Beginning in December 2019, a novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, has caused an international outbreak of acute gasping illness. The rapid spread of COVID-19 was characterized as a widespread by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020. In the past, herbal medicine has played vital role in controlling infectious diseases. Clinical verification from a range of studies of herbal medicine in the treatment of coronavirus has shown significant results, and supported the idea that herbal medicine has an advantageous effect in the treatment and prohibition of pandemic diseases. Consequential effects of the combined therapy of herbal medicine with Western medicine were found, and disclose the prospective role of herbal medicine in treating COVID-19. Some types of Herbal therapies are used for COVID-19 treatment in the Hospitals such as:
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Allopathic therapy
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Antiviral treatment
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Antibiotic treatment
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Oxygen therapy
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Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy
Herbal medicine is a study of pharmacognosy that uses medical plants and their extracts for curing diseases whereas Ayurveda is old Hindu science of therapeutics that requires the use of medicinal plant extracts along with massages, metal extractions, etc. Ayurvedic herbs and spices are also an important element of this approach. It will protect your body from disease and provide a variety of health benefits, including mental health and improved digestion. Some Herbal Medicines are:
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Echinacea
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Ginseng
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Elderberry
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Turmeric
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Ginger
Traditional medicine (TM) is referred as “the sum total of practices, skills and knowledge based on the theories, experiences and beliefs earliest to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to diagnose, prevent, improve or treat mental and physical illnesses”. Holistic medicine referred as examine of the complete person, physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually in the prevention and management of disease. A holistic approach means that the doctor is instruct about a patient's whole life situation. Nutrition, homeopathy, exercise, prayer, meditation and acupuncture are other treatments that may be used together with conventional medicine as part of a holistic approach. Traditional and Holistic medicine may include:
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Acupuncture
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Ayurveda
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Homeopathy
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Naturopathy
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Chinese or Oriental medicine
Plant science is the term given to a range of research and scientific studies that inspect the species of land plant found on the earth. A plant science is the study of plants in all their forms and interactivity using a scientific approach. It includes seed production and modern crop improvement and students, retired experts in the concerned fields curricula on plant sciences which include the Seed Science & Technology, Genetics & Plant Breeding have been developed for acquisition. The plant species are:
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Field crops
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Fruits and vegetables
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Recreational and ornamental plants
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New crops
Plant pathology holds all characteristics of scientific and biological activity which are examined with understanding the complex phenomena of diseases in plants. Physiological plant pathology originates those specialities within plant pathology which concentrate on the biochemical and physiological actions of pathogens and on the response of host plant tissues. Physiological plant pathology assumed new outcome within the broader field of plant pathology. It also interfaces knowledge from other scientific fields such as
Ethnopharmacology is refers to the study of ethnic groups and their use of drugs. Ethnopharmacology focuses on the use of traditional medicine in local communities including its business applications. It is precisely linked to usage of plants, ethnobotany as this is the main delivery of pharmaceuticals. It is also often connect with ethno pharmacy. Many of the medicines we depend on today, from aspirin to morphine to the anti-cancer drug, Taxol were derived from plants. The cross-cultural study of medicines derived from naturally occurring substances like plants and fungi is known as Ethnopharmacology. Modern Ethnopharmacology embraces
Natural products are the source of therapeutic agents and have shown beneficial uses. Only natural product drug discovery plays a vital role to develop the scientific verification of these natural resources. Research in drug discovery needs to develop robust and viable lead molecules which advancing from a screening hit to a drug candidate through structural interpretation. The improvement of new technologies has revolutionized the screening of natural products in discovering new drugs.
