Prospects and Challenges of Medicinal Plants Conservation and\ud Traditional Medicine in Tanzania

A qualitative study was carried to assess prospects and challenges of medicinal plants conservation and\ud traditional medicine in Tanzania. The study shows that TRM and medicinal have great prospects in healthcare\ud delivery worldwide. These prospects have more impact in developing countries where 70%-80% of population used\ud TRM for Primary Healthcare (PHC). It is reported that 25% of prescribed drugs in conventional healthcare were\ud derived from their ethnomedicinal use in TRM. Medicinal plants still provided hope for discovery of new drugs for\ud the resistant diseases and those that were not treated by conventional prescribed drugs. Traditional medicine and\ud medicinal plants were faced with challenges notably; threats due to increasing depletion of the natural resource\ud as an impact of population increase, urbanization, modernization of agriculture and climatic change. There was\ud erosion of indigenous medical knowledge as most of the traditional health practitioners were aging and dying, while\ud the expected youths to inherit the practice shy away from practice. The youths in rural settings who were willing\ud to practice some of them die because of AIDS. The other major challenges on traditional medicine and MPs were\ud constraints and include lack of data on seriously threatened and endangered medicinal plant species. Others include\ud inadequate and conflicting guidelines on management and utilization of natural resources, especially medicinal\ud plants. Efforts for scaling up the practice of TRM and medicinal plant conservation have been suggested. These\ud were creating awareness of the importance traditional medicine and medicinal plants in healthcare; training THPs\ud on good practices for provision of healthcare; conserving medicinal plants through in-situ and ex-situ programs and\ud sustainable harvesting of medicinal plants resources and training conventional health workers on the contribution\ud of TRM and medicinal plants in PHC. Traditional health practitioners, TRM and medicinal plants should be essential\ud components in PHC in order to meet the health millennium goals by 2025

Multimedia-based Medicinal Plants Sustainability Management System

Medicinal plants are increasingly recognized worldwide as an alternative source of efficacious and inexpensive medications to synthetic chemo-therapeutic compound. Rapid declining wild stocks of medicinal plants accompanied by adulteration and species substitutions reduce their efficacy, quality and safety. Consequently, the low accessibility to and non-affordability of orthodox medicine costs by rural dwellers to be healthy and economically productive further threaten their life expectancy. Finding comprehensive information on medicinal plants of conservation concern at a global level has been difficult. This has created a gap between computing technologies’ promises and expectations in the healing process under complementary and alternative medicine. This paper presents the design and implementation of a Multimedia-based Medicinal Plants Sustainability Management System addressing these concerns. Medicinal plants’ details for designing the system were collected through semi-structured interviews and databases. Unified Modelling Language, Microsoft-Visual-Studio.Net, C#3.0, Microsoft-Jet-Engine4.0, MySQL, Loquendo Multilingual Text-to-Speech Software, YouTube, and VLC Media Player were used. Keywords: Complementary and Alternative Medicine, conservation, extinction, medicinal plant, multimedia, phytoconstituents, rural dweller

Diversity of plant-parasitic nematodes on medicinal plants in Melinh station for biodiversity, Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam

Plant-parasitic nematodes are known as one of the most important pests attacking various plants in the world, and investigating the nematode component is very essential for management of this pest and prevent damage to plants in general. Our survey of plant-parasitic nematodes on medicinal plants in Melinh Station for Biodiversity, a place for conservation of precious plants and animals in Vietnam, identified ten species that belong to nine genera, five families, and two orders of plant-parasitic nematodes parasitizing six medicinal plants. Excoecaria cochinchinensis was parasitized by the highest number of nematode genera (5 genera, including Xiphinema, Discocriconemella, Meloidogyne, Helicotylenchus, and Hemicriconemoides), while Hymenocallis littoralis was associated with the highest number of plant-parasitic nematodes (2060 nematodes/250g soil). The results also showed that Discocriconemella limitanea was found to be a dominant species with the highest number of individuals on 6 medicinal plants, and the genus Helicotylenchus had the highest frequency of appearance (5/6 plants or 83.3%). These nematodes caused symptoms such as yellowing leaves, root galls, and root lesions, which directly affect the quality and yield of medicinal plants. Based on the results, this study showed that plant-parasitic nematodes are a potential threat to the cultivation of medicinal plants in Melinh Station for Biodiversity, and thus, control measures should be applied to ensure sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants in this place

