Medicinal Animals and Plants as Alternative and Complementary Medicine in Southern Regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Background: Local communities use animals and plants as common traditional therapies for various diseases. The study aimed to document animals and animal-plant mixture recipes that are used as alternative and complementary medicine in southern regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Methods: The data were collected (2017–2018) in three remote areas (Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, and Lakki Marwat) through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with local inhabitants. Data on ethnomedicinal uses and cultural values of animal products or parts and their mixture with plants were analyzed using various indices such as frequency of citation (FC), informant consensus (FIC), and fidelity level (FL) to find the highly preferred species in the area.Results: A total of 185 informants (117 females and 68 males) were interviewed. The study documented 32 animal species, vertebrates (n = 24) and invertebrates (n = 8), for curing 37 types of diseases. Mammals (n = 13) were among the most commonly utilized species followed by birds (n = 8), arthropods (n = 7), reptiles (n = 2), and fishes and annelids (n = 1 each). Among the reported animals, Herpestes edwardsi (mongoose), Macaca mulatta (monkey), Labeo rohita (rohu), Oryctolagus cuniculus (rabbit), and Streptopelia decaocto (dove) were the newly reported species used as alternative medicine. The meat of Capra hircus (goat), monkey, and rabbit was used to treat chronic diseases such as hepatitis C, cancer, epilepsy, and asthma. A total of 17 plants belonging to 15 botanical families were used in combination with animal parts/products. The commonly used families were Piperaceae (31%) followed by Apiaceae (27%). The notable plant species in combination with animal products were Curcuma longa, Piper nigrum, Coriandrum sativum, Brassica rapa, and Phoenix dactylifera. Seeds were the highest used part in animal-plant mixture recipes. Gallus gallus (chicken) and Columba livia (pigeon) secured the highest (FC = 28) and (FL = 80%), respectively. FIC results had shown the highest degree of consensus for general body weakness (FIC = 0.88) and pyrexia (FIC = 0.86).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that local communities in the southern regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have substantial knowledge about the formulation of ethnomedicines from both flora and fauna that need urgent documentation to avoid eroding and for conservational purposes. The newly reported phytozootherapeutic recipes and animal species can potentially be a source of pharmacologically active constituents and should be checked experimentally for further confirmation.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF RAJASWALA CHARYA IN RELATION WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD) IN CHILDREN - A SURVEY STUDY

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD is the commonest neurological disorder that affects the behaviour of children.1 World Health Organization put forth that, mental disorders are to shoot up by 50% in 2020 at international level. Indian studies rate the psychopathology among children as 5-15% and ADHD has the highest incidence among all the other developmental disorders2. There is no disease by the name ADHD described in Ayurveda, but some conditions of abnormal behaviour can be screened from Ayurvedic literature like Anavasthita Chittatva3, Manovibhrama4, Buddhivibhrama5, Smritivibhrama 4, Sheelavibhrama6 Cheshtavibrama7, and Acharavibhrama. It is found that emergence of the ADHD does not follow a single responsible factor7 and thus a single line of treatment does not cure it7,2. The prevalence of ADHD is increased recently, and people started turning to alternative and complementary medicine especially Ayurveda, it is worthwhile to understand the probable aetiology to prevent the emergence of disease. It is known that the Rajaswala period is the largest and most important period among women's life and need to be healthy in this phase to have a better progeny. But in the present era, women are in hurry to reach the mainstream of society and under much physical and mental stress ends up with lack of care on their health even during menstruation which may lead to ill effect in later life8. This study is to put light on the importance of following regimens and avoiding Apathyas especially during menstruation explained in Ayurvedic classics concerning ADHD. Keywords: Rajaswala, ADHD, paricharya

An account of alternative and complementary medicine and its scope in a clinical scale

