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ABSTRACT The belief that herbal remedies are less invasive on the human body than conventional medicine and the return of the consumer to a more natural lifestyle, has led to the development of a multitude of remedies, with many different uses. Because the use of these herbal remedies has increased drastically in the last decade, it is essential that the quality and efficacy of these products are well regulated. One of the objectives in this study includes the investigation of the presence of marker metabolites in five herbal remedies, namely Serenoa repens, Silybum marianum, Hypericum perforatum, Echinacea purpurea and Gingko biloba. Although most of the brands tested contained the active ingredients assayed for, a few exceptions were found. However, because this study used only thin layer chromatography for analysis of products, verification of these results should be obtained using other more modern methods for example high pressure liquid chromatography. Four brands of Serenoa repens were selected and assayed for the presence of -sitosterol. All four brands tested indicated the presence of -sitosterol. Five brands of Hypericum perforatum were selected and assayed for the presence of hypericin, rutin and chlorogenic acid. Four of the five products tested indicated the presence of hypericin, while three of five products indicated the presence of rutin and chlorogenic acid. Five brands of Echinacea purpurea were selected and assayed for the presence of -sitosterol, chlorogenic and caffeic acid. Three of the five products indicated the presence of -sitosterol, while only one of the five products contained chlorogenic acid. Caffeic acid was present in 3 of the 5 products. Seven brands of Gingko biloba were selected and assayed for the presence of rutin and bilobalide. Five of the seven products indicated the presence of rutin and bilobalide. Four brands of Silybum marianum were selected and assayed for the presence of both taxifolin and sylibin. Only two of the four products contained both taxifolin and silybin. The second objective of this study is to provide a literature review of the five herbal remedies mentioned above. Amongst the topics discussed were uses of these plants, evidence from studies conducted, chemistry and mechanism of action of the active molecules contained in the plants.

This study aims to identify traditional medicines which people use in Babati District, Tanzania and to find out which direction the local use and knowledge of traditional medicine is taking in comparison with modern medicine (MM). It is a case study based both on primary and secondary sources. The primary information was gathered with the help of semi-structured interviews and shorter enquiries with people of all categories that use herbal remedies or visit bone fixers and with women that are supported by traditional midwifes. For simple health problems people use TM, for more complicated cases, they go to the hospital. A difference between Babati urban and rural inhabitants was noticed in the usage of traditional and modern medicine, but not between poor and rich people, opinions being slightly different. The Tanzanian government does not encourage the implementation of the TM in the modern medical system and as long as the young generation is not interested to learn the secrets of their parents‟ vocation, this knowledge is threatened by being forgotten. All the herbs used in TM will most likely find their way into the modern pharmacy; however because of the lack of documentation and statistics, it can take up to one hundred years. For this purpose, the gap between TM and MM has to narrow through a better collaboration between all the involved parts.

Naturläkemedel är ett område som väcker stort intresse idag och allt fler individer väljer att ta hand om sina åkommor på egen hand. Modern forskning visar på interaktioner mellan naturläkemedel och konventionella läkemedel. Eftersom naturläkemedel under lång tid uteslutande har använts i egenvårdssyfte har patienters användning av dessa produkter skett i stor utsträckning utan medverkan från den vanliga hälso- och sjukvården. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka sjuksköterskors inställning till och kunskaper om naturläkemedel. Studien är av kvalitativ design och är baserad på sex intervjuer med sjuksköterskor verksamma vid två ortopediska vårdavdelningar i Södra Sverige. Resultatet visade att behovet av ökade kunskaper om naturläkemedel hos sjuksköterskor är stort och att naturläkemedel är något som diskuteras i mycket liten omfattning inom sjukvården. / Herbal remedies is an area that arouses great interest today and more individuals choose to take care of their symptoms on their own. Modern research shows interactions between herbal remedies and conventional medicines. Since herbal remedies for a long time been used exclusively in self-care purposes, the patients use of these products are made largely without the participation of the ordinary health care. The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses attitudes towards and knowledge of herbal remedies. The design of this study is qualitative and is based on six interviews with nurses working in two orthopedic departments in southern Sweden. The results showed that the need for increased knowledge of herbal remedies among nurses is high and that herbal remedies are discussed in a very small scale in health care.

