Comparison Between Herbal and Orthodox Medicine

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Medicines/ Drugs
Medicines are chemicals or compounds used to cure, halt, or prevent disease; ease
symptoms; or help in the diagnosis of illnesses. Advances in medicines have enabled doctors to
cure many diseases and save lives. These days, medicines come from a variety of sources. Many
were developed from substances found in nature, and even today many are extracted from plants.
Some medicines are made in labs by mixing together a number of chemicals. Others, like
penicillin, are byproducts of organisms such as fungus. And a few are even biologically
engineered by inserting genes into bacteria that make them produce the desired substance. When
we think about taking medicines, we often think of pills (Elora, 2018). But medicines can be
delivered in many ways, such as:
 liquids that are swallowed
 drops that are put into ears or eyes
 creams, gels, or ointments that are rubbed onto the skin
 inhalers (like nasal sprays or asthma inhalers)
 patches that are stuck to skin (called transdermal patches)
 tablets that are placed under the tongue (called sublingual medicines; the medicine is
absorbed into blood vessels and enters the bloodstream)
 injections (shots) or intravenous (inserted into a vein) medicines
No medicine can be sold unless it has first been approved by the National Agency for Food
and Drug Administration (NAFDAC). The makers of the medicine do tests on all new medicines
and send the results to NAFDAC. They allow new medicines to be used only if they work and if
they are safe enough. When a medicine's benefits outweigh its known risks, the FDA usually
approves the sale of the drug (Alamgir, 2017). NAFDAC can withdraw a medicine from the

market at any time if it later is found to cause harmful side effects. Medicines act in a variety of
ways. Some can cure an illness by killing or halting the spread of invading germs, such as
bacteria and viruses. Others are used to treat cancer by killing cells as they divide or preventing
them from multiplying. Some drugs replace missing substances or correct low levels of natural
body chemicals such as some hormones or vitamins. Medicines can even affect parts of the
nervous system that control a body process (Aguwa et al., 2006).
Nearly everyone has taken an antibiotic. This type of medicine fights bacterial infections.
Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic for things like strep throat or an ear infection.
Antibiotics work either by killing bacteria or halting their multiplication so that the body's
immune system can fight off the infection. Sometimes a part of the body can't make enough of a
chemical. That can also make you sick. Someone with insulin-dependent diabetes, for instance,
has a pancreas that can't produce enough insulin (a hormone that regulates glucose in the body).
Some people have a low production of thyroid hormone, which helps control how the body uses
energy. In each case, doctors can prescribe medicines to replace the missing hormone. Some
medicines treat symptoms but can't cure the illness that causes the symptoms. (A symptom is
anything you feel while you're sick, such as a cough or nausea.) So taking a lozenge may soothe
a sore throat, but it won't kill that nasty strep bacteria (Elora et al., 2018; Aguwa, 2006).
Some medicines relieve pain. If you pull a muscle, your doctor might tell you to take
ibuprofen or acetaminophen. These pain relievers, or analgesics, don't get rid of the source of the
pain — your muscle will still be pulled. What they do is block the pathways that transmit pain
signals from the injured or irritated body part to the brain (in other words, they affect the way the
brain reads the pain signal) so that you don't hurt as much while your body recovers. As people
get older, they sometimes develop chronic or long-term conditions (Kishore, 2017). Medicines
can help control things like high blood pressure (hypertension) or high cholesterol. These drugs
don't cure the underlying problem, but they can help prevent some of its body-damaging effects
over time.
Among the most important medicines are immunizations (or vaccines). These keep people
from getting sick in the first place by immunizing, or protecting, the body against some
infectious diseases. Vaccines usually contain a small amount of an agent that resembles a

specific germ or germs that have been modified or killed. When someone is vaccinated, it primes
the body's immune system to "remember" the germ so it will be able to fight off infection by that
germ in the future (Kishan et al., 2009).
Most immunizations that prevent you from catching diseases like measles, whooping
cough, and chickenpox are given by injection. No one thinks shots are fun. But the diseases they
prevent can be very serious and cause symptoms that last much longer than the temporary
discomfort of the shot. To make life easier, now you can get immunizations at many pharmacies.
Although some medicines require a prescription, some are available in stores. You can buy many
medicines for pain, fever, cough, or allergies without a prescription (Alamgir et al., 2017). But
just because a medicine is available over-the-counter (OTC), that doesn't mean it's free of side
effects. Take OTC medicines with the same caution as those prescribed by a doctor.
1.2 Sources of Medicines
1.2.1 Plants Sources
A number of plants have medicinal qualities and have been used for centuries as drugs or
drug sources. Although the earliest plant source for drugs was the leaf, other parts of plants (e.g.,
barks, fruits, roots, stem, wood, seeds, blossoms, bulb etc.) were also later exploited for drug
extraction. Where the product is used without further processing e.g., ground leaves or bark,
boiled concoctions or powdered sap, the substance is called crude drug. The world's flowering
plant species have been used medicinally. Sometimes the figure of 70,000 medicinal plant
species is cited, but this includes many algae, fungi, and micro-organisms that are not really
plants as the word is understood by botanists (WHO, 2005).
These days the term Alternative Medicine became very common in western culture, it
focus on the idea of using the plants for medicinal purpose. But the current belief that medicines
which come in capsules or pills are the only medicines that we can trust and use. Even so most of
these pills and capsules we take and use during our daily life came from plants. Medicinal plants
frequently used as raw materials for extraction of active ingredients which used in the synthesis
of different drugs. Like in case of laxatives, blood thinners, antibiotics and antimalaria
medications, contain ingredients from plants. Medicinal plants have a promising future because