Background: Alternative medicine is the practice of using alternative therapies as treatment modalities and complementary medicine is their inculcation with conventional medical practices. The purpose of this article was to judge people’s perception of these practices and assess societal attitude towards alternative and complementary medical practices.Methods: A survey was conducted among non-medical professionals to assess their attitude towards alternative medicine. They were asked questions with multiple choices to choose from in order to grade their attitude towards and comprehension of alternative and complementary medicine. The questions were designed in a way so as to demand responses ranging from their last visit to an alternative medical therapist to their reason for their visit and their experience.Results: It was observed that most people surveyed were aware of the difference between conventional and complementary medicine but usually visited an alternative therapist without consulting their physician. It was documented that most people were misguided about the actual benefits of complementary medical practices and a majority of the surveyed population chose either alternative medicine or conventional medicine but very few were willing to integrate the two.Conclusions: Alternative medicine is extremely beneficial when used in tandem with conventional medicine and provides numerous benefits. Its use and propagation however must be strictly monitored in order to prevent quackery and the spread of misconceptions regarding its effects.

Global naturopathy research as reflected by Scopus during 2000-2019

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze research output in the naturopathy field at the global level and to examine the various trends in scientific literature available on naturopathy using bibliometric analysis. Design/methodology/approach The data was collected from the SciVerse Scopus database published from 2000 through 2019. The search was conducted using Medical Subject headings entry terms, i.e. “Naturopathy” OR “Naturopathic Medicine” using the “Document” search option. The search results comprised of documents that had these above search terms in their article title, abstract and keywords. The retrieved documents were then analyzed concerning different parameters like the growth of publications, authorship patterns, productive countries and institutions, highly cited papers, top prolific authors, funding agencies and document types. Findings The results of this study reveal that a total of 1,099 documents were published during 20-year time span. The most preferred publication type is research articles 683 (62.14%). Germany, USA, Australia, India and Canada were the most productive countries in terms of the number of scientific documents. The findings also show that the most preferred journal in the field of naturopathy is MMW Fortschritte der Medizin, with 115 documents followed by Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine with 58 documents. In contrast, the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine had the highest citations per paper (17.85). For the 20-year study period, the average value for the degree of collaboration was calculated as 0.57, indicating 54% of the total publications in naturopathy were multi-authored. The value of the collaboration coefficient (CC) signifies the levels of multi-authored papers. CC was highest in the year 2019 (0.55) indicating that the publications were contributed in collaboration rather than in isolation and the number of multi-authored/mega-authored papers outnumbered the single authors in the collection of all authors in the year 2019. Bastyr University, USA was the most productive Institution. Journal articles were the most preferred form of publication. Practical implications This study traces various trends in the research behavior and preferences of researchers in the field of naturopathy. It thus can be of immense help to identify strong areas in naturopathy research. Further, this study will help the librarians to identify the core/preferred journals in naturopathy. Originality/value This paper makes an endeavor to carry an extensive bibliometric study that provides an overview of emerging trends in naturopathy research.

Effects of Propolis on Infectious Diseases of Medical Relevance

Infectious diseases are a significant problem affecting the public health and economic stability of societies all over the world. Treatment is available for most of these diseases; however, many pathogens have developed resistance to drugs, necessitating the development of new therapies with chemical agents, which can have serious side effects and high toxicity. In addition, the severity and aggressiveness of emerging and re-emerging diseases, such as pandemics caused by viral agents, have led to the priority of investigating new therapies to complement the treatment of different infectious diseases. Alternative and complementary medicine is widely used throughout the world due to its low cost and easy access and has been shown to provide a wide repertoire of options for the treatment of various conditions. In this work, we address the relevance of the effects of propolis on the causal pathogens of the main infectious diseases with medical relevance; the existing compiled information shows that propolis has effects on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, protozoan parasites and helminths, and viruses; however, challenges remain, such as the assessment of their effects in clinical studies for adequate and safe use.

