Patented herbal formulations and their therapeutic applications.

Recently, there is a greater global interest in non synthetic, natural medicines derived from plant sources due to better tolerance and minimum adverse drug reactions as compared to synthetic medicines. Herbal products are also commonly used by the patients with certain chronic medical conditions, including breast cancer, liver disease, human immunodeficiency, asthma and rheumatological disorders. WHO estimates that about three-quarters of the world's population currently uses herbs and other forms of traditional medicines for the treatment of various diseases. The herbs are formulated in different modern dosage forms, such as Tablets, Capsules, Topical cream, Gel, Ointment and even some novel drug delivery forms, like extended release, sustained release, and microencapsules dosage forms. Patenting of herbal formulations has increased over the past few years and scientific evidence of therapeutic activity has been reported by performing various in vitro and in vivo experiments. This manuscript deals with various patented herbal formulations with their therapeutic application against various diseases.

Epilepsy: public knowledge and attitude in a slum area of Karachi, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is a common but widely misunderstood illness. Consequently, epileptics suffer from considerable stigmatization in society. Since no studies have detailed the misperceptions about epilepsy in our community, it is not possible to provide focused intervention aimed at eliminating this prejudice. PURPOSE: To assess the knowledge and attitude regarding epilepsy in an adult population of a Karachi slum area. METHODS: A face-to-face interview was conducted on 487 consenting adult non-epileptics (305 males; 182 females) who were conveniently sampled. Chi-square test was employed to calculate the variability in knowledge and attitude with demographic and other variables. RESULTS: In all, 12.5% had never heard about epilepsy. Among the rest, 66.7% identified epilepsy as being non-infectious, while 28.2% were unaware of any treatment available for it. Among the other 71.8%, 62.7% were aware of the existence of anti-epileptic drugs. Religious/spiritual treatment was chosen as the most effective treatment by 33.1%. Males were more likely to identify epilepsy as being non-infectious (p=0.02). Nearly 18% of the respondents would not object to their child marrying an epileptic, 69.5% did not want to socially isolate the epileptics, 83.1% said epileptics could receive academic education, 85.6% said they could perform activities of daily life and 62.4% said they could become useful members of the society. Those who considered epilepsy to be infectious were more likely to carry negative attitudes towards epilepsy (p<0.01 with four attitudes). CONCLUSIONS: Considerable gaps exist in the community's knowledge about epilepsy. Some of these may explain the prevalence of negative attitudes towards this ailment.