Pharmacology and Ethnopharmacology

Biography

Biography: Manzoor Hussain

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the major killer ailments in the world. In the remote areas of high altitude of Hazara Division, Northern Pakistan inhabitants largely depend on medicinal plants for curing cardio vascular diseases and income generation. This study has been conducted to record the ethno-pharmacological uses of medicinal plants for cardio vascular diseases management in different regions of Hazara. To best of our knowledge it is first ethno-pharmacological study on cardio-vascular diseases in high altitudes of Hazara. The study aims to report, compare uses, and highlight the ethno-pharmacological significance of medicinal plants for treatment of cardio vascular diseases. Ethnomedicinal information was collected by using semi-structured interviews from 217 informants. A total of 95 species belonging to 51 families were collected and assessed ethno-pharmacologically. The dominant family was Asteraceae, most prevailing life form was herbs (54) than trees (21) while, the commonly used plant parts were leaves. The ethnomedicinal Knowledge was quantitatively analyzed using various indices such as Use value, Fidelity level, Diseases consensus index, Relative Frequency of citation etc. The high altitude areas of Hazara are rich in medicinal plants wealth but ethno-botanical knowledge is decreasing day by day due to high emigration rates resulting from after effects of wars during the last few decades. The continued over-exploitation and changing environmental conditions may lead to the extinction of these species within a few years. Historically developed ethno-botanical heritage should be preserved and promoted on global level for analyzing phytochemical, pharmaceutical and other biological activities for future drug discovery.