Herbal Medicine- A Rational Approach in Health Care System

Abstract

Medicinal herbs as potential source of therapeutics aids has attained a significant role in health system all over the world for both humans and animals not only in the diseased condition but also as potential material for maintaining proper health. Determining the biological (activity) properties of plants used in traditional medicine is helpful to the rural communities and informal settlements. Several scientific investigations are currently being undertaken to isolate the active compounds by bioassay-guided fractionation from the species that showed high biological activity during screening. A number of scientific investigations have highlighted the importance and the contribution of many plant families i.e. Asteraceae, Liliaceae, Apocynaceae, Solanaceae, Caesalpinaceae, Rutaceae, Piperaceae, Sapotaceae used as medicinal plants. Medicinal plants play a vital role for the development of new drugs. This article reviews some of the past and current successes of the herbal drug approach in prevention and treatment of various incurable and life threatening diseases.