THE HISTORICAL CHANGES ON PLAINTAIN ATTENUATED INDOMETHACIN INDUCED GASTRIC INJURY IN ALBINO WISTAR RATS

THE HISTORICAL CHANGES ON PLAINTAIN ATTENUATED INDOMETHACIN INDUCED GASTRIC INJURY IN ALBINO WISTAR RATS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background of the Study

The use of traditional medicines in West Africa is probably as old as the duration of human settlement in the region (Abdul-aguye, 1997). A medicinal plant provides an important source of new chemical substances with potential therapeutic effects. These have been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases and aliments (Mukerjee et al., 1998). It is already important to the global economy with demand steadily increasing not only in developing countries but also in industrialized countries (Sofowara, 1993).

Herbalism or herbal medicine is the use of plants for medicinal purposes, and the study of such use (Briskin, 2000). Herbal medicine is still the mainstay of about 75 - 80% of the world population, mainly in the developing countries, for primary health care (Kamboj, 2000). Plants have been the basis for medical treatments through much of human history, and such traditional medicine is still widely practiced today (Briskin, 2000). This is primarily because of the general belief that herbal drugs are without any side effects besides being cheap and locally available (Gupta and Raina, 1998). Modern medicine recognizes herbalism as a form of alternative medicine as the practice of herbalism is not strictly based on evidence gathered using the scientific method (Talalay, 2001). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the use of herbal remedies throughout the world exceeds that of the conventional drugs by two to three times (Evans, 1994). The use of plants for healing purposes predates human history and forms the origin of much modern medicine. Modern medicine, does, however, make use of many plant-derived compounds