cahmri newsletter - issue 5
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CaHMRI Newsletter - Issue 5TRANSCRIPT
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Celebrating the IYB
A major objective of the Herbal Medicine
Research Institute at UTT is to provide
sound scientific information about me-
dicinal plants and herbal remedies. The
intention is to enhance public awareness
about evidence-based herbal medicine;
but it is also to rescue the valuable oral
tradition of medicinal plant usage from
possible extinction among communities
across the Caribbean region.
The rich diversity of medicinal plants in
places like Trinidad and Tobago should
get full recognition especially in 2010.
This year has been declared by the United
Nations General Assembly as the Interna-
tional Year of Biodiversity (IYB); and it
is the goal of IYB to raise public aware-
ness of the importance of biodiversity and
the consequence of its loss.
It is estimated that 422, 000 flowering
plant species exist on Earth, and out of
these, over 50, 000 species are used for
medicinal purposes. A report from the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Or-
ganization, in 2002 co-authored by Sven
Walter, described a solid study of the im-
pact of cultivation and gathering of me-
dicinal plants on biodiversity, globally.
He noted the continuing growth in de-
mand for medicinal plant raw materials,
for use by communities and national gov-
ernments, in small- and large-scale proc-
essing industries, to produce chemical
drugs and botanical medicines.
In celebrating the IYB, it is just natural
for modern herbal research programmes
to encourage students to pursue projects
involving the establishment of herbal gar-
dens. Herbal gardens provide people with
opportunities for healthy recreation, and
they also serve to improve awareness and
education about the attributes of medici-
nal and aromatic plants and encourage the
conservation of biodiversity.
Inside this issue:
July, 2010 Volume 2, Issue3
C A R I B B E A N H E R B A L M E D I C I N E R E S E A R C H I N S T I T U T E
CaHMRI News
CELEBRATING THE IYB 1
WHAT IS HERBAL PHARMA-
COTHERAPY ABOUT? 2
THE STATUS OF MEDICINAL
PLANTS AND HERBAL REME-
DIES IN CUBA
3
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(D), or strong negative evidence (F). A small number of Caribbean herbs are
described in this book; so here are some
examples. On page 530, Sorrel (Hibiscus sab-
dariffa) is rated as Grade B:
Good scientific evidence (by
hypertension). For the dried calyx (floral parts), reported
safety data are limited, al-
though it is popularly used as a tea.
On page 320, Aloe (Aloe vera) is rated
as Grade B: Good scientific evidence (for constipation).
The latex contains anthraqui-
noid glycosides which are po-
tent stimulant laxatives. On page 260, it is stated that currently
clinical research is lacking on
the therapeutic effects of Noni (Morinda citrifolia)
On page 223, Karailee or Bitter Melon
(Momordica charantia) is rated as Grade C: Unclear or
conflicting scientific evidence
(for diabetes).
As the publishers of this book state,
“knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing”. Herbal pharma-
cotherapy is a new field of scientific en-
deavour, and it has spawned new informa-tion products, such as the Journal of
Herbal Pharmacotherapy and the Journal
of Dietary Supplements.
The popularity of herbal products has in-creased over the last decade. What are the
pharmacists reading to stay abreast of this
phenomenon, to stay competent as advi-sors about herbal medicines?
A new reference book on the subject, con-
sisting of 648 pages, was published earlier this year; and it claims to provide practical
guidance in the pharmacy setting on the
use of herbal therapies for medical condi-tions. The book is called “Natural Stan-
dard Herbal Pharmacotherapy – An Evi-
dence-Based Approach”, and it is made of contributions from over two hundred
healthcare professionals, supervised by
seventy-nine Editors, with Catherin Ul-
bricht as Chief Editor and Erica Seamon as Associate Editor. What is the “Natural
Standard”?
“Natural Standard Herbal Pharmacother-
apy” is an international research collabora-
tion, with “the mission to provide objec-tive, reliable information that aids clini-
cians, patients, and healthcare institutions
to make more informed and safer thera-
peutic decisions.”
