Greco-Arab and Islamic Herbal Medicine: Traditional System, Ethics, Safety, Efficacy, and Regulatory Issues

“The formula adopted in Greco-Arab and Islamic Herbal Medicine makes it appealing to a broad spectrum of readers on both regional and global levels.” (HerbalGram, 1 February 2013)

As one of the foremost herbal systems in the world, traditional Arab-Islamic herbal medicine plays an increasingly influential role in modern Western medicine. This book addresses the need in the field for a comprehensive, English-language work on the subject, introducing an important academic treatment of Arab herbal medicine.

The authors offer for the first time an introduction to various details using original ethnopharmacological surveys they conducted in the Mediterranean area. Drawing on expertise in pharmacology, cell biology, and immunology, they combine scientific knowledge with herbal wisdom, discussing a full range of topics, from historical overview to Arabic medical principles. Special emphasis is given to the potential use of Arab herbal medicines in modern drug discovery and therapies. Coverage includes:

• Common roots of Arab and Western medicine

• Traditional as well as evidence-based applications of commonly used herbal medicines

• Methodology of drug discovery and therapy in Arabic and Islamic medicine

• The use of in vitro and in vivo techniques for the evaluation of plant safety and efficacy

• Toxicity of herbal formulations, quality assurance, and chemical analytical techniques

• The use of medicinal plants and methods for extracting their active ingredients

• Regulations governing the sale of herbal remedies in different countries

Complete with hundreds of citations from original scientific papers and articles, as well as numerous figures, tables, and color photographs of medicinal plants, Greco-Arab and Islamic Herbal Medicine is an invaluable resource for researchers in academia and industry and for anyone with an interest in herbal medicine, natural products, and dietary supplements.