Yes / Objective To assess the quality, readability and coverage of website information about herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms. Study design A purposive sample of commercial and non-commercial websites was assessed for quality (DISCERN), readability (SMOG) and information coverage. Main outcome measures Non-parametric and parametric tests were used to explain the variability of these factors across types of websites and to assess associations between website quality and information coverage. Results 39 sites were assessed. Median quality and information coverage scores were 44/80 and 11/30 respectively. The median readability score was 18.7, similar to UK broadsheets. Commercial websites scored significantly lower on quality (p = 0.014), but there were no statistical differences for information coverage or readability. There was a significant positive correlation between information quality and coverage scores irrespective of website provider (r = 0.69, p < 0.001, n = 39). Conclusion Overall website quality and information coverage are poor and the required reading level high.

Student Number : 8707660F - MA research report - School of Literature and Language Studies - Faculty of Humanities / This paper considers the interaction between the process of producing a documentary video film ‘The Medicine Bag’ and an indigenous knowledge system from the Northern Cape where herbalists or traditional healers are known as ! aixa (Qaiga). These healers use indigenous plants and other raw materials, sounds, rubbing or massaging techniques, incisions and other methods to heal or to harm members of the community. The Schwartz family, Namas who hail from this region, have for many years passed the knowledge and the skills for healing on from generation to generation. For as long as the family can remember, members of each generation, specially gifted and interested in acquiring these skills, have been selected and trained to recognise and harvest medical plants, prepare medicines and apply the various skills required to heal the sick. The raw herbs, potions and medicines have been kept in a medicine bag, made from a tanned springbuck hide. Research for a documentary video to record oral accounts and practices attached to the medicine bag, revealed various themes related to the interaction between oral accounts and the process of recording and transcribing these narratives. These themes included the absence of a fixed storyline or a single ‘correct’ text as is often assumed when one engages with written literature; shifts in meaning that occur when the physical forms of the accounts change as each recording or re-editing acquires a ‘performative aura’ and issues such as the importation of cultural authority and resources on the participants, their active participation in the process of memory and archive creation as well as the impact of the process on the filmmaker/researcher that included an enriched understanding of the scope and possibilities of working with oral texts

Submitted by Socorro Pontes (socorrop@ufersa.edu.br) on 2017-05-12T12:16:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ThiagoGC_DISSERT.pdf: 3396774 bytes, checksum: f3817a3af241b189448e74cd442634c0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-12T12:16:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ThiagoGC_DISSERT.pdf: 3396774 bytes, checksum: f3817a3af241b189448e74cd442634c0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-30 / The jiboias (Boa constrictor) are tropical snakes that can present an average length of 3.5 m, occupying most of the Brazilian biomes. It is one of the most common snake species found in zoological collections in Brazil, being used as a tool for environmental and leisure education. The maintenance of these animals in captivity, associated with management errors, predisposes to the appearance of cutaneous lesions that, if not treated, can compromise the health and / or quality of life of these animals. Thus, the importance of identifying and developing the best agents for healing is hoped that they will be preferentially accessible and inexpensive, like some herbal medicines. This study followed the cicatrization of aloe vera, EB1 and EB2, gel and total leaf, respectively, in 12 jiboias (Boa constrictor), by means of macroscopic daily evaluations, for 40 consecutive days. Appearance of the wound in terms of color, gloss, crust formation and exudation. The obtained data evidenced differences in relation to the control group, demonstrating the effect of this phytotherapic on the cicatrisation / As jiboias (Boa constrictor) são serpentes tropicais que podem apresentar um comprimento médio de 3,5 m, ocupando a maioria dos biomas brasileiros. É uma das espécies de serpentes mais encontradas em coleções de zoológicos no Brasil, sendo utilizada como ferramenta de educação ambiental e lazer. A manutenção desses animais em cativeiro, associado a erros de manejo, predispõe ao aparecimento de lesões cutâneas que, se não forem tratadas, podem comprometer a saúde e/ou a qualidade de vida desses animais. Destaca-se assim, a importância de identificar e desenvolver os melhores agentes promotores da cicatrização, esperando que eles sejam preferencialmente de fácil acesso e baixo custo, como alguns fitoterápicos. Diante disso, este estudo acompanhou o efeito cicatrizante de extratos hidroalcóolicos da babosa (Aloe vera), EB1 e EB2, gel e folha total respectivamente, em 12 jiboias (Boa constrictor), através de avaliações macroscópicas diárias, durante 40 dias consecutivos, quanto ao aspecto da ferida em termos de cor, brilho, formação de crosta e exsudação, além de análises histológicas a cada 5 dias. Os dados obtidos evidenciaram diferenças em relação ao grupo controle, demostrando o efeito desse fitoterápico sobre a cicatrização / 2017-05-12

