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Review
. 2014:2014:525340.
doi: 10.1155/2014/525340. Epub 2014 Apr 27.

Historical perspective of traditional indigenous medical practices: the current renaissance and conservation of herbal resources

Si-Yuan Pan  1 , Gerhard Litscher  2 , Si-Hua Gao  3 , Shu-Feng Zhou  4 , Zhi-Ling Yu  5 , Hou-Qi Chen  6 , Shuo-Feng Zhang  1 , Min-Ke Tang  1 , Jian-Ning Sun  1 , Kam-Ming Ko  7
Affiliations
Review

Historical perspective of traditional indigenous medical practices: the current renaissance and conservation of herbal resources

Si-Yuan Pan et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014.

Abstract

In recent years, increasing numbers of people have been choosing herbal medicines or products to improve their health conditions, either alone or in combination with others. Herbs are staging a comeback and herbal "renaissance" occurs all over the world. According to the World Health Organization, 75% of the world's populations are using herbs for basic healthcare needs. Since the dawn of mankind, in fact, the use of herbs/plants has offered an effective medicine for the treatment of illnesses. Moreover, many conventional/pharmaceutical drugs are derived directly from both nature and traditional remedies distributed around the world. Up to now, the practice of herbal medicine entails the use of more than 53,000 species, and a number of these are facing the threat of extinction due to overexploitation. This paper aims to provide a review of the history and status quo of Chinese, Indian, and Arabic herbal medicines in terms of their significant contribution to the health promotion in present-day over-populated and aging societies. Attention will be focused on the depletion of plant resources on earth in meeting the increasing demand for herbs.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Species and protected species in China.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in China.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Dosage forms and pharmaceutical techniques in Chinese herbal medicine (CHM).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Styles of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in the global market (see also [62] of quasi-chemical model and [–65] of full-chemical model).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Some important texts of Indian herbal medicine [–78].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Plant species in India and Indian herbal medicine (IHM).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Dosage forms and pharmaceutical techniques in Indian herbal medicine (IHM) [99, 100].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Achievements of Arabic medicine and pharmacy [118, 119].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Past and present of Arabic herbal medicine [130].
Figure 10
Figure 10
Pharmacodynamic synergism and pharmacokinetic synergism of herbal medicines.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Classification of herbal medicines (HMs) in the international market.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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