An inventory of medicinal plants that the people of Nandi use to treat malaria.

An inventory of medicinal plants that the people of Nandi use to treat malaria.

In Kenya, most people use traditional medicine and medicinal plants to treat many diseases

including malaria. Malaria is one of the major diseases burden worldwide affecting more

than 90 countries inhabited by 2.4 billion people (40% of the world’s population). In Kenya,

it is an endemic disease affecting more than 4 million people with the highest incidences

being recorded in the Rift valley, Western, Central and Eastern provinces. It threatens the

life of around 25 million out of the country’s total population of 39 million people. It is of

national concern in view of development of resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum to

drugs. There is need for alternative and affordable therapy. Many antimalarial drugs have

been derived from medicinal plants traditionally used to treat malaria by the Nandi

community. An ethnomedicinal study was conducted on the use of medicinal plants for

treatment or prevention of human ailments by Nandi people. Semi-structured

questionnaires were used. Data were mainly collected through individual interviews

conducted with selected knowledgeable professional healers. Plants were collected, pressed,

dried, preserved, mounted and identified through available literature and voucher

specimens at the University of Nairobi and Kenya National Museum Laboratories. Forty

four (44) species in 40 genera and 27 families were encountered during the study. Labiatae,

Euphorbiacea and Compositae families represented the species most commonly cited.

http://www.m.elewa.org/JAPS/2011/9.3/4.pdf

Comments

More Than 50 Herbal Medicines Hold Possibility for Cancer Cure

More Than 50 Herbal Medicines Hold Possibility for Cancer Cure Researches explore the probability of some Chinese herbal medicines to be effective ingredients in making anticancer drugs. (Photo : Getty Images ) Medical experts and nutritionists have long acknowledged that fruits and vegetables contain anticancer properties. Mother Nature seemingly holds another key for cancer prevention and treatment . Chinese scientists learned that 57 kinds of medicinal plants commonly used in creating traditional Chinese medicine have anticancer components, reported Xinhua. Dai Shaoxing from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing, however, said that additional research should be conducted to determine their full potential to cure cancer. The fruit of the medicinal plant Siraitia grosvenorii , for one, contains mogrosides, whose extract--the natural compound mogroside V--was tested for its antitumor effect and its probable capability to treat pancreatic cancer, accor...

Date palm, bitter kola, zobo top local herbal ‘cures’ for Yuletide blues

Date palm, bitter kola, zobo top local herbal ‘cures’ for Yuletide blues T 0 Comments Today is Christmas. The Yuletide is here again. The season is synonymous with over indulgence in alcohol, food and sex. Hangover, weight gain and sexually transmitted infections such as Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) become the order of the day. But scientists have validated bitter kola, date palm, zobo, grapefruit, among others as ‘cures’ for hangover and to prevent weight gain. They advise against unprotected sex and promiscuity, and recommend being faithful to one partner and the use of condom. CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes. THE temptation to drink and get intoxicated with alcohol is high especially during festive periods. The habit, however, comes with the resultant hangover. Hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects following consumption of alcoholic beverages, which can last for more than 24 hours. ...

Fwd: Medicinal Importance of Bitter Leaf (locally called ewuro)

Medicinal Importance of Bitter Leaf (locally called ewuro) Bitter leaf is a medicinal plant of the family Asteraceae. It is a small perennial shrub that grows in tropical Africa. Vernonia amygdalina is commonly called bitter leaf because of its bitter taste and it can be propagated either by cutting or seedling. Today, the plant is widely known throughout the continent and nearly 85% of Nigerians cultivates the plant due to its nutritional and medicinal values. It is locally called 'ewuro' in yorubaland. The leaves of the plant may be consumed either as a vegetable (macerated leaves in soups) or aqueous extracts as tonics for the treatment of various illnesses. In the wild, chimpanzees have been observed to ingest the leaves when suffering from parasitic infections. Many herbalists and naturopathic doctors recommend aqueous extracts for their patients as treatment for Emesis, nausea, diabetes, loss of appetite-induced abasia , dysentery and other gastro intestinal t...

African Medicinal Plants

Search This Blog