The legislative and regulatory framework governing herbal medicine use and practice in Kenya: a review

Complementary and alternative medicine is an integral component of primary healthcare in Kenya. This is because the infrastructural health setup in the country is inadequate in catering for all the medical needs of the population. This particularly holds true in the rural areas where many rural folk rely on products of herbal origin to offset their healthcare needs. More often than not these products are an elaborate cacophony of several different substances of biological origin and thus need personnel adept in their preparation. Sadly, due to loopholes in legislation and regulation, quacks have a field day in the practice. Moreover, the process of planting, harvesting, preparation and storage of herbs and related products dictates that a significant number of people will ultimately be involved in the whole process. This is likely to set the stage for manipulation and compromise of the safety, quality and efficacy of these products. This state of affairs appears unabated especially in the context of the current legal and regulatory framework governing herbal medicine use and practice in Kenya. Not only are these laws inadequate, they are shrouded in ambiguity, open to interpretation and the authorities mandated to implement them often end up performing duplicate roles. The aim of this review is to critique the legal and regulatory provisions governing herbal medicine use and practice in Kenya. In conclusion, laws and regulations meant to control herbal medicine use and practice in Kenya are wanting. Clear and definitive legislation on herbal medicine use and practice coupled with effective implementation by mandated institutions will go a long way in inspiring confidence to all stakeholders of herbal medicine

The legislative and regulatory framework governing herbal medicine use and practice in Kenya: a review

Complementary and alternative medicine is an integral component of primary healthcare in Kenya. This is because the infrastructural health setup in the country is inadequate in catering for all the medical needs of the population. This particularly holds true in the rural areas where many rural folk rely on products of herbal origin to offset their healthcare needs. More often than not these products are an elaborate cacophony of several different substances of biological origin and thus need personnel adept in their preparation. Sadly, due to loopholes in legislation and regulation, quacks have a field day in the practice. Moreover, the process of planting, harvesting, preparation and storage of herbs and related products dictates that a significant number of people will ultimately be involved in the whole process. This is likely to set the stage for manipulation and compromise of the safety, quality and efficacy of these products. This state of affairs appears unabated especially in the context of the current legal and regulatory framework governing herbal medicine use and practice in Kenya. Not only are these laws inadequate, they are shrouded in ambiguity, open to interpretation and the authorities mandated to implement them often end up performing duplicate roles. The aim of this review is to critique the legal and regulatory provisions governing herbal medicine use and practice in Kenya. In conclusion, laws and regulations meant to control herbal medicine use and practice in Kenya are wanting. Clear and definitive legislation on herbal medicine use and practice coupled with effective implementation by mandated institutions will go a long way in inspiring confidence to all stakeholders of herbal medicine

Candidaemia or candidasis: controversy of staphylococcus sexually transmitted infection?

Herbal medications are becoming increasingly popular but a most-extraordinary claim by traditional/herbal medical practitioners relates to a Gram-positive bacterium; Staphylococcus check for this species in other resources ; which has been depicted as a deadly sexually transmitted disease that manifest in the form of worms and other symptoms; with contributory roles including infertility; sexual dysfunction and impotency. They further boasted that they are the only ones that possessed the remedy (herbal) for the Staphylococcus sexually transmitted scourge. In the absence of distinguishing phenotypic taxonomic tools; Staphylococcus and Candida check for this species in other resources spp. may be confused for each other. However; Staphylococcus is a bacterium and not an infection; therefore; there must be more to the traditional medical practitioners' boasts in ability to cure an infection that was not an infection in the first place. In conclusion; the common sense is that candiaemia or candidiasis is most likely the misdiagnosed sexually transmitted Staphylococcus disease; which is of significant human clinical health issue

Traditional Herbal Medicines used in Neonates and Infants less than Six Months Old in Lagos Nigeria

