ABSTRACT
Marine macroalgae or seaweeds have been used as food, especially in China and Japan, and crude drugs for treatment of many diseases such as iodine deficiency (goiter, Basedow’s disease, and hyperthyroidism). Some seaweeds have also been used as a source of additional vitamins and other nutrients (see Chapters 2 and 3), treatment of various intestinal disorders, as vermifuges (Chapter 9), as antiviral (Chapter 5), as antibacterial (Chapter 8), as antifungal (Chapter 7), as antitumoral (Chapter 6), as anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, and antithrombotic (Chapter 10), as neuroprotective (Chapter 11), as hypocholesterolemic and hypoglycemic agents (Chapter 4), and in thalassotherapy treatments (Chapter 12). Seaweeds have been also employed as dressings, ointments, and in gynecology (Trease and Evanes 2009).
