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13 Phytomedicine

Phytomedicine refers to plant-based medicine grounded in scientific research, distinct from homeopathy, and practiced by qualified phytotherapists who customize herbal treatments for individual patients. It works by stimulating the body's immune system to restore health, offering advantages over antibiotics as it prevents bacterial resistance. Common examples include drugs derived from various plants, such as Taxol from Taxus brevifolia and Aspirin from willow bark.

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Abhishek Subedi
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49 views7 pages

13 Phytomedicine

Phytomedicine refers to plant-based medicine grounded in scientific research, distinct from homeopathy, and practiced by qualified phytotherapists who customize herbal treatments for individual patients. It works by stimulating the body's immune system to restore health, offering advantages over antibiotics as it prevents bacterial resistance. Common examples include drugs derived from various plants, such as Taxol from Taxus brevifolia and Aspirin from willow bark.

Uploaded by

Abhishek Subedi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PHYTOMEDICINE

WHAT ARE PHYTOMEDICINES ?


• The word ‘phyto’ derives from the Greek work plant; hence it means plant
based medicine.
• Phytomedicine is rooted in scientific research and therefore not to be
confused with homeopathy
• Phytomedicine is modern and science based herbal medicine.
• Qualified phytotherapists use herbs to treat the diseases.
• Phytotherapists conduct individual consultation and then dispense a
medicine. it does not use any other therapies like accupuncture,
panchkarma etc.
• pharmacognosy is at the heart of phytomedicine
HOW DOES PHYTOMEDICINE WORK?

• In Phytomedicine, plant medicines are selected to stimulate or strengthen


the body’s own functions and immune system, hence support the body to
restore itself to health.
• The phytotherapist approaches each patient as a unique individual in
making a diagnosis and assessing his or her needs.
• Any herbal medicine prescribed may be a combination of plants chosen for
the therapeutic actions required to treat that individual.
• This gives phytomedicine an edge over antibiotics, as bacteria cannot
develop resistance against these drugs because they strengthen the
immune system instead of destroying the pathogens.
EXAMPLES OF PHYTOMEDICINE
A few very well known examples are:
• Anis seed, shikimic acid (Tamiflu, Gilead/Roche)
• Taxus brevifolia is the active constituent of the anti-cancer drug
Taxol (1971)
• Benzylpenicillin (1928, London, UK)
• Morphine from opium poppy (1923, Germany)
• Qininine from cinchona bark (1820, France)
• Salicin from willow bark, known as Aspirin (1838, France)
• Atropine from belladonna (1833)
• Caffeine from the coffee shrub (1821)
• Coniine from hemlock (1826)
• Emetine from ipecacuanha (1817)
• Strychnine from Strychhnos (1817)
HOW PLANT TO MEDICINE
• These crude plant material is extracted by the phytotherapist for their active
constituents (phytochemicals) with various methods.
• Phytotherapists mainly use alcohol to extract the plant’s active constituents
from dry or fresh plant parts.
• Alcoholic extracts are prepared by maceration and/or percolation.
• Plant barks and root constituents are more successfully extracted with
differing gradients of alcohol, depending on the particular plant.
• Decoction or infusions are often too weak to extract the active constituents
of harder plant materials, and are used preferably in aerial plant parts only.
• Hence most phytomedicines are prescribed as alcoholic tinctures, which are
usually taken twice a day.
Developing Phytomedicine
Thank You

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