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Horticulture)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / Artemisia annua L. from the family Asteraceae is an annual medicinal plant and has been used to make herbal remedies in Asia for thousands of years. Artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone, isolated from aerial parts of Artemisia annua, with the highest concentrations being in flowers and leaves. In addition to potent anti-malarial activity, artemisinin possesses anti-cancer, anti-schistosomiatic, anti-hepatitis B, anti-HIV, anti-leishmanial and herbicidal activities. Low artemisinin production (0.01-2%) from A. annua is a major constraint in commercialisation of the drug for control of malaria. Worldwide, efforts have been underway to improve the concentration of artemisinin using conventional breeding, biochemical, physiological, molecular and hairy-root culture techniques, however all these methods are not economical. Cultural practices like spacing and pruning have limitation in improving artemisinin concentration and these may help in increasing the concentrations of artemisinin. Study was conducted at the experimental farm of the Agricultural Research Council – Vegetable and Ornamental Plants, Roodeplaat Pretoria. The objective of this study was to determine whether spacing, pruning and their interactions would have any effect on the concentrations of artemisinin, growth and yield of A. annua and whether drying methods would have an effect on the concentrations of artemisinin in A. annua. Since there was only one field trial, all sub-objectives were addressed at once (Chapter 3). Fresh seeds of A. annua were obtained from the ARC-VOP gene bank and sown in seedling trays in September 2014. Uniform eight-week-old seedlings were hardened-off, transplanted in November 2014 in 10 cm deep holes and then pruned ten weeks after transplanting. Treatments for Experiment 1, viz., 3 × 4 factorial experiment were laid out in a randomised complete block design, with four replications (n = 48). The two factors of the experiment were (a) spacing [0.5 × 1 m2 (standard: 0.50 m2), 0.5 × 0.7 m2 (small: 0.35 m2) 0.5 × 0.5 m2 (smaller: 0.25 m2) and 0.3 × 0.7 m2 (smallest: 0.21 m2)] and (b) pruning [no pruning (control), removing the apical bud and removing shoots three nodes from the bottom]. The plants were irrigated using overhead sprinklers system for two hours three times per week. Four readings for growth variables (plant height, stem diameter and chlorophyll content) were collected with one week interval. Plants were harvested after 180 days from planting, and leaves, stems and roots were separated weighed and oven dried at 40 ºC for 72 h. In Experiment 2 (drying methods), treatments, namely, 100% sun, 100% shade, 50% shade, freeze and oven drying were arranged in completely randomised design with four replicates (n = 20). The treatments were exposed for a week, to full sunlight, 50% shade-drying under a shade net that allows 50% light penetration, 100% shade under enclosed room at ambient (24-25 ºC) temperature, oven drying for 24 h at 40 ºC, and freeze-drying for three days. Freeze-drying had significant effect on artemisinin concentration of 1.941%. It was followed by oven (1.738%) and 100% shade drying (1.657%) and the lowest artemisinin concentration (1.412%) was obtained from 50% shade drying. The smaller spacing of 0.25 m2 in combination with apical bud removal had a significant effect on artemisinin concentration, producing artemisinin concentration of 0.193%. Spacing had a significant effect on stem diameter, fresh leaf mass and dry leaf mass but had no effect on plant height and chlorophyll content. Pruning had a significant effect on plant height and chlorophyll content and had no effect on stem diameter. The small spacing of 0.35 m2 had the highest fresh and dry leaf mass of 17.99 and 9.62 t/ha. The interaction of spacing and pruning had no significant effect on the growth and yield of A. annua. The results from this study suggested that cultural and processing practices may have direct effects in the concentration of artemisinin, growth and yield of A. annua. The results xiv provided some understanding on how agronomic and processing practices can be used to increase artemisinin content in A. annua and understand the interaction between different agronomic practices and thereby allowing the development of economic methods for A. annua post-harvest handling. Future work should focus on implementing various pruning techniques to trigger stress and indirectly secondary metabolites

