ABSTRACT
The column in Table 2.1 on medicinal uses of the plants is mainly from the collation of several published sources and correspondents. The diseases treated and the biological activities are used interchangeably in this column to reflect the actual format used in the original reports. Pharmacological terms have been used for the activities of the plants employed in the treatment of disease conditions that are not adequately described by healers in modern pathological terms, which means that the usage has to be interpreted in the broadest sense possible. Some seemingly contradictory responses received on the use and biological activities of some of the plants are retained since it is now known that the activity of plant extracts depends on several factors and may sometimes have opposite effects, depending on the method of preparation, dosage, and physiological state of the patient. The activities listed in this chapter are based on neither the results of pharmacological studies nor the reports of controlled clinical trials. They are based entirely on reported ethnomedical uses.
