Bashar Saad
The Galilee Society R&D Center (Affiliated with Haifa University, Haifa, Israel), PO Box 437, Shefa-Amr 20200, Israel
Hassan Azaizeh
The Galilee Society R&D Center (Affiliated with Haifa University, Haifa, Israel), PO Box 437, Shefa-Amr 20200, Israel
Ghassan Abu-Hijleh
Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Arab American University, Jenin, PO Box 240, Jenin, Palestine
Omar Said
The Galilee Society R&D Center (Affiliated with Haifa University, Haifa, Israel), PO Box 437, Shefa-Amr 20200, Israel
Keywords:
Arab herbal medicine, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), in vitro, in vivo, toxicity tests
Abstract
Herbal remedies are widely used for the treatment and prevention of various diseases and often contain highly active pharmacological compounds. Many medicinal herbs and pharmaceutical drugs are therapeutic at one dose and toxic at another. Toxicity related to traditional medicines is becoming more widely recognized as these remedies become popular in the Mediterranean region as well as worldwide. Most reports concerning the toxic effects of herbal medicines are associated with hepatotoxicity although reports of other toxic effects including kidney, nervous system, blood, cardiovascular and dermatologic effects, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity have also been published in the medical literature. This article presents a systematic review on safety of traditional Arab medicine and the contribution of Arab scholars to toxicology. Use of modern cell biological, biochemical, in vitro and in vivo techniques for the evaluation of medicinal plants safety is also discussed.
Keywords: Arab herbal medicine, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), in vitro, in vivo, toxicity tests
Author Biography
Bashar Saad, The Galilee Society R&D Center (Affiliated with Haifa University, Haifa, Israel), PO Box 437, Shefa-Amr 20200, Israel
Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Arab American University, Jenin, PO Box 240, Jenin, Palestine
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