Natural Products & Complementary Medicines: where are we up to?

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has attracted much attention in recent years and has become a significant topic of debate within the healthcare sector. Many patients suffering from serious conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and lower back pain seek alternative therapies including CAM biological products. Clinicians and healthcare practitioners need to be aware of the available clinical evidence relating to CAM-based therapies when advising patients and recommending options. This review presents the recent clinical data investigating the efficacy of CAM therapies for disease management among these groups of patients. A number of cancer drugs are listed which have been developed from natural sources and which have recently gained approval from the EMA and FDA based on clinical trials. Reasons for using CAM and the most frequently used CAM therapies are mentioned as well as the degree of improvement of quality of life based on patients’ experiences.

Most cited references 49

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in cancer patients: a European survey.

A Molassiotis, P. Fernadez-Ortega, D Pud … (2005)

The aim of this study was to explore the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in cancer patients across a number of European countries. A descriptive survey design was developed. Fourteen countries participated in the study and data was collected through a descriptive questionnaire from 956 patients. Data suggest that CAM is popular among cancer patients with 35.9% using some form of CAM (range among countries 14.8% to 73.1%). A heterogeneous group of 58 therapies were identified as being used. Herbal medicines and remedies were the most commonly used CAM therapies, together with homeopathy, vitamins/minerals, medicinal teas, spiritual therapies and relaxation techniques. Herbal medicine use tripled from use before diagnosis to use since diagnosis with cancer. Multivariate analysis suggested that the profile of the CAM user was that of younger people, female and with higher educational level. The source of information was mainly from friends/family and the media, while physicians and nurses played a small part in providing CAM-related information. The majority used CAM to increase the body's ability to fight cancer or improve physical and emotional well-being, and many seemed to have benefited from using CAM (even though the benefits were not necessarily related to the initial reason for using CAM). Some 4.4% of patients, however, reported side-effects, mostly transient. It is imperative that health professionals explore the use of CAM with their cancer patients, educate them about potentially beneficial therapies in light of the limited available evidence of effectiveness, and work towards an integrated model of health-care provision.

0 comments Cited 275 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Natural Products as a Vital Source for the Discovery of Cancer Chemotherapeutic and Chemopreventive Agents

Gordon M. Cragg, John M. Pezzuto (2015)

Throughout history, natural products have played a dominant role in the treatment of human ailments. For example, the legendary discovery of penicillin transformed global existence. Presently, natural products comprise a large portion of current-day pharmaceutical agents, most notably in the area of cancer therapy. Examples include Taxol, vinblastine, and camptothecin. These structurally unique agents function by novel mechanisms of action; isolation from natural sources is the only plausible method that could have led to their discovery. In addition to terrestrial plants as sources for starting materials, the marine environment (e.g., ecteinascidin 743, halichondrin B, and dolastatins), microbes (e.g., bleomycin, doxorubicin, and staurosporin), and slime molds (e.g., epothilone B) have yielded remarkable cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Irrespective of these advances, cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide. Undoubtedly, the prevention of human cancer is highly preferable to treatment. Cancer chemoprevention, the use of vaccines or pharmaceutical agents to inhibit, retard, or reverse the process of carcinogenesis, is another important approach for easing this formidable public health burden. Similar to cancer chemotherapeutic agents, natural products play an important role in this field. There are many examples, including dietary phytochemicals such as sulforaphane and phenethyl isothiocyanate (cruciferous vegetables) and resveratrol (grapes and grape products). Overall, natural product research is a powerful approach for discovering biologically active compounds with unique structures and mechanisms of action. Given the unfathomable diversity of nature, it is reasonable to suggest that chemical leads can be generated that are capable of interacting with most or possibly all therapeutic targets.

0 comments Cited 171 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Galanthamine from snowdrop--the development of a modern drug against Alzheimer's disease from local Caucasian knowledge.

Michael A. Heinrich, Hooi Lee Teoh (2004)

In recent years, galanthamine isolated from several members of the Amaryllidaceae (Leucojum spp., Narcissus species, Galanthus spp.) has become an important therapeutic options used to slow down the process of neurological degeneration in Alzheimer's disease. This review traces aspects of the history of its development from little known observational studies in the Caucasus Mountains (Southern Russia), to the use of this drug in Eastern European countries (esp. Bulgaria) in the treatment of poliomyelitis and ultimately to the recent introduction onto Western markets in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Of note, little is known about the early history of the drug's development and the review also points to other gaps in our knowledge about the ethnopharmacology, pharmacology and clinical use of galanthamine.