Traditional Medicinal Plants in the Philippines

Traditional medicine has been practiced since ancient times in every culture

throughout the world and has been an integral part of human evolution and

development, the evolution of Philippine traditional medicine is an interesting study that

is influenced by religion, mysticism, magic, superstition, folkloric herbalism and western

medicine.

Medicinal plants and their components possess a range of beneficial preventive

properties. They show many assuring effects for various health problems, such as

colds, coughs, throat irritations, stomachache, indigestion, and gastrointestinal

diseases, and have also positive protecting activities such as spasmolytic, sedative,

antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, hepatoprotective, antihyperglycemic, and

immunostimulating (Škrovankova, Ladislava, & Machu, 2012). It is commonly used

because it is convenient, its accessibility, and promising efficacy comparable to the

often high cost and adverse effects of standard synthetic drug agents example is

anxiety. It is very advisable to use organic productsThe chemical and biological diversity

of plants represent a potentially limitless renewable source for the use in the

development of new pharmaceuticals. According to the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan

(2016), these are the ten (10) medicinal plants in the Philippines endorsed by the DOH.

These are Akapulko (Cassia alata), Ampalaya (Momordica charantia), Bawang (Allium

sativum), Bayabas (Psidium guajava), Lagundi (Vitex negundo), Niyog-niyogan

(Quisqualis indica L.), Sambong (Blumea balsamifera), Tsaang Gubat (Ehretia

microphylla Lam.), Ulasimang Bato | Pansit-Pansitan (Peperomia pellucida), and Yerba

Buena (Clinopodium douglasii).

Plant products

The number of patients seeking alternate and herbal therapy is growing rapidly.

Herbal Medicines and Extracts are the synthesis of therapeutic experiences of

generations of practicing physicians of indigenous systems of medicines and extracts

for over hundreds of years. (Pal and Shukla, 2014). The use of plants for healing

purposes predates human history and forms the origin of much modern medicine. Plant

extracts have also been used in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by

antibiotic-resistant microbes. Medicinal plants are now in great demand in the

developing world for primary health care not because they are inexpensive but also for

compatibility with the human body. However, recent findings indicate that all herbal

medicines may not be safe as severe consequences are reported for some herbal

drugs, it can be used by anyone and for anything, for example as part of a salad, an

herbal tea or supplement. Thousand years of traditional use can provide us with

valuable guidelines to the selection, preparation and application of herbal formulation.

Herbal Medicine

Herbal Medicine is still present and commonly used now a days, it is the use of

medicinal plants for prevention and treatment of diseases. According to Gupta & Raina

that it is because of the general belief that herbal drugs are without any side effects

besides being cheap and locally available . Many conventional drugs originated from

plant sources: a century ago, most of the few effective drugs were plant based.

Examples include aspirin (willow bark), digoxin (from foxglove), quinine (from cinchona

bark), and morphine (from the opium poppy) (Vickers and Zollman, 1999). Because of
the large and growing use of natural derived substances in all over the world, it is not

wise to rely also on the tradition or supposed millenarian beliefs; explanatory and

pragmatic studies are useful and should be considered complementary in the

acquisition of reliable data both for health caregiver and patients. According to

Firenzuoli & Gori (2006). Herbs are natural products and their chemical composition

varies depending on several factors and therefore varying from people to people, from

energetic decoctions to the use of herbal extracts following Western methodologies of

mainstream medicine. The most common reasons for using traditional medicine are that

it is more affordable, more closely corresponds to the patient’s ideology, concerns about

the adverse effects of chemical (synthetic) medicines, satisfies a desire for more

personalized health care, and allows greater public access to health information.

Plants and natural sources form the basis of today’s modern medicine and

contribute largely to the commercial drug preparations manufactured today, the World

Health Organization estimates that plant extracts or their active constituents are used as

folk medicine in traditional therapies of 80% of the world's population. Herbal medicine

has become a popular form of healthcare; even though several differences exist

between herbal and conventional pharmacological treatments, herbal medicine needs to

be tested for efficacy using conventional trial methodology and several specific herbal

extracts have been demonstrated to be efficacious for specific conditions ( Firenzuoli

and Gori, 2006).