A Review on Herbal Medicines Role in the Management of Various Chronic Diseases

Natural products, especially those derived from plants, have been used to help mankind sustain human health since the dawn of medicine. Traditional medicine has been in existence since time immemorial and has been well accepted and utilized by the people throughout history. Since ancient times, plants have been an exemplary source of medicines. Plant-derived medicinal products have attracted the attention of scientists around the world for many years due to their minimum side effects and positive effects on human health. In the pharmaceutical landscape, plants with a long history of use in ethnomedicine can be a rich source of substances for the treatment of various ailments and infectious diseases. Medicinal plants are considered a repository of numerous types of bioactive compounds possessing varied therapeutic properties. The vast array of therapeutic effects associated with medicinal plants includes anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antitumor, antimalarial, and analgesic properties. According to the World Health Organization a variety of drugs are obtained from different medicinal plants and about 80% of the world’s developing population depends on traditional medicines for their primary health care needs. A high frequency of scientifically unsupported uses of some herbal products that claimed to treat chronic conditions was found. A substantial proportion of patients did not inform their pharmacists about herbal products use, therefore to avoid any possible negative outcomes, better counseling and communication between patients and health care professionals is recommended.