No / Background Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance is a major public health challenge in sub-Sahara Africa. Many people are now resorting to the use of herbs in managing malaria due to the increasing treatment failures with the conventional drugs. In this study the ethanolic extract of Polyalthia longifolia (Sonn) Thw. var. pendula, a variety fondly used in folklore medicine in Ghana was investigated for potential antimalarial drug development. Method The ethanolic extract of P. longifolia (Sonn) Thw. var. pendula stem bark was screened against the multidrug resistant, K1 strain of P. falciparum by the parasite lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) assay and a good antiplasmodial activity (IC50 22.04 ± 4.23 µg/ml) was observed which led to further chromatographic analysis in search for actives. Results Bioassay guided fractionation of the extract yielded; three clerodane diterpenes [16-hydroxycleroda-3,13-dien-16,15-olide (1), 16-oxocleroda-3,13E-dien-15-oic acid (2) and 3,16-dihydroxycleroda-4(18),13(14)Z-dien-15,16-olide (3)], a steroid [beta-stigmasterol (4)] and two alkaloids [darienine (5) and stepholidine (6)]. While compounds 4, 5 and 6 exhibited weak antiplasmodial activity (IC50 22–105 µg/ml), the clerodane diterpenes exhibited significantly potent (p<0.005) blood schizonticidal activity (IC50: 3–6 µg/ml). This is the first report of the antiplasmodial activity of compounds 2 and 3. In combination assay with chloroquine, compounds 1, 2, 3 and 5 antagonized the antiplasmodial activity of chloroquine while 4 and 6 demonstrated a synergistic action. Conclusion The potent antiplasmodial activity of the extract of P. longifolia (Sonn) Thw. var. pendula and compounds therein strongly suggests its usefulness as an antimalarial agent and supports its inclusion or exploitation in formulations of herbal remedies for malaria in Ghana.

Sur près de 70 millions de personnes vivant avec l’épilepsie (PVE) dans le monde, 150 000 vivent au Pérou et 52 000 au Laos, avec un déficit de traitement (proportion de PVE qui ne reçoit pas de médicaments antiépileptiques adaptés), respectivement de 75% et 97%. Notre objectif principal était de caractériser l’utilisation des plantes médicinales dans la prise en charge de l’épilepsie. Les objectifs spécifiques visaient à : (i) faire l’état des lieux des connaissances sur les plantes médicinales utilisées comme antiépileptiques dans les pays d’Asie, d’Amérique Latine et d’Afrique, (ii) déterminer la place de la phytothérapie dans l’itinéraire thérapeutique des PVE (iii) évaluer l’efficacité pharmacologique d’extraits de plantes utilisées pour soigner l’épilepsie dans deux communautés rurales du nord du Pérou. D’abord, nous avons utilisé une approche bibliographique exhaustive de la littérature spécialisée. L’approche de terrain au Pérou et au Laos a combiné des outils épidémiologiques et ethnopharmacologiques. La troisième partie de ce travail était une étude pilote ayant pour objectif d’évaluer la faisabilité et la pertinence de réaliser des tests pharmacologiques de l’efficacité de plantes sur différents modèles d’épilepsie. Nous avons identifié 106 publications portant sur l’utilisation de plantes dans l’épilepsie(études réalisées entre 1982 et 2017). Sur le terrain, le pourcentage de recours aux remèdes à base de plantes était de 66,7% au Pérou et de 71,1% au Laos. Au total, 66 espèces végétales ont été citées par les patients et tradipraticiens au Pérou et 87 au Laos. Un effet antiépileptique potentiel avec les extraits de Valeriana officinalis et Melissa officinalis a été observé. La place de la médecine traditionnelle est telle dans l’itinéraire thérapeutique d’un patient épileptique qu’il serait intéressant qu’elle soit partie intégrante du système de soins. / Of the 70 million people living with epilepsy (PWE) worldwide, 150,000 live in Peru and 52,000in Laos, where the epilepsy treatment gap are respectively 75% and 97%.Our main objective was to characterize the use of medicinal plants in the management ofepilepsy. The specific objectives were: (i) to review the current state of knowledge onmedicinal plants used as antiepileptics in Asian, Latin American and African countries, (ii) to determine the place of phytotherapy in the therapeutic itinerary of PWE, (iii) to evaluate the pharmacological efficacy of plant extracts used to treat epilepsy in two rural communities in northern Peru.We first used a comprehensive bibliographic approach of the specialized literature. The field approach in Peru and Laos combined epidemiological and ethnopharmacological tools. The third part of this work was a pilot study to assess the feasibility and relevance of conducting pharmacological tests of plant efficacy in epilepsy models.We identified 106 publications on the use of plants in epilepsy between 1982 and 2017. Thepercentage of herbal remedies used was 66.7% in Peru and 71.1% in Laos. A total of 66 plant species were mentioned by patients and traditional healers in Peru and 87 in Laos. A potential antiepileptic effect with extracts of Valeriana officinalis and Melissa officinalis has been observed. The place of traditional medicine is such that it would be interesting if it were an integral part of the health care system.