Arab herbal medicine.

Abstract

Despite the great progress in modern medicine, traditional medicine has always been practised in the Arab-Islamic world. Cultural beliefs and practices often lead to self-care or home remedies in rural areas and consultation with traditional healers. Traditional therapies have been utilized by people in the Mediterranean region who have faith in spiritual healers, homeopaths or even many herbalists. These are the first choice for problems such as infertility, impotence, diabetes, obesity, epilepsy, psychosomatic troubles and many other diseases. The modern use of Arab botanical medicines has historical roots in ancient Arabic medicine. In the Middle Ages Arab herbalists, pharmacologists, chemists and physicians adapted the ancient medicinal practices of Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Persia and India. Medical innovations introduced by Arab physicians included: the discovery of the immune system, the introduction of microbiological science, and the separation of medicine from pharmacological science. This chapter presents a systematic review on traditional Arab botanical medicine including historical background, medical innovations introduced by Arab and Muslim physicians, and a state of the art description of traditional Arab herbal medicine.

Cancer Treatment by Greco-Arab and Islamic Herbal Medicine

“…Several studies have revealed that natural products exhibit an extensive spectrum of biological activities such as, stimulation of the immune system, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-hepatotoxic, anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-mutagenic, and anti-cancer effects [6,36,66,[84][85][86]. A variety of grains, cereals, nuts, soy products, olives, beverages such as tea and coffee, and spices including turmeric, garlic, ginger, black pepper, cumin and caraway confer a protective effect against cancer [33,35,36,66,85,87].…”

“…One method he discovered was the "Hindiba", (chicorium intybus) an herbal compound drug which Ibn al-Baitar later identified as having anticancer properties and which could also treat other tumors and neoplastic disorders [6,[11][12][13][20][21][22].…”

“…For the next 700 years, Arabic became the most important scientific language of the world and the repository of much of the wisdom and the sciences of antiquity [6,[11][12][13]. During this golden age of the Arab-Islamic civilization, numerous scientific and medical innovations were introduced: The discovering of the immune system, the introduction of microbiological science, the Introduction of scientific methods to medicine, including animal tests, clinical trials, and quantification and the separation of medicine from pharmacological science.…”

“…Advanced tumors are treated usually by chemotherapy and although these drugs are effective, they are associated with severe adverse events and drug resistance [2,3]. In the search for new cancer therapeutics with low toxicity and minimal side effects, traditional Islamic medicines might be promising candidates [4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

Integration of Unani Medicine in Cancer Management

“…However, cauterization is contraindicated, if the cancerous tumor has come close to sensitive and vital organs. [9] Collectively it can be summed that black bile plays a pivotal role in the development of cancer. Black bile purgatives play an important role in early stages of cancer therapy.…”