Ayurvedic Herbs, a Clinical Guide to the Healing Plants of Traditional Indian Medicine / M.S. Premila. Published by Haworth Press, 2006.
The main portion of the book includes twelve chapters on herbal drugs and agents for conditions and diseases of bodily systems, supported by a history of medicine in India and an account of the scientific approach towards these drugs. Finally the Appendix, a “List of single plants, indications, and chapters” is a kind of botanical and thematic reference to the 68 herbs selected for inclusion in this book. Cross-references for conditions and diseases to botanical names of herbs, names of bodily systems, names of plant constituents, and Hindi common names are given in the Index.
Although the book’s intent is to deliver scientific studies as evidence, more than usually encountered in herbals, its concise format is appreciated. The text consists of a brief physical description of an herb, one that differentiates it from others in the text. Considering Holy Basil, the author writes:
“Sacred to the Hindus, the holy basil is a small herb with aromatic smell found throughout India and commonly cultivated in gardens and courtyards.” p. 93
Its leaves are traditionally known to relieve coughs, cold, bronchitis and asthma. Purple-stemmed Holy Basil, commonly called Krishna Tulasi contains the prized medicinal properties.
Ginger, frequently featured as a medicine chest in a single herb, is given as a digestive aid, respiratory tract and anti-rheumatic agent. Another herb, Indian Long Pepper or Pippali, is “… a powerful stimulant and has been used for a long time for digestive and respiratory disorders.” p. 94. Physicians and pharmacists may value the author’s details concerning plant constituents, essential oils, digestive principles and other components. For Piper longum, Premila writes, “… the fruits contain 1 percent of an essential oil and 4-5 percent of the pungent principle piperine”. The fruits are used for asthma by decocting in milk. p. 95.
Evidence for the effectiveness of an herb for a specific condition or disease is given in footnotes on the clinical trials, open trials, and in vitro studies; included in the text are the chemical components of the medicine, usually with concentrations by weight, etc. The footnotes cite journal articles and papers. Many of these were recently issued in journals such as: Journal of Ethnopharmacology, European Journal of Medical Research, Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Phytomedicine, Planta Medica, International Journal of Pharmacognosy, Phytotherapy Research, and Journal of Research in Indian Medicine; and books, such as the World Health Organization’s Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants, and the Indian Council of Medical Research’s Medicinal Plants of India.
Premila’s book is valuable as a source of information about specific herbal medicines and their proven effectiveness for known conditions and diseases. Her extensive knowledge of Ayurvedic pharmacognosy naturally reinforces for Western audiences the definition of Indian herbal medicine. Importantly, the work presents proof and scientific method along with traditional uses, leading the Reader to note that plant constituents do have powerful effects on bodily functions and are available as drugs, or more specifically, phytomedicines.
See the next page containing a selected list of terms and botanical names chosen from the text to represent some of the herbs in the familiar context of books recently reviewed on Ayurvedic medicine.
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