|
| |
Appropriate Use Of Medicinal Plants
|
(Paper read at the Training Workshop on "Appropriate Use of Medicinal Plants in Traditional Medicine", held at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad on 18th and 19th November 1991.)
By:
H/Dr. Farouk Ismail Nami (Principal, SHMCH)
|
|
Worthy Chairman, Learned Medical Practitioners, Respected Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is indeed an honor and privilege for me to present a paper on "The Role of Homoeopathic Medical Colleges in providing Education in the use of Medicinal Plants".
We all are aware that the basic and main source of supply of drugs in all systems of medicine is the Plant Kingdom. New techniques for growing, procuring, storage and use of medicinal plants have been devised and introduced in the profession including the isolation of various alkaloids and their use in specific animals.
Various Government, Semi-Government and Non Governmental Organizations are working on these lines but due to lack of proper coordination and communication, the results and guidelines are yet to be propagated to the concerned quarters for their better use and welfare of the masses.
Tinctures prepared from medicinal plants from the basis of medicine in Homoeopathy. These tinctures are then further diluted to make required potencies which are subsequently dispensed to the patients.
The identification and procurement of the correct specific plants is a basic prerequisite in the preparation of Homoeopathic medicines as the symptomatology changes from genra to genra. Thus, Rhus aromatica, Rhus glabra, Rhus toxicodendron, Rhus venenata although belonging to the same class have their own symptoms but different from each other.
Pakistan is rich in all kinds of flora consisting of aquatic, marshy, coastal, desert, hilly, and mountainous plants and trees, both wild and cultivated. We also have a rich tradition of use of folk medicine, though unwritten but passed from one generation to another, used with confidence and success by a sizeable percentage of our population, regardless of their social status.
The rules and guidelines for the use of medicinal plants in Homoeopathy are laid down in the "Organon of Medicine" by Dr. Fredrik Christian Sameul Hahnmann and further elaborated in the Homoeopathic Pharmacopia.
Nearly seventy percent of Homoeopathic medicines have their origin in the Plant Kingdom.
The Homoeopathic colleges can help the pharmaceutical industry by providing fresh plants obtainable in their areas after proper identification and in the correct season when they are in full bloom and best suited to make tinctures. Moreover, the colleges can and should collect folk prescription of their respective areas. These prescriptions are compound as well as single. The single prescriptions can be proved on Homoeopathic Principles and would be a valuable contribution to the Materia Medica.
As facts go, the Allopathic fraternity has never reconciled with the very concept of Homoeopathy. This is not the case in Pakistan alone but a similar polarity exists throughout the world. Their main objection is that the claims of efficiency and cure made by Homoeopathic are not supported by modern scientific techniques and lack of scientific evidence of the efficacy of the preparations used or offered for use.
A Homoeopathic having his strong faith and conviction plus scores of cures to his credit would not feel at ease to withstand such harsh, blunt and crude criticism. But present and past astounding achievements and research in medical technology plus advancement in medical and allied sciences have made it imperative for Homoeopaths to meet the challenge and prove their worth in accordance with the modern requirements.
Research in Biogenetics have revealed many a secret regarding certain diseases and pinpointed malfunctioning of specific genes responsible for these diseases.
In such circumstances and environment where mass media and telecommunications have played a major role in educating the masses all around the globe and placing before them the hypothesis of varied scientific and medical research. Homoeopaths cannot keep aloof and keep their eyes closed. They will have to come forward to prove their claims in accordance with the present scientific approach.
We in Pakistan have not made any headway in this regard. According to the provisions of the Unani, Ayurvedic and Homoeopathic Practitioners Act II of 1965, the primary function of the National Council for Homoeopathy is:
i) Research in Homoeopathy and
ii) To maintain proper standard and efficacy of homoeopathic Education
Let us frankly admit that we have failed in both. Research is yet to be initiated while it is better not to comment on education and educational standard. It speaks of itself.
This research should have the following aims:
i) To clear these systems of accretions of centuries of doubtful value.
ii) To give scientific meaning and significance to the fundamentals of these systems so that they become acceptable to modern science.
iii) Proving of indigenous plants on Homoeopathic Principles supported by modern techniques.
The main categories under which research is to be conducted shall be:
i) Clinical Research and
ii) Pharmacological Research
Clinical Research:
The research should be carried out in selected Homoeopathic colleges with proper O.P.D and allied facilities. This research should be supervised by the Head of the Institution with the Homoeopathic as well as Allopathic Doctors coordinating with each other. Help and cooperation of Universities and Allopathic medical colleges can also be sought. The research would not involve any risk or danger to human lives, as the material used would be in Homoeopathic potencies, which are non-toxic and non-lethal.
Pharmacological Research:
Pharmacological Research should be conducted on plants and would also not involve any risk or danger being in infinitesimal doses. This research would also be under the supervision of the Head of the Institution and the proving would be supported by use of modern techniques.
To start with the old and established Homoeopathic colleges at Hyderabad, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi be entrusted with this work.
The Pakistan Science Foundation, Islamabad be approached to provide related equipments to these colleges.
The funds be provided by the National Institute of Health or the Ministry of Health be requested to provide the funds for research.
Research in Unani and Ayurvedic medicines can also be conducted on these lines in selected Tibbia Colleges.
Let us hope we don't give a deaf ear or close our eyes to the bare facts as they are and begin in earnest to endeavor our pursuit for the honor and dignity of the profession and the next generation thus enabling them to have an equitable places in the field of medical sciences. |
|
|
