An Examination of the Usage of Herbal Contraceptives and Abortifacients in Lagos State, Nigeria

A study on herbal contraceptives trade and usage in Lagos state of Nigeria was carried out using the research methods in Humanities and Arts through the means of questionnaire administered on some Lagos dwellers and the traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) who operate around markets in the metropolis and in the outskirts of the city. Lagos is the most populous state in Nigeria where all categories of Nigerians both literate and illiterate co-inhabit. The use of herbal birth control measures by Lagosians is popular because it has little or no side effect, it is cost effective, easily accessible and effective. Social and economic statuses of the people are no barrier to patronage. Most users are young women and the medicaments are usually preferred after sexual intercourse and before pregnancy. Names of the plants that are used and the recipes prepared therefrom are presented. Further pharmacological screening by other researchers into the reported plants is strongly suggested to ascertain or disprove the claims of the traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs)

Evaluation of Medicinal Herbal Trade (Paraga) in Lagos State of Nigeria

Herbal trade is on the increase in Nigeria in the recent times not only because it is cost effective but also because of easy accessibility and reported efficacy. Herbal medicines may be dispensed in refined ways by direct hawking, display in supermarkets and drug stores, and sometimes in hospitals and by crude means involving hawking directly to customers in various forms as ground powder, cooked decoction and concoction. The business is branded “paraga” in the parlance of the users. This complementary health care endeavour of the people encouraged the present study with the aims to evaluate the caliber of people that patronize it, the trend of incorporation of the approach into health care delivery system of the city and dispensing methodology

Leaf epidermal micromorphology of Beilschmiedia Nees (Lauraceae) from Africa

Leaf cuticular anatomy of the Beilschmiedia Nees group were studied for taxonomic purposes and species from America, Asia, and Australia were well represented, however species sampling from the Africa mainland was rarely sampled. Here we studied 14 species of Beilschmiedia from the Africa mainland using light and scanning electron microscopy. The leaves of all the studied species are hypo stomatic with paracytic stomata. The presence or absence of peristomatal ridges constitutes a distinctive character of taxonomic significance. Stomatal orientation is sunken, superficial or raised; lower stomatal ledges are narrow lipshaped and stomatal rim surface is smooth or rough. The anticlinal wall is uniformly straight and angular on the adaxial surface and curved, sinuous or undulate on the abaxial surface. Uniformity of thickness of the anticlinal walls is variable, beaded or not beaded, rarely buttressed or unevenly thickened. The periclinal wall is usually smooth or rarely punctate. Leaf micromorphological characters partially support the existing infra-generic classification that is based on macromorphology. This study provides supplementary data of leaf micromorphology for classification of the Beilschmiedia group. We confirmed the taxonomic usefulness of leaf epidermis characters to some extent in grouping of the African Beilschmiedia species, especially those of stomata