial Natural Products


Book Description

This volume begins with a short history of malaria and follows with a summary of its biology. It then traces the fascinating history of the discovery of quinine for malaria treatment, and then describes quinine’s biosynthesis, its mechanism of action, and its clinical use, concluding with a discussion of synthetic antimalarial agents based on quinine’s structure. It also covers the discovery of artemisinin and its development as the source of the most effective current antimalarial drug, including summaries of its synthesis and biosynthesis, its mechanism of action, and its clinical use and resistance. A short discussion of other clinically used antimalarial natural products leads to a detailed treatment of additional natural products with significant antiplasmodial activity, classified by compound type. Although the search for new antimalarial natural products from Nature’s combinatorial library is challenging, it is very likely to yield new antimalarial drugs. This book thus ends by identifying ten natural products with development potential as clinical antimalarial agents.







Toxicological Survey of African Medicinal Plants


Book Description

Toxicological Survey of African Medicinal Plants provides a detailed overview of toxicological studies relating to traditionally used medicinal plants in Africa, with special emphasis on the methodologies and tools used for data collection and interpretation. The book considers the physical parameters of these plants and their effect upon various areas of the body and human health, including chapters dedicated to genotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and specific organs and systems.Following this discussion of the effects of medicinal plants is a critical review of the guidelines and methods in use for toxicological research as well as the state of toxicology studies in Africa. With up-to-date research provided by a team of experts, Toxicological Survey of African Medicinal Plants is an invaluable resource for researchers and students involved in pharmacology, toxicology, phytochemistry, medicine, pharmacognosy, and pharmaceutical biology. - Offers a critical review of the methods used in toxicological survey of medicinal plants - Provides up-to-date toxicological data on African medicinal plants and families - Serves as a resource tool for students and scientists in the various areas of toxicology