Attitudes Toward Psychological Disorders and Alternative Medicine in Saudi Participants

Background: This study was designed to investigate Saudis' attitudes toward mental distress and psychotropic medication, attribution of causes, expected side effects, and to analyze participants' expectations toward alternative or complementary medicine using aromatic and medicinal plants, through a survey.Method: The study included 674 participants (citizens and residents in Saudi Arabia) who were randomly contacted via email and social media and gave their consent to complete a questionnaire dealing with 39 items that can be clustered in six parts. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square for cross-tabulation were generated using SPSS.Results: Among the 664 participants, 73.4% believed that there are some positive and negative outcomes of psychotropic medication. Participants (72.0%) think that the most important reason leading to psychological disorders is mainly due to the loss of a relative or beloved person, and 73.9% considered psychic session as one of the possible treatments of psychological disorders. Surprisingly, only 18.8% of the participants agreed that medicinal and aromatic plants could be a possible treatment of the psychological disorder. Participants (82%) consider that physicians are the most trustful and preferred source of information about alternative and complementary medicine.

Review on biological activities in medicinal plants of acanthaceae family

Acanthaceae is popularly known as acanthus family which belong to mint order – lamiales. They are distributed from tropics to a temperate region such as India, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Brazil, Central America and Africa. Most members of this family are therapeutically important since they are in the up to date usage by ethnic communities. Andrographis paniculata, Clinacanthus nutans, Graptophyllum pictum, Hemigraphis alternata, Justicia gendarussa and Strobilanthes Crispus are some of the medicinal plants of Acanthaceae family. These plants are recognized for their biopharmaceutical potential usage in traditional medicine. These plants have a plethora of phytochemical compounds such as flavonoids, phenolic compounds, glycosides, terpenoids, benzenoids, quinine, triterpenoids and naphthoquinone present in various parts of the plant that plays a vital role in drug industries. The pharmacological properties of these plants such as anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritis, hepatoprotective, anti-viral and anti-hypertensive are in general practice as an alternative and complementary medicine in both ethnobotanical and pharmacological fields. This article encompasses not only the comprehensive survey based on the electronic resources, scientific journals but also the books that summarize the botanical, phytochemical properties of these plants and also accentuate their significant role in both ethnobotanical and pharmacological fields. It is felt that this article would provide more insight into the health benefits of some plants of the Acanthaceae family.

Review on biological activities in medicinal plants of acanthaceae family

Acanthaceae is popularly known as acanthus family which belong to mint order – lamiales. They are distributed from tropics to a temperate region such as India, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Brazil, Central America and Africa. Most members of this family are therapeutically important since they are in the up to date usage by ethnic communities. Andrographis paniculata, Clinacanthus nutans, Graptophyllum pictum, Hemigraphis alternata, Justicia gendarussa and Strobilanthes Crispus are some of the medicinal plants of Acanthaceae family. These plants are recognized for their biopharmaceutical potential usage in traditional medicine. These plants have a plethora of phytochemical compounds such as flavonoids, phenolic compounds, glycosides, terpenoids, benzenoids, quinine, triterpenoids and naphthoquinone present in various parts of the plant that plays a vital role in drug industries. The pharmacological properties of these plants such as anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritis, hepatoprotective, anti-viral and anti-hypertensive are in general practice as an alternative and complementary medicine in both ethnobotanical and pharmacological fields. This article encompasses not only the comprehensive survey based on the electronic resources, scientific journals but also the books that summarize the botanical, phytochemical properties of these plants and also accentuate their significant role in both ethnobotanical and pharmacological fields. It is felt that this article would provide more insight into the health benefits of some plants of the Acanthaceae family.

Neurotherapy Intervention: A novel approach of healing

Background: Neurotherapy is an alternative and complementary medicine originated in India. It is drugless holistic treatment founded and developed by Sh. Lajpatrai Mehra respectfully called “Guruji” by using ancient knowledge of ‘Nadi Vigyan’ (knowledge of nervous system), Ayureveda and principles of Anatomy and Physiology. Summary: t uses the finding of medical physiology but views them from a uniquely and refreshing approach, one that negates the use of medicines or drugs. Supported by basis of physiology, Dr. Lajpatrai Mehra (Guruji) has combined these palpations with symptoms and related them with various health conditions. Key message: The therapy acts on root-cause of the disease. It uncovers the root cause of the disease and cures the same in a sophisticated manner without the use of drugs or medication. It is simple therapy with potential to normalize or revive the functioning of the organs