Medicine, in several developing countries, using local traditions and beliefs, is still the mainstay of health care. Medicinal plants, since times immemorial, have been used in virtually all cultures as a source of medicine. The widespread use of herbal remedies and health care preparations, as those described in ancient texts such as the Vedas and the Bible, and obtained from commonly used traditional herbs and medicinal plants, has been traced to the occurrence of natural products with medicinal properties. The use of traditional medicine and medicinal plants in most developing countries, has been widely observed. Further more, an increasing reliance on the use of medicinal plants in the industrialised societies has been traced to the extraction and development of several drugs and chemotherapeutics from these plants as well as from traditionally used rural herbal remedies. Moreover, in these societies, herbal remedies have become more popular in the treatment of minor ailments and also on account of the increasing costs of personal health maintenance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Atiya Khanum
Dr. Atiya Khanum obtained her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Botany from the Osmania University, Hyderabad. Dr. Khanum has worked on the ecology of two lakes of Hyderabad with special reference eto Planktonic and Mat-forming algal communities. She is Associate Professor and Head of the P.G. Department of Botany. Nawab Shah Alam Khan Centre for Post Graduate Studies and Research (Affiiated to the Osmania University), Anwarul Uloom College Campus, Mallepally, Hyderabad. She teaches Ecology, Environmental Biology and Phytogeography to the Post Graduate students at this center. She has published 34 research articles in reputed journals. Dr. Khanum has also co-authored three text books and co-edited nineteen reference books with her husband, Dr. Irfan Ali Khan.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Irfan Ali Khan
Dr. Irfan Ali Khan obtained his M.Sc. from the Alilgarh Muslim University and Ph.D. in Botany from the Osmania University, Hyderabad, specializing in Genetics and Plant Breeding Dr.Khan is the Director of Nawab Shah Alam Khan Centre for Post graduate Studies and Research (Affiliated to the Osmania University), Anwarul Uloom College Campus, Mallepally, Hyderabad. He teaches Post Graduate students and guides research scholars at this center. He has publsiehd 135 research papers in the reputed National and International Journals and is now panel of experts on mungbean for all countries of the South-East Asia and the Middle East. His name has been included in the Directory of contribution of Muslim Plant Scientists in India. Dr. Khan has been the editor of "frontiers in Plant Science", has edited twenty six reference books and has co-authored three text books with his wife, Dr. Atiya Khanum. He is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Genetics (F.I.s.G.).
There are no reviews yet.