Preliminary Investigation of a Herbal Soap Incorporating Cassia Senna(L) Roxb Leaves and Ageratum Conyzoides Linn Whole Plant Powders

In traditional medicine practice the locally made soap is a vehicle for drug application and drugs are usually incorporated in powder form. Many herbal soaps being made incorporate the extract of the medicinal plant; but this makes the soap very expensive and not easily produced for the use of the majority of people. This study investigates the activity of a herbal soap incorporating two medicinal plants ; Senna alata (L) Roxb (Ceasalpinaceae) and Ageratum conyzoides Linn(Asteraceae) which are well known for their use in the treatment of skin diseases and their antimicrobial activity; comparing it to the extracts of the plants. The study also determines the optimum concentration of the herbs to be incorporated into the soap. Three soaps containing 3;5 and 8of the moderately fine powder of the two medicinal plants were prepared using the normal cold method for preparing hand and body soap with NaOH and Palm kernel oil. Extract of the two plants was prepared by cold extraction with methanol and concentrated in vacuo. The soaps and the extract were tested for antimicrobial activity against typed organisms and clinical isolates; gram negative; gram positive organisms and fungi. The results showed that the soap at 5herbal content was optimal. The soaps showed activity against mainly the gram positive organisms and fungi. The activity of the extract was not different from that of the soaps and therefore shows no advantage in using the extracts to prepare the herbal soap

Traditional Medicines among the Embu and Mbeere People of Kenya

Ethnobotanical information and traditional medicines were investigated and documented in Embu and Mbeere districts; Eastern Province of Kenya. Oral interviews were obtained from over 100 herbalists; both men and women aged between 40 and 80 years. All the herbalists interviewed were Christians and had little formal education. Non-Christian herbalists were purported to combine herbal medicines with witchcraft and were not interviewed. Of the 40 commonly used herbal plants 25 were used as multi-purpose medicinal plants (mpmp); while 15 were used to treat one disease type. There was a correlation between the outpatient morbidity data at the local District hospital; and the common incident diseases treated by the herbalists. Generally a decoction or infusion of the herb was recommended for the treatment of internal or external condition of the patients. Malaria and typhoid were treatable with a total of 15 and 12 plants respectively and were among the first two commonest diseases found in the study area. Terminalia brownii was found to be the most used medicinal plant either alone or in combination with other herbs. The second and third most utilized medicinal plants were Ovariodendron anisatum and Wurbugia ugadensis respectively

A preliminary report on the Anti-Diarrhoeal benefit of Seleru: A possible adjunct HIV/AIDS Therapy

"Infection with the human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is assuming greater proportion. The global estimates of new infections keep rising. The cure for HIV infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is related to the socio-economic status of the population. In our environment; poverty is a major undoing in the medical management of HIV/AIDS using orthodox antiretroviral drugs. Consequently; great attention is being turn to the exploration of herbal remedies in the management of this dreaded disorder. A concoction ""Seleru"" (Amodmat r) is claimed to have benefits for HIV/AIDS. We investigated the role of this concoction on diarrhoea; a distressing symptom of the syndrome. The antidiarrhoeal property of ""Seleru"" (Amodmat r) was investigated using the charcoal meal preparation; on albino wistar rat. The extract was administered at a dose range of between 100mg/kg to 800mg/kg body weight. Results show an antimotility effect on the gastrointestinal tract; supporting a usefulness of the extract in diarrhoeal states."

Une solution de pain de singe pour la prevention et le traitement de la deshydratation aigue due aux diarrhees infantiles

L'objectif de cette etude etait d'evaluer de maniere comparative; les resultats de la therapie de rehydratation par voie orale (TRO) avec la solution standard obtenue avec les sachets de l'OMS et une solution a base de pulpe de fruit de baobab (Adansonia digitata); pain de singe; chez les enfants presentant une diarrhee aigue. Un essai clinique de TRO a ete mene chez des enfants diarrheiques; ages de 6 mois a 57 mois et presentant une diarrhee ou une deshydratation moyenne ; 79 enfants ont recu la solution OMS et 82 la solution de pain de singe ; l'evolution de la diarrhee et le gain de poids ont ete evalues. La solution OMS a eu des resultats legerement superieurs a ceux de la solution a base de pain de singe; quant a l'amelioration de la diarrhee et au gain de poids aux 4eme et 48eme heures; mais cette difference etait statistiquement non significative. La solution a base de pain de singe presente en outre des avantages sur le plan nutritif; economique et socio-culturel ; les auteurs la recommandent; en vue d'une utilisation plus etendue de la TRO a domicile

"Etude de l'efficacite parasitologique du ""n'dribala"" dans le traitement du paludisme."

"Afin de verifier les proprietes antipaludiques du ""n'dribala"" (preparation a partir des racines de cochlospermum tinctorium) preconisees dans le traitement du paludisme; une experimentation a eu lieu d'octobre a decembre 1991 dans deux villages du Burkina Faso; (Koro et Tiefora). Sur les 470 enfants de 0 a 14 ans au total; 88 etaient porteurs de plasmodium. Leurs densites parasitaires a J0 variaient entre 500 et 72000 parasites/mm3 de sang. Apres administration du ""n'dribala""; des controles ont lieu a J2; J4; J7. A J7; seulement 2 sujets etaient arriver a se negativer dans le premier village. Par contre dans le second village le seul sujet qui etait negatif a J7 avait pris de la chloroquine auparavent. Ces resultats ne traduisent pas une efficacite de la drogue a eliminer le parasite du sang. Les proprietes febrifuges ont ete observees dans certains cas. Cette etude doit etre poursuivie avec des tests in vitro et avec differents modes de preparation des extraits de la plante avant de statuer definitivement sur son efficacite."