Traditional system of medicine and its merits towards achievement of universal healthcare

1. B y :
D o n a l d Ta n d i a
E n r o l l n o : B T N 1 8 3 2 0 3 1
P a p e r : H e r b a l b i o t e c h n o l o g y
D e p a r t m e n t o f M B B T
U G 5 t h S e m , C o t t o n U n i v e r s i t y
Merits of
traditional system
of medicine

2. 01Introduction
02Overview of Traditional
system of medicine
04
Merits of traditional
medicine
03
Conclusion
CONTENTS

3. 01 INTRODUCTION
“We cannot ignore the potential of traditional medicine.”
- Sylvie Lucas (2009)

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• Since prehistoric times, humans have used natural products, such as plants, animals,
microorganisms, and marine organisms, in medicines to alleviate and treat diseases.
According to fossil records, the human use of plants as medicines may be traced back at
least 60,000 years.
• The use of natural products as medicines must, of course, have presented a
tremendous challenge to early humans. It is highly probable that when seeking food,
early humans often consumed poisonous plants, which led to vomiting, diarrhea, coma,
or other toxic reactions, perhaps even death. However, in this way, early humans were
able to develop knowledge about edible materials and natural medicines. Subsequently,
humans invented fire, learned how to make alcohol, developed religions, and made
technological breakthroughs, and they learned how to develop new drugs.
• Traditional medicines make use of natural products and are of great importance. Such
forms of medicine as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, Kampo, Traditional
Korean Medicine (TKM), and Unani employ natural products and have been practiced all
over the world for hundreds or even thousands of years, and they have blossomed into
orderly-regulated systems of medicine. In their various forms, they may have certain
defects, but they are still a valuable repository of human knowledge.

5. 02 Overview of traditional
system of medicine

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• Traditional medicine is the oldest form of health care in the world and is
used in the prevention, and treatment of physical and mental illnesses.
• Different societies historically developed various useful healing methods to
combat a variety of health and life threatening diseases.
• It is also variously known as complementary and alternative, or ethnic
medicine, and it still plays a key role in many countries today.
• The traditional system of medicine usually deals with the heal practices, approaches,
knowledge and beliefs which are based on plants, animals, minerals based medicines as
well as spiritual therapies and exercises so as to treat, diagnose and prevent illness and
maintain well being.
• It is being used since time immemorial and has always played a major role as sources
for drug lead compounds. The discoveries of new improved drugs and medicine are the
result of the renewing traditional system of medicine which has revolutionized the
world today.

7. 03 Merits of traditional system ofmedicine

8. 1. Cost effective:
2. Acceptance in modern
world due to its
effectiveness:
3. Has considerably less
side effects:
.
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One of the merits of traditional
system of medicine is that it is
cost ineffective as compared to
the modern technology and
could be afforded easily.
They are being widely accepted
as the primary health care of
individuals and communities in
many developed countries
where the modern technology
was predominant and there has
been an increase in the
international trade of these
medicine.
Treatment with traditional system of
medicine is considerably safe with
minimal side effects because these
remedies are in sync with nature
which is the biggest merit. Most
medications and stimulants
designed to help the body often
come with a number of bad side
effects, but fortunately, this is not
the case with traditional medicine.
In fact, the few side effects that do
come with this system of medicine
are practically harmless.

9. 5. Basis for improved drugs:
6. Promote conservation of
natural biodiversity.
.
7. Strong credibility:
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The discoveries of new improved drugs
and medicine in new biological
technologies and synthetic chemistry is
surprisingly dependent on the renewing
of the past traditional knowledge
origins for the betterment of human
lives.
Therefore , we can even say that this
system of medicine acts as a roadmap in
order for the discovery of new improved
drugs to combat diseases.
The Ayurveda and Traditional
Chinese Medicine , are evolving
and their prevalence and practice
is growing throughout the world.
They are used to prevent and
treat disease. And the fact that
they have survived 3000 years
with the credibility itself explains
the fact that these treatments
have stood the test of the time.
Since the traditional system of medicine
are mainly extracted from plants, it also
promotes the conservation and
maintenance of natural biodiversity of
world.

10. 8. Effective with chronic
condition:
9.Easily accessible:
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Traditional system of medicine are proved
to be more effective in treating long-term,
chronic and complicated conditions.
For example: Arthritis is treated more
effectively by herbal products than by
pharmaceutical drugs. Introduction of
certain herbs into the diet of arthritis
patients and some alteration in the diet
showed more results than being treated
by modern medicine.
Traditional medicine i.e, herbal products
are very easily accessible. They are given
to an individual from a pharmacy or a
health-care without a prescription. Some
are even grown in our kitchen garden such
as Tulsi, Mint, etc. We can even plant
other herbs with particular medicinal
values in our homes and consume it when
in need or in an emergency. Traditional
system of medicine is the only treatment
found in some remote corners of the
world.

