Concerning the responsible use of herbal medicinal products

The “greening” of modern medicine has

been supported globally with serious sci-

entific study which is being undertaken to

promote the responsible use of herbal me-

dicinal products (HMPs). Initiatives in

this field include the work of TRAMIL in

the Caribbean region: and TRAMIL is the

acronym for Traditional Medicine In

Lands bordering the Caribbean sea. It is

an applied, non-profit scientific research

programme on the medicinal plants,

which was started in 1984 in the Domini-

can Republic, but which remains far too

sparsely supported financially.

TRAMIL aims “to stimulate action-

oriented research that has the potential to

educate physicians, pharmacologists,

health personnel, and those involved in

primary healthcare programs”.

Over the years, the research team in

TRAMIL has included over two hundred

specialists in the areas of botany, ethno-

botany, chemistry, pharmacology and

medicine, working in cooperation with

social workers. Through their academic

units and professors, over thirty-five insti-

tutions from around the world have been

involved in the TRAMIL program..

Under the leadership of Lionel Robineau

M.D., the research team has been regu-

larly carrying out ethnopharmacological

disease-based field surveys on the tradi-

tional medicinal uses of plants by people

in the Caribbean territories. The main

interest lies in the folk knowledge of the

population at large rather than the knowl-

edge and experiences of the traditional

healers.

The TRAMIL survey method uses a spe-

cial questionnaire, and the focus has been

on non-life threatening ailments in the

region. TRAMIL surveys

have been conducted over

the period 1984 through

2003 at separate times in

the field at the following

locations, Antigua, Barba-

dos, Belize, Colombia,

Costa Rica, Cuba, Domin-

ica, Dominican Republic,

French Guiana, Grenada,

Guadeloupe, Haiti, Hon-

duras, Marie Galante,

Martinique, Mexico, Nica-

ragua, Panama, Puerto

Rico, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Tobago and

Venezuela.

In the TRAMIL surveys, those uses of

plants which are identified by the inter-

viewees as their first resource, and which

account for 20% or more of the reported

uses, for the given health problem are

deemed to be “significant uses”.

Those medicinal uses which are found to

be “significant” are then subjected to sci-

entific laboratory evaluation, and to criti-

cal review of the chemistry and pharma-

cology and toxicology of the particular

plants. However, TRAMIL is not in-

volved in the conduct of clinical trials

with these traditional remedies.

Inside this issue:

September, 2010 Volume 2, Issue:4

C A R I B B E A N H E R B A L M E D I C I N E R E S E A R C H I N S T I T U T E

CaHMRI News

CONCERNING THE RESPON-

SIBLE USE OF HERBAL ME-

DICINAL PRODUCTS

1

BOTANICAL RESEARCH CENTERS OF THE NIH

3

WHAT DO HERBAL PHARMA-

COPOEIAS DO?

4

Lantana camara - wild sage

curcas, Piper auritum and Pouteria

sapota.

This publication is intended to guide the

reader or consumer to use traditional

herbal remedies in a responsible way,

since self-medication has persisted

throughout the years. It declares that:

“Under no circumstances is this informa-

tion intended to be used as a basis for con-

ducting medical diagnoses, clinical or sur-

gical procedures or (medical) lab. tests.”

Further information might be obtained

from the review of this e-book, as reported

on pages 73 and 74 by D.D. Soejarto

Ph.D., in the May-July 2010 issue of vol-

ume 86 of HerbalGram (The Journal of

the American Botanical Council).

Detailed discussions are held

(usually biennially) in face-to-face

meetings held in an international

setting, rotated from one country to

another, at which the significant

uses for each plant are evaluated for

classification as either REC

(recommended), or TOX (toxic, not

recommended for further use).

Those significant uses that have not

yet been adequately studied are

classified as INV (under investiga-

tion) by TRAMIL. By this means,

and with the knowledge of the

health authorities, TRAMIL seeks

to provide communities and health-

care professionals with practical

information on the treatment of cer-

tain ailments using medicinal

plants, at minimal cost and in harmony

with popular tradition.

In 2007, TRAMIL published its second

edition of “Caribbean Herbal Phar-

macopoeia” as a CD-ROM or e-book

(Copyright 2007: TRAMIL, Apdo.

3370, Santo Domingo, Dominican Re-

public: email coordina@tramil.net ).

It includes three hundred and twenty-

one “significant uses” for the medicinal

plant parts of ninety-nine Caribbean

species. Specific dosages are included for

185 out of the 321 significant uses of these

plants. The majority of the medicinal plant

parts have been classified as REC, and at

least six as TOX.

