Herbal Medicine: Clinical Perspective and Regulatory Status.

Herbal medicines play an important role in treating various ailments due to their potentially high therapeutic values and acceptability by patients with different health complications. The practice of herbal medicine involves the use of a part of a plant, the entire plant, or a selective isolated phytoconstituent. The search for new drugs during the scientific era revived the interest in the discovery of herbal drugs from different natural resources. The present modern healthcare system involves the utilization of drugs and 50% of them are of natural origin. In recent years, there had been an upsurge in the interest for search of novel herbal drugs by the pharmaceutical industry. However, the discovery of such new novel phytomedicines involves various challenges in the identification of active constituents; their characterization, pharmacological activity, toxicity/adverse effects, drug interactions, and, most importantly, their regulatory requirements. The present review is mainly focused on the history of herbal medicine, current clinical perspective, and pharmaceutical and regulatory challenges facing herbal drugs. Moreover, problems encountered in drug discovery from herbal resources and their possible solutions have been delineated.

Concomitant bilateral testicular epidermoid cysts.

Epidermoid cyst of the testis is a rare benign germ cell tumor, comprising 1-2% of all resected benign testicular masses. Approximately 300 cases have been reported to date. Unilateral involvement has often been reported in the English literature. However, bilateral occurrence is very rare and to the best of our knowledge, there are only 3 previous reports of bilateral testicular epidermoid cysts. The fact that they are completely benign makes them amenable to treatment by local excision, thereby saving patient from orchidectomy. Recognition of their characteristic ultrasonographic features is very important to avoid unnecessary intervention. We present here, a case of bilateral epidermoid cyst in which characteristic ultrasound (US) findings allowed testis-sparing enucleation instead of radical orchiectomy.