Background: Herbal medicine use in children; adults and other groups have been documented but little information is known about the use herbal medicine mixtures in neonates and infants less than six months old. This is important because pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics changes between infants and adults may result in age-related differences in drug metabolism. This study was carried out to document the herbal medicines used for common ailments in neonates and infants less than six months in Lagos; Nigeria.Methods: With the aid of questionnaires and personal interviews during field trips to herbal medicine markets and infant welfare clinics a survey was undertaken to collect information on herbal medicine use by neonates and infants less than six months from traditional healers and nursing mothers during July and September 2014. Demographic Information and types of herbal medicines used by the respondents; indications for their use and adverse effects of the herbal medicines they used were obtained.Results: Medicinal plant species used for the treatment of common ailments including diarrhea ; abdominal cramps ; skin rashes; Fever (malaria) ; jaundice; convulsions; Insomnia and weight loss in neonates and infants less than 6months were documented. A high percentage of the mothers (72%) agreed they used herbal medicines in neonates and infants; although 96% of them did not notice any adverse effect while 100% of the mothers perceived the herbs to be efficacious. Herbal medicines are administered as a polyherbal compound; containing 4-6 plants Conclusion: The use of herbal medicines is common amongst neonates and infants less than six months old . Further studies on the efficacy and safety of these medicines which are administered as polyherbal mixtures is recommended

Initiation à la recherche sur les substances naturelles: extraction - analyse - essais biologiques

En Afrique, l'utilisation des essences végétales à des fins thérapeutiques ou domestiques est une pratique ancestrale. De nos jours de nombreux travaux consacrés à la chimie et à la toxicologie des plantes aromatiques et médicinales ont constribué à améliorer la connaissance scientifique dans ce domaine et à l'élaboration de protocoles standards de phytochimie et de screening biologique.

Promoting African Medicinal Plants through an African Herbal Pharmacopoeia

Various resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly and Regional Committee for Africa call upon Member States; among others things; to develop herbal pharmacopoeias and to develop and apply scientific criteria and methods for proof of safety and efficacy of medicinal plant products. However; only few countries have developed national herbal pharmacopoeias; limited plant species that provide medicinal herbs have been scientifically evaluated for their possible medical applications; and the safety and efficacy data are available for even fewer herbs. Without well documented information on the safety; efficacy and phytochemical characteristics of different compounds; it is difficult for external buyers to assess the likely utility or value of some new raw materials and extracts of African origin. In order to address these lacunae; the Association of African Medicinal Plants Standards is developing an African Herbal Pharmacopeia with trading standards which provide information and technical data on some 50 important medicinal plants. The objective of developing the monographs is to ensure that these plants become visible on the world market. The monographs lay emphasis on the quality control issues; dosage; use; efficacy; pharmacology and safety of important Africanmedicinal plants

Acute and sub-acute toxicological assessment of the aqueous seed extract of Persea Americana Mill (lauraceae) in rats

The aqueous seed extract of Persea americana Mill (Lauraceae) is used by herbalists in Nigeria for the management of hypertension. As part of our on-going scientific evaluation of the extract, we designed the present study to assess its acute and sub-acute toxicity profiles in rats. Experiments were conducted to determine the oral median lethal dose (LD50) and other gross toxicological manifestations on acute basis. In the sub-acute experiments, the animals were administered 2.5 g/kg (p.o) per day of the extract for 28 consecutive days. Animal weight and fluid intake were recorded during the 28 days period. Terminally, kidneys, hearts, blood/sera were obtained for weight, haematological and biochemical markers of toxicity. Results show that the LD50 could not be determined after a maximum dose of 10 g/kg. Sub-acute treatment with the extract neither affected whole body weight nor organ-tobody weight ratios but significantly increased the fluid intake (P < 0.0001). Haematological parameters and the levels of ALT, AST, albumin and creatinine were not significantly altered. However, the concentration of total proteins was significantly increased in the treated group. In conclusion, the aqueous seed extract of P. americana is safe on sub-acute basis but extremely high doses may not be advisable

