Herbal Medicine

The book is a sincere attempt to awaken the interest of students in this swiftly developing division of pharmaceutical education. The call for novel and useful compounds to provide assistance and relief in all aspects of the human condition is ever growing. In developing countries, the availability and affordability of modern medicines is limited. So, traditional medicines are still the mainstay of health care and most drugs come from plants. In this book, a basic overview and introduction to herbal medicines has been covered along with naturally active medicinal substances thatcan be premeditated for pharmacological studies. Further, the scope of ethnomedicines and reverse pharmacology approach for new drug candidates to facilitate drug discovery process and development of coherent synergistic botanical formulations has been discussed. The conventional and advanced techniques of extraction have been covered along with their applications and parameters for better extraction rate considering scientific aspects. The role of phytopharmaceuticals, global market scenarios of herbal cosmetics, certification schemes and regulatory framework have been covered. Nano herbal technology as an advanced herbal drug delivery stratagem has been emphasized. Ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharamacological profile of some important Indian and Malaysian medicinal plants and the role of phytomedicnes in wound healing, diabetes, antimicrobial studies etc. have also been conferred. The information regarding synergistic potential of herbal drugs with kamadhenu ark for treatment of a number of diseased conditions has been compiled. It is very much essential to explore herbal drugs as potent therapeutic agents through some novel drug delivery systems, which could maximize the healing properties of these molecules. This book is intended to serve for proper utilization of natural resources and tools in bio prospecting which may certainly help in discovering novel lead molecules from plants by employing modern drug discovery techniques and the coordinated efforts of various disciplines.