11. Malaria and Herbal Medicine :
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Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and a
major public health problem in many developing countries.
Half of the world's population is at risk of malaria, and an
estimated 247 million cases led to nearly a million deaths in
2006. One hundred and nine countries were endemic for
malaria in 2008, 45 within the WHO African region.
Malaria also causes significant economic damage in high-rate
areas, and disproportionately affects poor people who cannot
afford treatment or have limited access to health care.
Traditional medicines are the source of some modern anti-
malarial drugs (artemisinin and quinine derivatives).
Artemisinin was isolated in 1972 as the active ingredient of the
plant Artemisia annua, and this innovation relied upon the
Chinese traditional medical text, “Handbook of Prescriptions
for Emergencies”, written in the 3rd century A.D. Artemisia
annua had been used to treat malaria in China for thousands of
years.

12. Traditional medicine towards the
achievement of universal healthcare:
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In 21st century, tremendous advances in healthcare sector
coexist with inequities in accessibility, availability and
affordability of the healthcare facilities in many parts of the
world. Since last few decades, there is a growing interest in
traditional medicine in all over the globe. Variety, flexibility,
easy availability, religious/social acceptance, relative low
side effect and cost became the key factor for the growth of
traditional medicine. Of course, these also provide us the
opportunity to integrate such medicine in primary
healthcare to facilitate the people health. However, the path
is not so easy. A number of approaches have been
formulated toward the mainstreaming of traditional
medicine in healthcare system.
But evidence based approach to utilize both conventional as
well as traditional medicine in conjunction could be the best
option to provide healthcare facility to all.

13. Future perspectives:
Despite several problems, one cannot
discount the past importance of plants as
sources of structurally novel drugs and it
provides a great opportunity to the
scientists in the field of Natural Product
Chemistry, Pharmacognosy, Pharmacology,
Ethnobotany and other related fields of
life science to come together and work
in the direction of getting new drugs from
Natural Sources, especially from Plants
for betterment of mankind.
The importance of natural products
in the future of drug discovery is
clear: novel biologically active
natural products will continue to
serve as lead compounds for drug
development and is biochemical
probes for the discovery of
pharmacological and biochemical
process:

14. • Combining the strengths of the
knowledge base of traditional
systems such as ayurveda with the
dramatic power of combinatorial
chemistry will help in the
generation of structure–activity
libraries.
• Traditional knowledge and
experiential database can provide
new functional leads to reduce time,
money and toxicity – the three main
hurdles in drug development. These
records are particularly valuable,
since effectively these medicines
have been tested for thousands of
years on people.
• Ayurveda and other traditional
systems of medicine, rich genetic
resources and associated
ethno-medical knowledge are key
components for sustainable
bio-prospecting and value-addition
processes. For drug-targeted
bio-prospecting an industrial partner
is needed, which will be instrumental
in converting the discovery into a
commercial product.

15. 04 Conclusion

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• Traditional system of medicine is one of the age-old practices and
humans have postulated and ultimately established this system, in
particular, the usage of traditional medicinal plants through empirical
observation and by trial and error experiment. Even in the era of
modern computational pharmacology approach, traditional medicinal
plants serve as an important source and as a tool to treat various
ailments in the developing countries.
• Currently, the world’s most efficacious potent antimalarials such as
chloroquine and artemisinin are the gifts of our precious traditional
knowledge and custom of traditional medicinal plants. The recent
success of drug development from medicinal plants inspires and
encourages many researchers to investigate and validate the uses of
traditional medicinal plants.
• However, there are many thorny issues and daunting challenges
that need to be addressed effectively and immediately for the
promotion of traditional medicinal plants. The collaborative efforts of
ethnobotanists, anthropologists, pharmacists, and physicians could
be a workable strategy to evaluate and validate the usage custom of
traditional medicinal plants with the existing modern scientific
methods and innovative techniques.

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From my personal observation, being born
and brought up in developing country like
India, especially from the rural section of the
society, I have experienced that the sick
primarily approach the proximate traditional
healer who is the primary health care
provider in that area. Subsequently, they may
travel to the adjacent modern (allopathy)
health facilities if they do not get completely
cured by the former.
In a true sense, our traditional knowledge on
medicinal plants plays a major role, especially
in developing countries, and helps the rural
poor to lead a healthier and disease-free life.

18. Reference:
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• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S222541101630030X
• https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/tk/en/resources/pdf/medical_tk.pdf
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6273146/
•https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26626847_Plants_in_traditional
_medicinal_system-Future_source_on_new_drugs

19. THANK YOU