Listed among the harmful plant species

are Lantana camara (“kayakeet” or “wild

sage”), Nicotiana tabacum (“tobacco”)

and Thevetia peruviana (“lucky nut” or

“yellow oleander”), as well as Argemone

mexicana, Datura stramonium, Jatropha

From page 1

Page 2

CaHMRI News

“UNDER NO

CIRCUMSTANCES IS

THIS INFORMATION

INTENDED TO BE USED

AS A BASIS FOR

CONDUCTING

MEDICAL DIAGNOSES,

CLINICAL OR

SURGICAL

PROCEDURES OR

(MEDICAL) LAB.

TESTS.”

Aristolochia trilobata

.Herbal medicinal products (HMPs) re-

main as popular as ever and their use con-

tinues to be on the rise. It is forecast that

in the USA, sales of HMPs will increase

by about nineteen percent over the next

five years; over fifteen billion dollars in

sales were recorded in 2007. The HMPs

are known also as “botanicals”. (Every

botanical or HMP is usually a highly

complex mixture containing a number of

bio-active chemical constituents; and spe-

cial approaches are required in its chemi-

cal analysis).

Despite their widespread use, the vast

majority of HMPs have hardly been stud-

ied scientifically for their safety and effi-

cacy in humans.

In 1999 the National Institutes of Health

(NIH) started to provide funding in a sys-

tematic manner to develop a “botanical

research initiative” in the U.S.A., “to

study the safety, effectiveness and bio-

logical action” of botanicals. This year,

on the 31st August the NIH announced

further funding, for the third five-year

period, of millions of dollars for five

“botanical research centers”. The particu-

lar “botanicals” proposed for study by

these research centers are found amongst

the current best selling HMPs in the

U.S.A. These include garlic and licorice,

and others which are not Caribbean tradi-

tional remedies, such as St. John’s Wort

(Hypericum perforatum) and black co-

hosh (Actaea racemosa).

The results from the work of these re-

search centers will provide healthcare

professionals with the information needed

to counsel people concerning the respon-

sible use of herbal medicinal products.

More information can be gleaned by con-

tacting either:- NCCAM Press Office 301

-496-7790 nccampress@mail.nih.gov, or

ODS Media 301-4352920 ODSme-

dia@mail.nih.gov

Botanical Research Centers of the NIH

Page 3

Volume 2, Issue:4

DESPITE THEIR

WIDESPREAD USE, THE

VAST MAJORITY OF

HMPS HAVE HARDLY

BEEN STUDIED

SCIENTIFICALLY FOR

THEIR SAFETY AND

EFFICACY IN HUMANS.

ibs-help-online.com

Page 4

Volume 2, Issue:4

FUTURE ISSUES will include:

*Counting all the known phytochemicals on Earth

*Harmful herbs

*Ethnomedicines, phytomedicines, nutraceuticals

etc.

*Worm grass in Chemopodium ambrosioides To send us your comments

about this newsletter,

please contact;- The Herbal Institute at UTT at Tel: 1 (868) 673 0029 / 673 2654 compton.seaforth@utt.edu.tt or jennifer.paul@utt.edu.tt

Let’s start by describing a pharmacopoeia as a book containing directions for the identi-

fication and preparation of medicinal agents, which is published by the authority of a

government or of a medical or pharmaceutical society.

In one of the articles above, reference was made to a new Caribbean herbal pharmaco-

poeia. This one is a relatively preliminary publication, when compared with much more

comprehensive works such as the Indian herbal pharmacopoeia (since the 1960’s), the

British herbal pharmacopoeia of the 1990’s, and since 1995 the American herbal phar-

macopoeia.

But in each case, the mission is the same, namely to promote the responsible use of

herbal medicinal products in the particular country or region.

Each herbal pharmacopoeia publishes critically reviewed documents called monographs

on medicinal plants and botanicals, selected from among those most frequently used in

the particular country.

The data for the content of each herbal pharmacopoeia largely depends on the results of

scientific evaluation of the selected herbal medicinal products. But such data today still

remains severely lacking, relative to the safety and effectiveness, safe clinical use, and

the potential for harmful interactions of the HMPs with conventional (chemical) medi-

cines, to safeguard the public health. This factor restricts the good that a herbal pharma-

copoeia can actually do at the present time.

What do herbal pharmacopoeias do?