Herbal remedies and its effects: An ultimate overview

Herbal Remedies and its Effects- An overview

Abstract

Herbs have been used for thousands of years as natural medicines, natural does not always mean safe. Medicinal plants constitute a source of raw materials for both traditional systems of medicine (e.g. Ayurvedic, Chinese, Unani, Homeopathy, and Siddha) and modern medicine. All medicinal agents have potentially unexpected effects including toxicity and interactions, and herbs are no different. Nowadays, plant materials are employed throughout the industrialized and developing world as home remedies, over-the-counter drugs and ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry.
As such, they represent a substantial proportion of the global drug market. Especially in the developing country, depend on medicinal herbs as their main source of primary health care. Even though global herbal resources have a great potential as natural drugs and are of great commercial importance, they are very often procured and processed without any scientific evaluation, and launched onto the market without any mandatory safety and toxicology studies because there is no effective machinery to regulate manufacturing practices and quality standards. Policy and regulation in their use are two of the most sensitive aspects of developing and using plant-based medicines and health products. At present there is almost no policy worth its name to regulate the procurement and sale of medicinal plants in developing countries. Neither is the products derived from medicinal plants subject to control. This review highlights some of the herbal remedies and their use and effect in human and veterinary practices.