Medicinal Plants in Pregnancy and Lactation: Perception of the Health Risk and Practical Educational Group in Araraquara, São Paulo State, Brazil

The use of medicinal plants among pregnant women and lactating is a common practice in diverse countries. However, many medicinal plants are contraindicated during pregnancy and lactating, due to various adverse effects, such as teratogenic, embryotoxic and abortive effects, exposing these women, their fetus and babies to health unknown risks. Thus, the purpose of this commentary, was to analyze the perception about the use of medicinal plants by pregnant women and lactating registered in the "baby on board" NGO, Araraquara, São Paulo state, Brazil, between 2010 at 2013. The group was constituted by 48 women, between the first and last trimester of pregnancy or whilst breastfeeding. Information was collected during group meetings by oral interview, using a questionnaire, as script. The nature of the study was a qualitative analysis. The results were based on reports about the use of medicinal plants by pregnant women during group meetings: use, indication of use, knowledge about risks. All participants received written and oral information about the study and they gave a written informed consent. The use of medicinal plants is a reality among pregnant and lactating women of the "baby on board" NGO. They reported that they feel that "natural" products are not harmful for their health. The primary information sources for the majority of women about medicinal plants during pregnancy are family, neighbors and herbalists. The plants most cited were: senna, chamomile, boldo, lemon balm, lemon grass. They were used mainly for: nausea, heartburn, indigestion, flatulence, intestinal and abdominal pain, anxiety, intestinal constipation and low milk production. The pregnant and lactating women lacked knowledge about the health risks of the use of medicinal plants and herbal medicines in pregnancy and lactation. They also reported difficulties in clarifying some questions about the use of medicinal plants with their doctors. The results of the present study showed that educative actions about the rational use of medicinal plants in pregnancy and breastfeeding could be part of the operating protocols to promote the maternal and child health programs in Araraquara. Thus, our results also suggest the importance of creating institutionalized places, to the implementation of continued education programs about rational use of medicinal plants in pregnancy and lactation. These targeted programs are not only for health professionals, but also for community members, pregnant women and breastfeeding. Our results pointed out the importance of guidance of doctors and healthcare professionals on the scientific studies about medicinal plants and herbal medicines and the risk/benefit of using herbs during pregnancy. Finally, it is noted the importance of the health professionals to inform women of childbearing on risks to their health, as well as on possibilities of utilization of herbs during fertile period, giving special attention to the potential risk of self-medication

Neuro-electronic technology in medicine and beyond

This dissertation looks at the technology and social issues involved with interfacing electronics directly to the human nervous system, in particular the methods for both reading and stimulating nerves. The development and use of cochlea implants is discussed, and is compared with recent developments in artificial vision. The final sections consider a future for non-medicinal applications of neuro-electronic technology. Social attitudes towards use for both medicinal and non-medicinal purposes are discussed, and the viability of use in the latter case assessed

Herbal medicine : two sides of the coin

A Herbal Medicinal Product (HMP) may be classified either as a herbal with a Well-Established Use/s (WEU) or a Traditional Herbal Medicinal Product (THMP). It status primarily depends on the toxico-pharmacological profile and the way the product is presented on the marketpeer-reviewe