Pharmacognosy is the branch involved with healthful medicine acquired from plants or alternative natural sources. It is also defined as the study of the chemical, physical, biological and biochemical properties of drugs. Drug substances which are emergence from natural sources. Phytochemistry is the study of phytochemicals in the plants and other natural sources. Phytochemicals are chemicals derived from plants. In other words the terms are often used to describe the large number of primary and secondary metabolic compounds found in plants. Pharmacognosy includes different branches such as:
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Medical Ethno botany
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Ethnopharmacology
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Phytochemistry
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Zoopharmacognosy
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Marine Pharmacognosy
Complementary medicine is a group of therapeutic and diagnostic disciplines that are used together with conventional medicine. CAM includes practices such as acupuncture, massage, and drinking green tea. It is the component for medical products and practices that are not branch of standard medical care. People with cancer may use CAM to help subsist with the side effects of cancer treatments, such as nausea, pain and fatigue. Types of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Mind–Body Therapies, Biologically Based Practices, Bio field Therapy, Manipulative and Body-Based Practices. Types of Complementary and Alternative Medicine:
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Mind–Body Therapies
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Biologically Based Practices
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Manipulative and Body-Based Practices
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Bio field Therapy
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Whole Medical Systems
Most of the drugs are derived from natural products found in sources including bacteria, plants and fungi as the discovery of these drugs. Drug invention from medicinal plants needs a multidisciplinary approach integrating botanical, biochemical, phytochemical, bioassay-guided and combinatorial chemistry fractionation approaches. Many plants are used as sources of pharmaceuticals and as ingredients of traditional medicines and are of value in new drug discovery. Artemisinin, camptothecin and taxol are examples of natural products which are undergoing clinical and commercial development.
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Antibacterial Drugs
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Anticancer Drugs
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Ant diabetic Drugs
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Chemical Entities and Medical Indications by Source of Compound
In the western world the use of medicinal herbs is frequently growing. Approximately 40% of the population is using herbs for medical illness due to increased incidences of injurious effects of allopathic medicine. Beside plants many salts, minerals, and animal products are used in Ayurvedic medicines. The homeopathic remedies are prepared by successive infusion followed by shaking forcefully. Homoeopathy uses animal, mineral, plant and synthetic substances in its medication.
Some of the Homeopathic medicines are:
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Arsenicum album
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Natrum muriaticum
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Thyroidinu
Traditional medicine in Asia and elsewhere frequently uses marine species, including corals and jellyfish, oysters, dried sponges, shells of crabs, conch and other mollusks, pearls and cuttlefish ‘bones’, sea cucumbers, sea horses and many other marine species to prepare ointments, powders, and decoctions for many ailments. Generally the drugs are obtained from the marine species of sponges, algae, virus, bacteria, and fungi. Compositions from marine sources are now being tested as treatments for chronic pain, asthma and various malignancies, including breast cancer.
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Sponges
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Corals
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Crustaceans
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Molluscs
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Fishes
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Turtles
A crude drug is any naturally arising, organic substance extracted from inorganic or organic sources such as plant, organs, bacteria, animal or whole organisms intended for use in the diagnosis, mitigation, cure, prevention or treatment of disease in humans or other animals. Crude drugs are vegetable that consist of natural substances that have undertaken only the processes of collection and drying. The term natural substances mention to those substances found in nature that have not had man-made changes made in their molecular structure. They are used as medicine for human being and animal, externally and internally for curing disease. Plant crude drugs have primary and secondary metabolites.
Primary metabolites:
Secondary metabolites:
Naturopathy is a form of healthcare that integrates modern treatment with traditional methods. It includes alternative, natural therapies to modern medicine. Naturopathy focuses on the body’s capacity to heal itself, preventing health problems and a personal responsibility to optimize health. Naturopathic treatment plans focus on education and prevention. They often emphasize diet, exercise, and stress management. It holds many therapies, including massage, herbs, acupuncture, exercise, and nutritional counselling. Naturopathy provides personalized care to every patient, the naturopath sees humankind as a holistic integration of body, spirit and mind.
Chiropractic technique is a type of therapy in which the hands are used to manipulate the spine or other parts of the body. Sometimes exercise, heat and ice relaxation techniques and other treatments are also used. Chiropractic therapy used for handle the conditions of a human, such as neck pain, back pain, headache and hand or foot problems and to improve overall health. It is one type of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
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Activator technique
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Gonstead technique
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Flexion distraction
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Diversified technique
The plant is the most used traditional medicines in China, mainly for restore the spleen, replenishing qi, and clearing away heat and toxic substances to treat diseases such as the weakness of the spleen and phlegm, stomach and coughs. The combinational method of artificial neural networks and genetic algorithm provides a valid and accurate strategy for optimizing and designing glycyrrhizic acid extraction from Glycyrrhiza glabra.
