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Herbal medicine plays an important role in Nigerian society based on its increased patronage. It encompasses the use of naturally occurring, plant-derived substances which are employed to prevent, manage, or treat illnesses. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of herbal medicine among the residents of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out on 280 residents using self-administered questionnaires comprising demographic information and questions on the knowledge, attitude, and practice of herbal medicine. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 21.0 on 244 valid questionnaires. The prevalence of the use of herbal medicine among the respondents was 88.9%, as many (79.1%) believed that best treatment outcomes can be achieved when herbal medicine is used in combination with conventional medicine. Associations between respondents' demographic characteristics and overall KAP of herbal medicine showed that the level of education and occupation have a significant relationship with the respondents' practice of herbal medicine. There is a high level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of herbal medicine among residents of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, and education and occupation influence the practice of herbal medicine.

Stress alters system physiology as well as humoral immunity and hematology, and its problems have become a global issue. The present study was designed to investigate effects of the use of traditional herbs such as Ocimum gratissimum (OG) on hematological parameters in stressed rats. We subjected adult female Wistar rats to prolonged restrained stress for 14 days and administered 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg of OG leaf extract and Vitamin C respectively for 14 days. Animals (200-250 g) were sacrificed by cervical dislocation at day 0, day 7 and Day 14 so as to assess the dose and time dependent effect of the extract. Findings revealed that OG leaf extract caused a dose-dependent significant protective effect (P<0.05) on the packed cell volume (PCV), total white blood cell (WBC) count, haemoglobin (Hb), platelet count and total red blood cell (RBC) count compared to Vitamin C treated group. Our study confirms that OG leaf extract is better at improving haematological parameters of restrain stressed rats compared to Vitamin C and it was more effective in animals that were administered 100 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of the extract. The result indicates that OG leaf extract could alleviate prolonged exposure to stress by lowering PCV, total WBC, total RBC, hemoglobin count and elevating blood platelets.