Labiatae family is well represented in Iran by 46 genera and 410 species and subspecies. Many members of this family are used in traditional and folk medicine. Also they are used as culinary and ornamental plants. There are no distinct references on the ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology of the family in Iran and most of the publications and documents related to the uses of these species are bot...

Interest in marijuana’s effects on various aspects of reproduction has a surprisingly long history. In his absorbing account of cannabis, Abel (1980) describes how Eastern European folk medicine has proclaimed for several centuries that marijuana could be used to hasten delivery. Reports from India that circulated widely in Europe discussed marijuana as both a sexual stimulant and a sexual inhi...

This work presents a study of the importance of natural products, especially those derived from higher plants, in terms of drug development. It describes the main strategies for obtaining drugs from natural sources, fields of knowledge involved, difficulties and perspectives. It also includes a brief discussion of the specific situation in Brazil regarding the use of, trade in, and research int...

Bioprospecting describe the procedure of exploration, extraction, screening and trading of new products using biological diversity as source. Bioprospecting process is a multidisciplinary enterprise that involves various research actors and scientific subjects. Also a bioprospecting program investigates the indigenous understanding about practices and characteristics of medicinal plants and ani...

It is difficult to pick up a newspaper today witlhout reading something about acupuncture. Considcering that acupuncture has been well-known and in continuous tuse for about 5000 years, one wonders wlhy it is the focus of so much attention in the UnitedI States to(lay and whetlher it miglht hold a promise relevant to some of the most turgent problems facing American Medicine. Acupuncture is par...

Traditional folk medicine makes good use of the flora and fauna of a region, including a number of mineral substances. These herbs and animals are used either whole or in part and made up in either simple or complicated preparations and have proved to be effective therapeutic remedies. Some of these medicinal substances of animal origin have been quite thoroughly studied with modern scientific ...

Every society has got a body of beliefs. norms and concepts with regard to the nature of disease and its treatment. These are clos ely integrated with the cultural matrix or social organization of the society. According to their own concepts of cause and prevention, the people practise some form of preventive medicine. The character and dynamism of any form of preventive and curative medicine d...