WELCOME

“Contribution of

medicinal plants to modern

medicine”

Presented by-

Bisshojit Biswas

Student of pharmacy,

[Bachelor of Pharmacy]Final year.

Course Name- Complementary

& Alternative Medicine.

Course Teacher-Rajia Sultana Niju

Senior Lecturer

Introduction:

Medicines refers to a preparation containing

therapeutic agents

Which is used in treatment

cure & mitigation of various diseases &

injuries

Medicinal plants:

Medicinal plant has similar properties as conventional

pharmaceutical drugs which have been used to cure or lessen

symptoms from an illness.

According to WHO, “A medicinal plant is any plant which, in one or

more of its organs, contains substances that can be used for

therapeutic purpose or which are precursors for the synthesis of

useful drugs.”

History: Medicinal plants have aided our survival

from ancient time.

Allopathic medicine has only existed for the last 2 centuries.

80% of the planet uses plants as their primary source of medicine.

In the records, the study of herbs dates back over 5,000 years to the sumerians.

History:The earliest mentioned medicinal use

of plant is found in Rig Vada ( 4500- 1600 BC).

In 1500 BC, the ancient Egyptian’s “Ebers papyrus” contain information on 850 plant medicine.

The first Chinese pharmacopeia appeared around 1122 BC .

Traditional Health SystemFor the treatment of majority of population in

developing countries. Medicinal plants are a feature of traditional health

system.

Medicinal Plants act as source of traditional medicine.

Ayurvedic SystemAyurvedic is the science of life. Ayurvedic medicine, which is a natural system of

treatment

The resin has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries to treat a variety of ailments

Medicinal plants in traditional health care:

Health care and botany have evolved as inseparable domains of human activity.

Medicinal plant products are still of paramount importance in traditional health care systems of developing countries.

E.g. Turmeric is being used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, skin cancer, small pox etc.

MEDICINAL PLANTS IN INDUSTRIALIZED SOCIETIES:

Chemical' drugs have largely replaced plant products in mainstream medicine.

Over 25% prescriptions in developed countries and 60% in eastern European countries uses products with higher plant constituents.

MEDICINAL PLANTS IN INDUSTRIALIZED SOCIETIES

anticonceptives, steroids

muscle relaxants

quinine and artemisinin

IMPORTANCE OF MEDICINAL PLANTS: Potential of the Plant kingdom to provide new drugs.

Finding of new medicinal plants which benefits the global community.

Adequate quantities of medicinal substances can be obtained from plant.

Has significant economic value.

BIODIVERSITY AND MEDICINAL PLANTS:• Rainforests contain no less than 60% of all higher

plant species.

• Plants have developed large numbers of chemical substances through evolution.

• They have highly complex molecular structures.

NEW DRUG DEVELOPMENT AS AN INCENTIVE: Natural drugs & medicinal plants yield important

economic returns.

The Pharmaceutical industry uses tropical rainforest as a source of chemicals for new drug development.

E.g. Research is being done over thousand of plant extracts from all over the world to find activity against cancer & HIV.

THERAPEUTIC PROGRESS: With the development of human knowledge, scientists

have isolated chemical constituents from plants.

Through biological & pharmacological tests, therapeutically active compound have been identified.

E.g. ancient use Datura plants have led to isolation of hysocine, atropine, cinchona bark to quinine & quinidine.

THE LIST OF THE PLANT DERIVED MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES:

The list of plant derived substances occurring is very long now.

E.g. drug like atropine, digoxin, L-dopa, papain, morphine, emetine etc. are also plant derived.

There are other plant derived substances that are used as drug or necessary component in many preparations. E.g. volatile oils, cardiac glycosides, camphor etc.

Drugs of plant origin used in modern medicine:

Effects of some medicinal plants: Marijuana:It has anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, insect repellent, antiseptic, antibacterial, expectorant, fever reduction, pain relief effects.

Poppy: It is an effective nervine. Give relief from nervousness & tension. Give relief from pain.

Effects of some medicinal plants: Blood Flower:It is a heart stimulant & worm expellant. Korean mint: It is famous for soothing headaches,

fighting nausea, calming the stomach, & reducing nervousness & fatigue.

It is a fairly effective antiviral.

MEDICINAL PLANTS IN BANGLADESH: Has more than 500 medicinal plant species. For example-

Plants contributions in the development of synthetic drugs:Novel structures of biologically active compounds helps the

chemist to synthesis similar or more potent semi synthetic compounds.

Synthetic drugs are often prepared by structural modification of biologically active plant derived compound.

Various derivates of plant constituents with similar pharmacological action prepared by chemist to be used as drugs.

Contributions of plant derived drugs in modern world:1) In USA, in 1980 alone, consumers paid 8 million dollar for the

prescription drugs in which the APIs were derived from plants.

2) 47% of some 300 million new prescriptions in America in 1961 contained, One or more active ingredients & one of them is of natural origin.

3) About 33% of the drugs produced in the developed countries are derived from plants.

4) More than 47% of all drugs used in Russia are obtained from botanical sources.

In The End:Many Pharmaceuticals have a long history of use of herbal remedies,

including opium, aspirin, digitalis

The population of Asia & African countries currently use herbal medicine as their primary source of medicine.

Herbal medicines are still popular because of their low cost &

availability.

Thank

you