Pharmacodynamic Basis of hErBaL mEdicinE

762 Pages·2007·17.86 MB·English

by  Pamela Morrell

Pharmacodynamic Basis of
hErBaL mEdicinE
SECOND EDITION
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Pharmacodynamic Basis of
hErBaL mEdicinE
SECOND EDITION
manuchair Ebadi, Ph.D., F.A.C.C.P.
Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and of Clinical Neuroscience
Associate Vice President for Medical Research
School of Medicine and Health Sciences
University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, North Dakota
CRC Press
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© 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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International Standard Book Number-10: 0-8493-7050-7 (Hardcover)
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-8493-7050-2 (Hardcover)
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ebadi, Manuchair S.
Pharmacodynamic basis of herbal medicine / Manuchair Ebadi.--2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8493-7050-7 (alk. paper)
1. Herbs--Therapeutic use. I. Title.
RM666.H33E23 2006
615’.321--dc22 2006043867
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I dedicate this book to my beloved grandchildren,
Jesse Manu Ebadi,
Caylin Jane McCormick,
Christine Pari McCormick,
and Jolie Manizeh Ebadi.
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In books lie the soul of the whole past time,
the articulate audible voice of the past,
when the body and material substances
of it have altogether vanished like a dream.
— Thomas Carlyle
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Preface to the First Edition
Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.), who used many of the herbal medicines described in this book, lamented,
“Life is short, and the art long; the occasion fleeting; experience fallacious; and judgment difficult.”
Herbal remedies have become a major component of American health care. Botanicals like
ginseng, ma huang, St. John’s wort, and valerian are now household words throughout the world,
and the sales of herbal medicine are increasing exponentially.
Alternative therapies include acupuncture, energy healing, folk medicines, herbal medicines,
homeopathy, massage, and megavitamins, to name only a few. Millions of people in the third world
have used and will always use herbal medicines because they believe in them and regard them as
“their” medicine, in contrast to the “allopathic” (conventional Western) system of medicine brought
in from “outside.” These medicinal herbs are available locally and are prescribed by traditional
practitioners of medicine who are part of the community and in whose presence the patient feels
comfortable. In Western countries, there is now an increased use of herbal medicines, largely
because of a belief that powerful synthetic agents used in Western medicine can exert more unwanted
side effects and are too often used indiscriminately and irrationally. Many of our present medicines
are derived directly or indirectly from higher plants. Although several classic plant drugs have lost
much ground to synthetic competitors, others have gained a new investigational or therapeutic
status in recent years. In addition, a number of novel plant-derived substances have entered into
Western drug markets.
The word pharmacodynamic may be defined as the study of the actions and effects of drugs
on organ, tissue, cellular, and subcellular levels. Therefore, pharmacodynamics provides us with
information about how drugs bring about their beneficial effects and how they cause their side
effects. By understanding and applying the knowledge gained in studying pharmacodynamics,
physicians and other members of the health-care delivery team are able to provide effective and
safe therapeutic care to their patients. Western physicians prescribing synthetic drugs may want to
believe in herbal medicines and use them in their patients, but wish to see scientific documentation
as they have learned in their pharmacology and therapeutic courses in medical school. Eastern
physicians yearn to find out how their drugs, proven efficacious for thousands of years in ancient
civilizations such as Chinese, Indian, Persian, and Egyptian, work and bring about their beneficial
effects. This book bridges the past to the present and shows at the molecular level how the herbal
medications most often used work. For example:
• This book shows how Eastern physicians used meadow saffron, which is good for gout,
but also provides evidence that meadow saffron possesses colchicines, an antigoutic
medication, and provides the mechanisms of action for it.
• This book shows how Eastern physicians used belladonna alkaloid for Parkinson’s disease
but also provides evidence that belladonna alkaloid contains anticholinergic drugs, which
counterbalance the dopamine deficiency syndrome seen in Parkinson’s disease.
• This book shows how Indians used Rauwolfia serpentina to reduce blood pressure and
as an antipsychotic, but also shows that it contains reserpine, which depletes norepi-
nephrine in the periphery bringing about its antihypertensive effects and depletes dopam-
ine in the mesocortical system causing tranquility.
• This book compares the actions of fluoxetin, the most frequently used antidepressant in
the world, with those of St. John’s wort, in altering the uptake of serotonin.
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• This book compares the hypnotic and sedative actions of valerian used for thousand
years to treat insomnia with those of benzodiazepine derivatives in altering GABAergic
transmission.
• This book describes the existence of drugs isolated from food substances such as horse-
radish, garlic, and rhubarb, and provides their mechanisms of action.
• This book describes the efficacy of Shing Jing in male fertility and erectile dysfunction
and compares its efficacy with those brought about by levodopa, amylnitrite, vitamin E,
and sildenafil (Viagra).
The majority of believers in alternative medicine are more educated, but they report poorer
health status. They take herbal medicine not so much because are dissatisfied with conventional
medicines, but largely because they find these health-care alternatives to be more congruent with
their own values, beliefs, and philosophical orientations toward health care and life in general.
M. Ebadi
Grand Forks, North Dakota
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Acknowledgments for the First
Edition
The author expresses his appreciation to Liz Covello, the former publisher of life sciences for CRC
Press LLC, and Barbara Ellen Norwitz, the current publisher of life sciences for CRC Press LLC
for a gracious invitation to prepare a book on herbal medicine. The author acknowledges the support
of Tiffany Lane, editorial assistant, and the magnificent contribution of Gail Renard, production
editor, for polishing and refining the book.
The author extends his expression of admiration to Debra Jean Kroese, Dawn Halvorson, Lacy
Kay Boushee, and HaleyAnn Kroese for gathering reference materials and for typing certain sections
of the book.
The author remains indebted to Victoria Swift, the director of the art department at the University
of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences for her marvelous artistic talent in
completing many of the diagrams; and to Betty Ann Karolski, the associate director, Biomedical
Communications Information Technology Services at the University of Nebraska Medical Center
for her support in completing this book.
The author extends his grateful appreciation and eternal sense of indebtedness to KayLynn
Marie Bergland for her magnificent dedication to her job, marvelous work ethics, and incredible
skills in typing, reading, editing, proofing, and revising the entire book.
The author pays an affectionate tribute and extends his heartfelt gratitude to H. David Wilson,
M.D., the eminent Dean and Vice President for Health Affairs, University of North Dakota School
of Medicine and Health Sciences, for his unyielding support, Solomonic wisdom, and genuine
friendship in facilitating the completion of this book.