Ayurveda: 93% of wild medicinal plants in endangered

NEW DELHI: Ninety three per cent of wild medicinal plants used for making ayurvedic medicines in the country are endangered and the government is trying to relocate them from their usual habitat to protect them.

The threat to the plants came to the fore in an assessment exercise in different states carried out by the Botanical Survey of India.

The assessments were done for a total of 359 prioritized wild medicinal plant species. Out of this, 335 have been assigned Red List status ranging from critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable to near-threatened.

In addition, a total of 15 such species recorded in trade have been found threatened, officials in the health ministry's Ayush department said.

Some of the rare plants reported to be threatened, have been relocated during the last decade, including Utleria Salicifolia and Hydnocarpus Pentandra in Western Ghats, Gymnocladus Assamicus and Begonia Tessaricarpa from Arunachal Pradesh and Agapetes Smithiana in Sikkim.

The assessments have involved conducting Conservation Assessment and Management Prioritisation using International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List Categories.

The officials said the medicinal plant resources in the country are threatened by over exploitation to meet the demand of herbal industries.

As per the information received from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, about 95 per cent of such plants are harvested from the wild, primarily from forests.

The National Medicinal Plants Board constituted in November 2000, has been implementing a Central sector scheme for development and cultivation of medicinal plants since 2000-01.

This scheme was revised and renamed as "Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants" during 2008-09.

States forest departments have been given assistance for protection and propagation of such endangered species, especially used by the herbal industries.

Projects for setting up of 29 Medicinal Plants Conservation Areas (MPCAs) have also been implemented in the states covering mainly the medicinal plants viz Asoka, Guggal and Dashmool varieties.

The scheme is being implemented with an outlay of Rs 321.30 crore during the 11th Plan.

In addition, a new "Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Mission on Medicinal Plants" with a total outlay of Rs 630 crore is being implemented since 2008-09 by National Medicinal Plants Board. A total of 24 states have been covered under the scheme.

Nature Cures: More Herbs for Flu

The tradition of Ayurveda offers us yet another natural, herbal approach to stave off flu and "swine" flu.

Indian herb: Tulsi (basil) can help keep swine flu away: Ayurvedic experts

Lucknow, May 27: Wonder herb Tulsi can not only keep the dreaded swine flu at bay but also help in fast recovery of an afflicted person, Ayurvedic practitioners claim.

"The anti-flu property of Tulsi has been discovered by medical experts across the world quite recently. Tulsi improves the body's overall defence mechanism including its ability to fight viral diseases. It was successfully used in combating Japanese Encephalitis and the same theory applies to swine flu," Dr U K Tiwari, a herbal medicine practitioner says.

Apart from acting as a preventive medicine in case of swine flu, Tulsi can help the patient recover faster.

"Even when a person has already contracted swine flu, Tulsi can help in speeding up the recovery process and also help in strengthening the immune system of the body," he claims.

Dr Bhupesh Patel, a lecturer at Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar is also of the view that Tulsi can play an important role in controlling swine flu.

"Tulsi can control swine flu and it should be taken in fresh form. Juice or paste of at least 20-25 medium sized leaves should be consumed twice a day on an empty stomach."

This increases the resistance of the body and, thereby, reduces the chances of inviting swine flu," believes Patel.

Hepatitis: Dialysis with herbs effective treatment

I have had a hard copy of this article in my archives since 2005. I think it is important to put out this information as we do know that the typical mainstream treament with interferon leads to kidney and liver failure in many cases. It may also not be as effective as IV Vitamin C therapy.

Dialysis with herb extracts found effective in treating hepatitis
M. Dinesh Varma

In sessions over six months, patients eliminated Hepatitis B virus from the body

CHENNAI: Dialysis with a combination of herbs has proven to be effective in the treatment of acute Hepatitis B viral infection in research undertaken at a Chennai hospital.

When the extracts of the combination of herbs, the principal plant being `tulsi' accompanies by neem and phyllantus, was infused into patients using the same dialysis procedure adopted for those with renal failure, the patients recorded substantial drop in viral load.

At the completion of the dialysis sessions phased over a period of over six months the patients had eliminated the Hepatitis B virus from the body.

"The research combined ancient Ayurvedic healing principles with the dialysis procedures of modern medicine in an immunologic setting," said P. Ravichandran, chief nephrology consultant, Kidney Diseases and Institute of Organ Transplanation, St. Thomas Hospital.

The dosage of herbal medicine for each dialysis session was determined by an Ayurvedic physician at the hospital.

The successful adoption of reverse osmosis technology to facilitate herb extracts to bypass the skin barrier and reach bloodstream is the culmination of over three years of research. The infusion was able to stimulate T cells to produce natural interferon to bring down the viral load, said Dr. Ravichandran.

This holds significance as the success rate of treatment with expensive interferon injections is only about 30 per cent.

A pivot case study in the research was that of a 27-year-old patient who got infected with Hepatitis B at a blood donation camp.

A blood test revealed the condition to be thrombocytopenia, where the blood count is as low as 30,000 compared to the normal range of 2-4 lakhs because the normally protective spleen begins to annihilate platelets.

The patient's condition was so critical that he was initially referred to radiation oncologist, K. S. Sekar for a schedule of low dose splenic radiation.

It was only after platelet count improved to over one lakh that he was cleared for herbal dialysis.

After a series of dialysis schedules, the viral load dropped from 21 lakh to 1250 copies while haemoglobin picked up from 8.1 pre-treatment to 13.

Though the patient returned to work, a relapse three months later brought him back to the hospital. After the second schedule of herbal dialysis, a blood test returned negative for hepatitis virus.
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Date:08/08/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/08/08/stories/2005080813940400.htm