Handbook on Herbal Drugs and its Plant Sources

India is a large repository of herbal drugs and become a big centre and fountain in the field of herbal therapy and beautification. Treatment through the herbs is very popular in the ancient time in Indian subcontinent and now approaching to new boundaries. Plants had been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history. It is becoming more main stream as improvements in analysis and quality control along with advances in clinical research show the value of herbal medicine in the treating and preventing disease. Herbal medicine is used to treat many conditions, such as asthma, eczema, migraine, etc. Medicinal plants have been used as a major source of therapeutic agents by human being for thousands of years. Ancient men obtained more than 90% of his medicaments from higher plants. However, the importance of plants as a source of drugs decreased to certain extent. In spite of the fact that synthetic drugs and antibiotics have improved the life expectancy of man, plants still constitute as one of the major sources of raw materials for drugs all over the world. Now a day people are very much aware of the ingredients in synthetic drugs, the benefits of plant products and harmful effects of chemical ingredients. Herbal drugs are in huge demand in the developed world for health care for the reason that they are efficient, safe and have lesser side effects. The formulations based on herbs are safe and effective. The major content of this book are an ancient drug for filariasis, tribal remedies against snake bite and scorpion stings in Rajasthan, traditional herbal contraceptives from North-West Uttar Pradesh, cervical spondylosis through herbal drugs, medicinal uses of cucurbits, traditional Chinese herbal drugs in the light of scientific studies, significant medical plant, medicinal and poisonous plants in history. This particular book clearly describes chemical analysis, the original source drugs, biological activity, herbal preparation of medicine, and many more. This book also contains description of more than 200 medicinal plants which is beneficial to scientists and scholars.