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Drug delivery system
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Quality control and standardization of drugs
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Herbal drug research and therapy
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Horbogenomics - A new discipline of herbal drug therapy
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Herbal drug interaction – A matter of great concern
Acupuncture is a healing practice in which thin needles are injected into the specific point of a human or animal body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience, the practices and theories of TCM are not based on scientific knowledge, and it has been distinguish as quackery. There is a range of acupuncture variants which derived in different philosophies, and techniques vary depending on the country in which it is performed, but can be divided into two main foundational philosophical approaches and applications. The first being the modern systemize form called eight principal TCM and second an older system or better known as the five elements or phases in the West.
Unani medicine is the term for Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as followed by Muslim culture in South Asia. According to Unani medicine, controlling of any disease depends upon the diagnosis of disease. Proper diagnosis depends upon monitoring the patient's symptoms and temperament. Unani, like Ayurveda, is based on theory of the existence of the elements in the human body.
Siddha medicine is a traditional system of healing and is considered as one of India's oldest medicine system. The Siddha system is based on a amalgamation of ancient medicinal practices and spiritual disciplines as well as mysticism and alchemy. In South India, Siddha is the mother medicine to the traditional Tamils or Dravidians.
Islamic medicine is also known as Arabic medicine. Islamic Medicine is depending on the four-element substitution which offers a completely consistent cosmology, physiology, physics, psychology and diagnostic and therapeutic science. Islamic medicine use natural resources and trade links provide to the strong development of pharmacy.
The theory of holistic nutrition is that someone’s health is an expression of the complex interplay between the mental and emotional, physical and chemical as well as spiritual and environmental aspects of one’s life. So one way to define holistic nutrition is the process of taking food into the body and consuming the nutrients in those foods based on the principle that everything is connected in some way. Holistic nutrition essential a whole-life approach where your food comes from when and where you eat, and what your food ate. Holistic nutrition also include a specific cultural theory like Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine or a specific diet such as ancestral foods, cleansing, raw foods, vegetarianism, or anti-inflammatory.
Medicinal plants are the key source of a life-saving medicine as medication, shades, aromas, sustenance added substance and pesticides for most of the world population. This molecular biology will play a important role in produce novel crop varieties with improves nutritional value, herbicides, resistance to a pest, diseases, pesticides, pollutants and adverse climatic condition. The Biotechnology mechanism will help to select, multiple, improve and analyses the medicinal plants. The utilization of nanotechnology for the treatment of various ailments by natural medications, including home-grown medication conveyance was present and developing nanotechnologies.
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Recent advances in Plant Biotechnology
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Micro propagation in Plants
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Green Plant Biotechnology
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Biomass, Biofuel and By product
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Plant reproduction and Development
The usage of traditional medicine presence in the developing as well as the developed countries with the increased expression of safety, quality, efficacy, availability, preservation, and further development problems of these herbal products. It has become more desired in today’s world in the need for natural medication,.
Future aspects of complementary medicines:
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Increment in plant cultivation
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Use of proper guidelines
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Handle carefully suspected adverse reactions
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Future of traditional medicine
During the past years, public interest in natural therapies named as herbal medicine has increased gradually not only in developing countries but mainly in industrialized countries. This has enlarge the international trade in herbal medicine vastly and has grab most of the pharmaceutical companies, including the multinationals. Until a few years ago, only small companies have shown their interest in the marketing of herbal medicines. But currently, most large multinational companies are interested in make marketable of herbal drugs. Steps for Quality control of Herbal products.
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Microscopic Evaluation
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Determination of Foreign Matter and Ash
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Determination of Heavy Metals and Pesticide Residues
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Determination of Microbial Contaminants and Aflatoxins
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Determination of Radioactive Contamination
Plants have to deal with radiation-activated damage (UV-light of sun, other natural radiation sources). Therefore, it is worth reflecting that radio protective mechanisms have developed during evolution of life. We hypothesize that natural products from plants may also protect from radiation damage caused as unfortunate side effects of cancer radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is a mainstay of cancer treatment since decades. Ionizing radiation (IR) is used for abolition of cancer cells and shrinkage of tumours. Some secondary substances from plants reveal radio protective features against cellular damage caused by irradiation.