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

(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

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/

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 compton.seaforth@utt.edu.tt or jennifer.paul@utt.edu.tt

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