Recognising the impact of traditional herbal medicine in managing cancer: The South African context

Journal of Medicinal Plants for Economic Development

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Recognising the impact of traditional herbal medicine in managing cancer: The South African context
 
Creator Xego, Sibusiso Kambizi, Learnmore Nchu, Felix
 
Subject Botany; Ethnobotany; Ethnopharmacology medicinal plants; combat cancer; healthcare; conventional medicine; traditional medicine; anti-cancer therapies
Description Background: The increasing prevalence of cancer is placing enormous pressure on health infrastructure globally. The ever rising cancer burden is not unique to South Africa but also to many low- and middle-income countries. Natural plant-based products have for long have been used traditionally for treating cancer. Approximately 7% – 48% of cancer diagnosed patients take herbal medicines post diagnosis. As herbal remedies are also used by South Africans, it is justifiable to investigate herbal medicinal use in the prompt detection as well as prevention of cancer.Aim: The aim of this article is to highlight the potential of South African medicinal plants to combat cancer.Method: This review summarises previous research (1991–2020) on the impact of traditional herbal medicine in managing cancer, and identifies the context between traditional and conventional medicines. Scientific databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, Research Gate, and Google Scholar were used to source primary and secondary data for this review.Results: The findings of the present study call for the integration of herbal medicines into the existing healthcare systems to encourage the open use of herbal medicines by cancer patients. In addition, this study revealed 19 medicinal plant species from 15 families that are commonly used for the management of cancer in South Africa’s nine provinces.Conclusion: It is crucial to enhance collaboration between the existing healthcare systems and herbal traditional medicines in the provision of better care to patients at risk of, or who have been diagnosed with, cancer.
 
Publisher AOSIS Publishing
 
Contributor Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Date 2021-11-29
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Review
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/jomped.v5i1.121
 
Source Journal of Medicinal Plants for Economic Development; Vol 5, No 1 (2021); 8 pages 2616-4809 2519-559X
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://jomped.org/index.php/jomped/article/view/121/428 https://jomped.org/index.php/jomped/article/view/121/429 https://jomped.org/index.php/jomped/article/view/121/430 https://jomped.org/index.php/jomped/article/view/121/431
 
Coverage South Africa — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2021 Sibusiso Xego, Learnmore Kambizi, Felix Nchu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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