there are about half million plants around the world, and most of them their medical activities
have not investigate yet, and their medical activities could be decisive in the treatment of present
or future studies (Krishna et al., 2011).
The table below shows some pharmacologically active principles or drugs derived from
various parts of a plant.
Plant part Drugs
Leaves Digoxin, digitoxin (from Digitalis purpurea/foxglove plant); atropine
(from Atropa belladonna)
Flowers Vincristine, vinblastine (from Vinca rosea)
Fruits Physostigmine (from Physostigma venenosum/calabar bean)
Seeds Strychnine (from Nux vomica); physostigmine
(from Physostigma venenosum/calabar bean)
Roots Emetine (from Cephaelis ipecacuanha); reserpine (from Rauwolfa
serpentina)
Bark Quinine (from Cinchona); atropine (from Atropa belladonna)
Stem Tubocurarine (from Chondrodendron tomentosum)
(Aguwa and Akah, 2006)
1.2.2 Animal Sources
Many important drugs are derived from animal source. In most instances, these medicinal
substances are derived from the animal’s body secretions, fluid or glands. Insulin, heparin,
adrenaline, thyroxin, cod liver oil, musk, beeswax, enzymes, and antitoxins sera are some
examples of drugs obtained from animal sources. Like plant products, drugs from animal sources
may be crude (unrefined) or refined material (WHO, 2005).

1.2.3 Microbial Source
Several life-saving drugs have been historically derived from microorganisms. Examples
include penicillin produced by Penicillium chrysogenum, streptomycin from Streptomyces
griseus, chloramphenicol from Streptomyces venezuelae, neomycin from Streptomyces
fradiae, bacitracin from Bacillus subtilis etc. Xanthan (polysaccharide gum secreted
by Xanthomonas campestris), dextran (polysaccharide of glucose synthesized by lactic acid
bacteria Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus brevis), curdian (β-
1,3-glucan polymer, product of Agrobacterium biobar and Alcaligenes faecalis), pullulan (a
polysaccharide polymer of maltotriose units produced from starch by the fungus Aureobasidium
pullulans) etc. are all examples of drugs from microbial sources (Kishore and Kishan, 2009).
1.2.4 Marine Sources
Bioactive compounds from marine flora and fauna have extensive past and present use in
the prevention, treatment or cure of many diseases. Coral, sponges, fish, and marine
microorganisms produce biologically potent chemicals with interesting anti-inflammatory, anti-
viral, and anticancer activity. For example curacin A from marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya
majuscule, eleutherobin from coral Eleutherobia sp., discodermolide from marine
sponge Discodermia dissoluta, etc. show potent anti-tumour activity (Alamgir, 2017).
1.2.5 Mineral Sources
Minerals (both metallic and non-metallic minerals) have been used as drugs since ancient
times. Our body requires trace elements of minerals in order to maintain homeostasis. Patients
lacking an adequate level of these materials may take specific mineral-based drugs to raise the
level of minerals. Examples include ferrous sulfate in iron deficiency anemia; magnesium sulfate
as purgative; magnesium trisilicate, aluminum hydroxide and sodium bicarbonate as antacids for
hyperacidity and peptic ulcer; zinc oxide ointment as skin protectant, in wounds and eczema;
gold salts (solganal, auranofin) as anti-inflammatory and in rheumatoid arthritis; selenium as
anti-dandruff (Alamgir, 2017).

1.2.6 Synthetic/Chemical Derivative
A synthetic drug is produced using chemical synthesis, which rearranges chemical
derivatives to form a new compound. The synthetic sources of drugs evolved with human skills
in the laboratory and advanced knowledge and understanding of phytochemical investigation. At
present, majority of drugs used in clinical practice are exclusively prepared synthetically in
pharmaceutical and chemical laboratory. One of the earliest synthetic drugs was sulphonamide,
which began with the synthesis of prontosil dye. Other examples include acetylsalicylic acid
(aspirin or ASA), oral antidiabetics, antihistamines, thiazide diuretics, chloroquine,
chlorpromazine, general and local anaesthetics, paracetamol, phenytoin etc. Synthetically
manufactured drugs generally have higher yields that are significantly associated with quality,
purity and low cost (Aguwa and Akah, 2006).
1.2.7 Semi Synthetic Sources
Semi-synthetic drugs are neither completely natural nor completely synthetic. They are a
hybrid and are generally made by chemically modifying substances that are available from
natural source to improve its potency, efficacy and/or reduce side effects. Sometimes, semi-
synthetic processes are used to prepare drugs when the natural sources may yield impure
compounds or when the synthesis of drugs (complex molecules) may be difficult, expensive, and
commercially unviable. In semi-synthetic drugs, the nucleus of drug obtained from natural
source is kept intact but the chemical structure is altered. Examples of semi-synthetic medicine
include heroin from morphine, bromoscopolamine from scopolamine, homatropine from
atropine, ampicillin from penicillin etc (Kishore and Kishan, 2009).
1.2.8 Biosynthetic sources (genetically engineered drugs)
This is relatively a new field which is being developed by mixing discoveries from
molecular biology, recombinant DNA technology, DNA alteration, gene splicing, immunology,
and immune pharmacology. Drugs developed using living organisms with the help of
biotechnology or genetic engineering are known as biologics, biopharmaceuticals, recombinant