Traditional Medicine in Asia

Traditional Medicine in Asia
3500 plant genera but this tremendous
effort did not yield a single marketable
drug. 2 This has weaned major pharmaceutical
companies away from plant
research and instead made them go in for
synthetic drugs. In synthetic drug research,
once any innovative breakthrough
occurred, several “me-too” drugs flood the
market. Several examples can be given
about the success of this approach, such
as NSAID, ACE, inhibitor, B-lactamase
inhibitors, quinolones and B-blockers. This
has no doubt proved cost-effective.
In spite of what has been said above, it
must be emphasized that the ethnotherapeutic
use of traditional medicines
provides clues for searching for plant drugs,
identifying their active principles,
synthesizing their analogues, and leading
to their introduction in modern therapeutics.
The following Table (adapted from Sukh Deo,
254
1997) 2 gives examples of some important
remedies which are the result of such
investigative approach.
From the Table, it is evident that
traditional medicines offer investigative
leads to undertake further studies to assess
and establish their therapeutic utility in a
number of clinical conditions, especially
those diseases in which modern medicine
offers very limited therapy. In Ayurveda, for
example, there is a group of drugs called
“Rasayana” or life promoters or rejuvenators,
which can be investigated in terms
of modern physiological parlance, as antiinflammatory,
antioxidants, immunomodulators,
antiaging, etc. 8
Specific Screening Models
Experimental pharmacology offers several
screening models to screen crude or semi-
Table 2. Some plants with notable therapeutic activity (2)
Botanical name Probable therapeutic activity
Acorus calamus Tranquillizer
Asparagus racemosus Galactogogue: uterine sedative
Bacopa monnieri Improves memory
Boerhaavia diffusa Diuretic
Curcuma longa Anti-inflammatory
Phyllanthus niruri Hepatoprotective
Picrorrhiza kurroa Hepatoprotective
Celastrus paniculatus Immunomodulator, antioxidant
Ocimum sanctum Antistress
Gymnema sylvestre Hypoglycaemic
Momordica charantia Hypoglycaemic
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Hypoglycaemic
Plumbago zeylanica Antifertility
Commiphora mukul Hypolipidemic
Withania somnifera Tranquillizer, immunomodulator
Terminalia chebula Antiaging
Convolvulus microphyllus Neural regeneration and
synaptic plasticity
Panax ginseng Antifatigue, adaptogenic, antistress