- 1University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany s.kumar@kliniken-essen-mitte.de.
- 2University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Abstract
Traditional
Indian medicine (ayurveda) is becoming increasingly popular, with many
chronic conditions responding to it well. Most patients begin to take
conventional medications as soon as their diagnoses are made, so
ayurvedic treatments are usually undergone alongside and/or after
conventional medical approaches. A detailed knowledge of the action of
food, spices, and medicinal plants is needed in order to understand
their potential influence fully. While societal use of ayurvedic plants
and Indian spices is commonplace, without ill effect, the use of more
concentrated products made from single plants, often in the form of teas
or tablets, is of more concern. The mechanisms by which polyherbal
drugs and their extracts act differ in many respects from the actions of
single substances or synthetic drugs. Despite the fact that ayurvedic
medicines are based on natural herbal
materials, their safety depends on their method of administration,
taking into account individuals' needs and their specific disease
conditions.
© The Author(s) 2016.
KEYWORDS:
action of ayurvedic plants; ayurvedic pharmacology; ayurvedic polyherbal medicine; importance of ayurvedic plants
