Iwu Handbook of African Medicinal Plants, Second Edition

2. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4665-7198-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 506 Seiten

With over 50,000 distinct species in sub-Saharan Africa alone, the African continent is endowed with an enormous wealth of plant resources. While more than 25 percent of known species have been used for several centuries in traditional African medicine for the prevention and treatment of diseases, Africa remains a minor player in the global natural products market largely due to lack of practical information. This updated and expanded second edition of the Handbook of African Medicinal Plants provides a comprehensive review of more than 2,000 species of plants employed in indigenous African medicine, with full-color photographs and references from over 1,100 publications.

The first part of the book contains a catalog of the plants used as ingredients for the preparation of traditional remedies, including their medicinal uses and the parts of the plant used. This is followed by a pharmacognostical profile of 170 of the major herbs, with a brief description of the diagnostic features of the leaves, flowers, and fruits and monographs with botanical names, common names, synonyms, African names, habitat and distribution, ethnomedicinal uses, chemical constituents, and reported pharmacological activity.

The second part of the book provides an introduction to African traditional medicine, outlining African cosmology and beliefs as they relate to healing and the use of herbs, health foods, and medicinal plants. This book presents scientific documentation of the correlation between the observed folk use and demonstrable biological activity, as well as the characterized constituents of the plants.

Zielgruppe

University libraries, chemists, pharmacologists, naturalists, botanists, pharmacognosists, herbal industry, and drug manufacturers.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Iwu, Maurice M.

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Medizin, Gesundheit: Sachbuch, Ratgeber
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Botanik
• Naturwissenschaften Chemie Chemie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Background
Historical Perspective
Current Topics

Catalog of Major African Medicinal Plants (Alphabetical listing)

Pharmacognostical Profile of Selected Medicinal Plants (Alphabetical listing)

Healing and the African Culture
Introduction
Healing, a Gift of the Spirit
The Restless Spirits
Spirit Possession
Symbols and Artifacts in African Ethnomedicine
Incantations and the Magic Power of the Word
Taboo and Totems

The African Medicine Man
Training of Traditional Healers
Types of Traditional Healers
Trephination or Craniotomy
The Specialist

Medicinal Plants and Traditional Healing Methods
Diagnosis
Malaria
Arthritis and Inflammatory Disorders
Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS
Gastrointestinal Disorders
Snakebites
Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Diseases
Convulsions and Epilepsy
Helminthic Infestation
Coughs
Abortion
Sterility Medicines
Diabetes
Skin Diseases and Cutaneous Infections
Arrow and Ordeal Poisons
Adaptogens

Index of Species, Genera, and Families
Subject Index

Über Autor(innen)

Maurice M. Iwu (M. Pharm., Ph.D. Bradford) was a professor of pharmacognosy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a senior research associate at the Division of Experimental Therapeutics of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D.C. He is the founder and chairman of the Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP), the International Centre for Ethnomedicine and Drug Development (InterCEDD), and Intercedd Health Products. He is a member of the board of directors of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals (Formerly Pfizer Nigeria).

He has been Visiting Scholar to the Dyson Perrins Laboratory, University of Oxford (1980), Fulbright Senior Scholar Award (Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio and the Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York(1983);Senior Research Scholar Award, U.S. National Research Council, Washington D.C.(1993 – 1995) and the Richard Schultes International Prize for Ethnobiology(1999). He was awarded the Doctor of Letters (Honoraris Causa) of the Imo State University (2009).