The book is designed to be a teaching text
which aggregates the available safety data and concisely states the contra-indications
of each therapy, so that users can apply
their knowledge to patient care in real
time.
In this publication, the “Natural Standard
Evidence-Based Grading Scale” is de-scribed, and it is applied to categorize the
level of effectiveness for each herbal ther-
apy presented based on the available sci-entific research. According to this scale,
you will find that efficacy is graded as
strong (A), good (B), or with unclear or
conflicting evidence (C). Some herbs are also identified with fair negative evidence
What is herbal pharmacotherapy about?
Page 2
CaHMRI News
...“KNOWLEDGE AND
BEST PRACTICE IN
THIS FIELD ARE
CONSTANTLY
CHANGING”...
Aloe vera
Morinda citrifolia
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There is a rich tradition of popular
knowledge of medicinal plants, and there
is also broad use of them in Cuba. Some
1, 170 plant species are used in traditional
remedies, out of a total of about 8, 000
terrestrial plants found on the island.
These are the findings in an article pub-
lished this year by A.B. Crespo, on pages
153 through 165 in volume 9, issue 3 of
the Boletin Latinoamericano y del
Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aro-
maticas. In it, Crespo also refers to the
extensive information about Cuban me-
dicinal plants provided in the classic writ-
ings of John T. Roig and from the Na-
tional Advisory Commission on research
of medicinal plants in the Ministerio de
Salud Publica de Cuba .
The period of economic hardship in the
1990’s referred to as the ”Special Pe-
riod” in Cuba, marked the collapse of the
Soviet Union and the strengthening of the
economic embargo on Cuba by the U.S.
government. It was during this period that
various kinds of reforms were instituted
on the island; and, the previously pre-
dominant Western allopathic medical
system began to integrate “natural and
traditional medicine” (NTM) into all as-
pects of healthcare in Cuba. This fact was
described by Appelbaum and colleagues
in their article on “Natural and traditional
medicine in Cuba. Lessons for U.S. medi-
cal education”. Their article appears in
2006 volume 81, pages 1098 to 1103 in
Academic Medicine journal.
Several years ago, the NTM system had
been formed out of a mixture of contribu-
tions from the indigenous (the Tainos)
peoples, African slaves, Chinese immi-
grant labourers, and the later immigrants
from neighbouring Caribbean countries.
“The rich history, current state and possi-
ble future for natural and traditional medi-
cine (NTM) in Cuba” is discussed by
Lyndsay Stafford in 2010, in volume 85,
pages 40 to 49 in the HerbalGram jour-
nal.
In Stafford’s article it is stated that,
“herbal medicines are a significant part of
the national NTM system, as the island
produced three hundred metric tons of
more than one hundred different species
of medicinal plants in one hundred and
twenty-four ranches throughout the coun-
try” last year. Natural products (herbal
medicines) are manufactured by the State
in pharmaceutical production laboratories.
The status of medicinal plants and herbal remedies in Cuba
Page 3
Volume 2, Issue3
...THE ISLAND
PRODUCED THREE
HUNDRED METRIC
TONS OF MORE
THAN ONE HUNDRED
DIFFERENT SPECIES
OF MEDICINAL
PLANTS IN ONE
HUNDRED AND
TWENTY-FOUR
RANCHES
THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTRY”...
www.islandbrides.com/destination/Cuba/maps/12/
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Page 4
Volume 2, Issue3
FUTURE ISSUES will include:
*The role of the WHO herbal dictionary
*Zebafam is Ageratum conyzoides
*Herbs for the common cold season
*Legendary herbal aphrodisiacs
*What’s the use of a herbal pharmacopoeia?
To send us your comments
about this newsletter,
please contact;- The Herbal Institute at UTT at Tel: 1 (868) 640 0641 or [email protected] or [email protected]
Are there any comments about intellectual property rights? This subject was examined
also in Crespo’s 2010 article described above.
Concerning the issue of patent protection of pharmaceutical products based on Cuban
medicinal plants and other genetic resources was examined. The finding was that the
management of patents based on these resources in Cuba was regarded as poor, in spite
of the great wealth of medicinal plant diversity on the island.
cont’d from page 3