Medicinal use of cannabis: background and information paper

Provides an overview of what is known about medicinal cannabis use in Australia, the current state of the scientific and medical evidence for its use, and problems with the current situation in Australia. Introduction The use of any medication should be based on the clinical evidence of safety and efficacy. To know whether cannabis should be used medicinally, we need to know whether cannabis is a safe and effective treatment for particular conditions, whether it is associated with significant adverse effects, and how it compares to other treatments for those specified conditions. There are a number of different pharmaceutical cannabis products as well as crude cannabis which can also be administered in a range of ways. However, at present, the evidence on the medicinal uses of most cannabis products is incomplete. In addition to the question of therapeutic effectiveness, using cannabis for medicinal purposes raises legal, regulatory, and other practical issues. If the evidence does support medicinal use of cannabis, enabling patient access raises complex issues of supply and its organisation within the usual processes of the healthcare system, as well as issues of legally distinguishing medicinal from non-medicinal usage. While these questions and issues continue to raise debate, in Australia there are currently people using illicit cannabis for medicinal purposes. Potentially this means possibly seriously ill patients are being exposed to the risks associated with engaging with an illicit market, including arrest and prosecution, and the resultant stress and worry. Some argue that patients are being blocked from accessing a product which could be beneficial, by the legal status which is actually aimed at prohibiting non-medicinal, rather than medicinal use. They believe this is itself problematic. Yet, despite continued media and government attention over the last few decades, the current state of the evidence, combined with the legal and regulatory difficulties, continue to prohibit any progress in addressing this issue. The paper provides an overview of what is known about medicinal cannabis use in Australia, the current state of the scientific and medical evidence for its use, and problems with the current situation in Australia. We then explore some current responses. Given the complexities of this issue we are not yet seeking to provide specific guidance on how to resolve the problems, but rather to identify areas that require further action or investigation. To achieve this, there is a need to disentangle medical and scientific questions from legal and ideological ones in considering whether and how medicinal cannabis should be used in Australia. This is difficult to achieve, since the range of acts and regulations that control non- medicinal uses of cannabis will necessarily impact on medicinal use. In this background paper we seek to begin disentangling these issues. Whilst the background paper includes a discussion of laws aimed at the control of non-medicinal cannabis use, the ANCD takes no view on issues of legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis for non-medicinal purposes.   &nbsp

Medicinal Garden in Peru

Charlotte Trowbridge \u2710 and Josh Ness \u2711 dug in and got their hands dirty when they led a binational team effort to create a medicinal garden at the ancient Chimu site of Chan Chan, Peru, last summer

Research Reports from the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project, Volume Three

Table of Contents : Archaeological Investigations of the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project: An Introduction to Volume Three / by Fred Valdez, Jr. and Rissa M. Trachman (p.1-6) -- Mount Allison University: The 2008 Archaeological Program in Northwest Belize / by Grant Aylesworth and Brent Suttie (p.7-14) -- Excavations (2008) at the Los Pisos Courtyard, La Milpa, Belize / by Maria Martinez (p.15-34) -- Investigations (2008) at La Milpa, Belize: Plaza A, Structure 4 / by Rissa M. Trachman (p.35-40) -- An Overview of Archaeological Investigations at Plaza B, La Milpa: The 2008 Field Season / by Brett Houk, Débora Trein, and Gregory Zaro (p.41-60) -- Excavations at La Milp, Belize: Structure 22 / by Gregory Zaro (p.61-70) -- Overview of the 2008 Excavations at Structures 23 and 27, Plaza B, La Milpa, Belize / by Antonio Padilla and Shannon M. Smith (p.71-80) -- Preliminary Investigations East and West of the Acropolis, La Milpa, Belize: The 2008 Field Season / by Brandon S. Lewis (p.81-84) -- The 2008 Field Season at Group A of the Medicinal Trail Site, Northwestern Belize / by David M. Hyde (p.85-96) -- A Late Preclassic Burial at Medicinal Trail: Excavation and Analysis of Burial 3 / by Angeliki Kalamara Cavazos (p.97-110) -- Group B of the Medicinal Trail Site: Select Excavations at Operation 12 / by Deanna M. (p.111-114) -- Group B of the Medicinal Trail Site: Operation 12 (Lots A, Q, and R) / by Lauri McInnis Martin (p.115-120) -- Operation 15: Berm Structures and Water Management at Medicinal Trail (RB 62), Belize / by Erin E. Gill (p.121-126) -- Medicinal Trail Archaeology: Investigations at Operation 13 / by Maia Dedrick (p.127-142) -- Excavations at the Medicinal Trail Site (2008): Operation 14 / by Madelyn Percy (p.143-144) -- RB 70: The 2008 Investigations (p.145-148) -- Excavations at La Milpa Easts and the Aguada Lagunita Elusiva: The 2008 Field Season / by Estella Weiss-Krejci (p.149-168) -- Plan for Phase Two Research at Wari Camp (RB 56): Household, Neighborhood, and Ward in the Prehispanic Maya City / by Laura Levi (p.167-176) -- Experimental Pottery Studies in Belize / by Sharon Hankins (p.177)Texas Archeological Research Laborator