TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page    –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         i

Certification           –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         ii

Dedication   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         iii

Acknowledgement –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         iv

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION – –         –         –         –         –         –         1-2

CHAPTER TWO

2.0     History of Herbs    –         –         –         –         –         –         –         3-5

2.1     Types of Herbs      –         –         –         –         –         –         –         5-7

2.2     Modern Herbal Medicine –         –         –         –         –         –         7-10

2.3     Medicinal Herbs Product (Drugs)        –         –         –         –         10

2.3.1  Kava  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         10-11

2.3.2  St John’s wort        –         –         –         –         –         –         –         11

2.3.3  Ma huang    –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         11-12

2.4     Medicinal Health Product (Drugs)       –         –         –         –         12

2.4.1  Ginseng       –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         12

2.4.2  Ginkgo        –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         13

2.5     Herbal Drug Safety and Efficiency      –         –         –         –         13-16

CHAPTER THREE

3.0     Herbal Remedies for Diseases and Cardiovascular Disease –       17

3.1     Food Application of Herbal Medicine  –         –         –         –         18-19

3.2     Therapeutic Properties of Herbal Drugs        –         –         –         19-20

3.2.1  Metabolic Disorders        –         –         –         –         –         –         20

3.2.2  Cardiovascular Diseases  –         –         –         –         –         –         20-21

3.2.3  Cancer         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         21-22

3.2.4  Neurodegenerative Disorders    –         –         –         –         –         22

3.3     Effects of Herbal Drugs   –         –         –         –         –         –         22

3.3.1  Hypoglycemic Effects of Herbal Medicines   –         –         –         22-23

3.3.2  Carcinogenic Effects of Traditional Herbal Medicines       –         23-24

3.3.3  Liver Toxicity Associated with Herbal Medicines    –         –         24-26

3.4     Quality Control and Standardization of Herbal Medicines –         26-27

3.5     Standardization and Quality Control of Herbal Crude Drugs –     27-29

3.6     Safety of Herbal Remedies        –         –         –         –         –         30-31

CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

4.1     Summary     –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         32

4.2     Conclusion  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         32-33

            References

CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

The use of herbs as medicine is the oldest form of healthcare known to humanity and has been used in all cultures throughout history (Barnes et al., 2007). Early humans recognized their dependence on nature for a healthy life and since that time humanity has depended on the diversity of plant resources for food, clothing, shelter, and medicine to cure myriads of ailments. Led by instinct, taste, and experience, primitive men and women treated illness by using plants, animal parts, and minerals that were not part of their usual diet. Primitive people learned by trial and error to distinguish useful plants with beneficial effects from those that were toxic or inactive, and also which combinations or processing methods had to be used to gain consistent and optimal results. Even in ancient cultures, tribal people methodically collected information on herbs and developed well-defined herbal pharmacopeias. Physical evidence of the use of herbal remedies some sixty thousand years ago has been found in a burial site of a Neanderthal man uncovered in 1960 in a cave in northern Iraq (Solecki, 1975).

Indeed, well into the twentieth century, much of the pharmacopeia of scientific medicine was derived from the herbal lore of native people. The knowledge of plant-based drugs developed gradually and was passed on, thus, laying the foundation for many systems of traditional medicine all over the world. In some communities herbal medicine is still a central part of their medical system.

Medicinal plants are widely distributed throughout the world but most abundantly in tropical countries. It is estimated that about 25% of all modern medicines are directly or indirectly derived from higher plants (WHO, 2005). Thus, herbal medicine has led to the discovery of a number of new drugs, and non-drug substances.