Herbalism and resources for the development of ethnopharmacology in Mount Cameroon region

Tropical forests are a biologically lavish and diverse ecosystem with plants whose potential value as a natural pharmacy is yet to be discovered. The native people have for centuries used plants as medicine. There is a need to stimulate traditional healers to evaluate the strong and weak aspects of indigenous knowledge base and to devise methods to test and improve knowledge. The study uses a combination of primary and secondary data to provide baseline knowledge on the concept of herbalism; endogenous knowledge of medicinal plants; pharmaceutical uses; marketing status and threats to sustainable development. It establishes an ethno-medicinal plant inventory consisting of a total of 30 plants with major ailments. In terms of life form; 70were composed of trees; 6.6shrubs; 10climbers and 13.3herbs. Some 70of these plants are locally marketed and 66.6have other non-medicinal uses. The paper identifies the stresses and vulnerabilities of the plants and the scope for western biomedical practitioners to assess this traditional knowledge; that is; methods of testing; refining and validating indigenous knowledge in traditional medicine in order to support the process of integration. It finally posits that since different paradigms of health and illness stand in the way of real integration; western biomedicine and African traditional medicine may remain apart as two parallel systems hence the need to locate and catalog these plants for the identification of their pharmaceutical properties

Evaluation of Diuretic Activity of Aqueous and Methanol Extracts of Lepidium sativum Garden Cress (Cruciferae) in Rats

Purpose: The present study was undertaken to investigate diuretic effect of aqueous and methanol extracts of the dried seeds of Lepidium sativum in normal rats. Method: Aqueous and methanol extracts of L. sativum seeds were administered to experimental rats orally at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg p.o. Hydrochlorothiazide (10 mg/kg) was used as positive control in study. The diuretic effect of the extracts was evaluated by measuring urine volume; sodium and potassium content; conductivity and pH. Result: Urine volume was significantly increased by the two doses of aqueous and methanol extracts in comparison to control group. While the excretion of sodium was also increased by both extracts; potassium excretion was only increased by the aqueous extract at a dose of 100 mg/kg. There was no significant change in the conductivity and pH of urine after administration of the L. sativum extracts. The diuretic effect of the extracts was comparable to that of the reference standard (hydrochlorothiazide) and the methanol had the additional advantage of a potassium-conserving effect. Conclusion: We can conclude that aqueous and methanol extracts of L. sativum produced notable diuretic effect which appeared to be comparable to that produced by the reference diuretic HCTZ. The present study provides a quantitative basis for explaining the folkloric use of L. sativum as a diuretic agent in Moroccan population

Traditional Medicines Among the Embu and Mbeere Peoples 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

Analgesic activity of the aqueous leaf extract of Byrsocarpus Coccineus

Byrsocarpus coccineus (Schum. and Thonn.) is used as an herbal remedy for earache; muscular and rheumatic pains in West Africa. To validate the claim of the users; the analgesic effect of the aqueous leaf extract of the plant was studied in mice and rats using acetic acid-induced writhing; formalin; tail immersion; and cold-water tail flick pain tests. The extract (50 - 400mg/kg; p.o) showed a dose dependent and significant (p0.05) inhibition of pain in the acetic acid-induced writhing; tail immersion; tail flick and the formalin (second phase) tests. The extract (400mg/kg) gave a significantly (p0.05) higher inhibition than acetylsalicylic acid; ASA; (100mg/kg; p.o) in the acetic acid-induced writhing test. Its effect on the second phase of the formalin test was comparable to that of ASA. The elevation of pain threshold at 60 minutes post-treatment produced by 400mg/kg of the extract in the tail immersion and tail flick tests were slightly lower than that of morphine (2mg/kg; s.c). The results suggest that the aqueous leaf extract of Byrsocarpus coccineus possesses effective analgesic activity mediated via peripheral and central mechanisms