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•         Antoni van Leuwenhock was first to see bacteria

•         Louis Pasteur was the founder of the Germ Theory of Disease

•         Micro organism enter the body in number of ways

•         Specific diseases are caused by specific micro-organism

•         Natural immunity is an inherited resistance to infection.

Symptoms of Lower UTI (Cystitis, Urethritis) in Adults:

•         Back pain

•         Blood in the urine (hematuria)

•         Cloudy urine

•         Inability to urinate despite the urge

•         Fever

•         Frequent need to urinate

•         Painful urination (dysuria)

•         Malaise (general discomfort)

Phylosophycal - The Germ Theory

•         Preventive measures were aimed at the destruction of pathogenic bacteria.

•         Therapeutic measures suggested by the Germ Theory included asepsis, antisepsis and disinfection.

•         Further measures put into effect are avoidance of sources of infection.

•         More scientific basis “Robert Koch postulates”

This germ Theory of disease was hailed as answer to most of the medical problems of the time. They considered it solved the problem of how disease starts and how it may be spread, at the same time, it suggested to them how disease may be avoided and how it may be cured. e.g.

1- Preventive measures (prophylaxes) were aimed at the destruction of pathogenic bacteria and at preventing these from spreading from centers of infection to individual and public in generally.

These measures included such public health works as efficient removal of sewage, supply of clear water and food, isolation of infected. It also included such measures as vaccination (smallpox) immunization (Diphtheria whooping cough, typhoid, etc). Other simple methods (washing of hands before food and after defaecation).

2- Therapeutic measures suggested by the Germ Theory are: the use of asepsis, antisepsis, and disinfection.The inhibition of microorganisms by the use of chemotherapy and antibiotics. The use of sera such as diphtheria antitoxin and removal of organs or tissues which are"foci of infection" (Tonsils).

3- further measures included destruction of sources of infection , and the destruction of rats ,mice and other animal vectors which spread infection.

4- The specifity of a micro organism is conclusively demonstrated when Koch postulates are fulfilled:

(a) the microorganism is found in each and every case of the disease.

(b) it is found with any other disease.

(c) it must be obtained in pure culture from the person suffering the disease

(d) it must be possible to produce the same disease again by inoculation.

Taking all these into consideration we will proceed further to explain how Herbal materia medica be used to prevent diseases as a low cost medication available for all people.

The advice

•         More than 95% of the population in the least developing countries use herbs for health and other purposes.

•         More than one third of American and Europeans use herbs for health purposes, spending over 7.0 billion annually.

•         More than 25% of modern pharmacceutical drugs have botanical origins.

To focus on Herbal medica we have to note that, a large and increasing number of patients in all over the world use medicinal herbs or seek the advice of their physician (Developed world) or Traditional Healers and Hakim's (least developing world), yet patients and(physicians) often lack accurate information about the safety and efficacy of herbal remedies.

Popular use of medicinal herbs makes it necessary for physicians to became aware of their health benefits, risks, and uncertainties so that they can educate their patients and the public in general .

Plants have been used medicinally through out the history, you can not ignore this fact specially if you are located in one of the least developing countries, where uses of plants are intensified in proportion with the increase of certain diseases such as AIDS. Even in the most developed countries , many herbs were considered conventional medicines and as such were included in medical curricula (e.g British Pharmacopoeia and the United States). Also a pharmaceutical industry capable of mass production of purified herbs were developed, but unlike the purified herbs in the developed countries, medicinal herbs are not required to demonstrate either safety or efficacy prior to prescription by the traditional healers in the least developed countries, nor are their preparation, time of harvesting and storage condition be identified.
It is worth to recognize that more than about 25 % of modern pharmaceutical drugs have botanical origins, such as digoxin from foxgloves, morphine from poppies, aspirin from willow bark and tomoxifen from pacific yew tree, and so on…..

What if?

What if a patient who has the immunodeficiency virus has an increasing viral load and ask your advise about a medicinal herb for his case?

*What if you don’t have access to Amanatadine for prevention and treatment of Influenza A?

What if you are located in an area where medicinal herbs are used intensively by public?

Imagine the following are patients in your primary health care practice or in the remote area health care unit were you been assigned to treat:

*The first patient who has the human immunodeficiency virus, has an increasing viral load. He expresses fear of "medicine" but request information on Allium Sativum (garlic) or information about St John's Wort (SJW) in hopes of "naturally" curing his immunodeficiency virus and depression?

*What if your spouse has high cholesterol, and wonder if any herbal remedies might benefit her.

*As we noted earlier, traditional use has revealed sometimes serious toxic effects associated with some common medicinal herbs, on the other hand the traditional use categorized some herbs as generally safe for consumption based on long term and or widespread traditional use without significant side effects. The remaining part of this topics will be review in another articles about some medicinal herbs, their safety and efficacy.

Medicinal Herbs* 

Viruses are dificult to inactivate chemically and usually require highly toxic agents to do so.

Once a cell is infected it is difficult selectively to inhibit virus without harming the cell.

* Medicinal herbs contribute to the fight against viral infections through enhancement of immunity.123

Antibiotic

Antibiotic have an important place in modern drug medicine and prevention of

various aliments. The philosophy behind their use in the treatment of infections is simple; they kill the invading organism without harming the host tissue. The development of antiviral drugs along similar lines has not lived up to early expectations. This is largely because a virus does not show all the qualities of a living organism until it invades the host cell . This means that:

- Viruses are difficult to inactivate chemically and usually require highly toxic agents to do so.

- Once a cell is infected it is difficult selectively to inhibit the virus without harming the cell.

Also viruses can exhibit rapid rates of mutation which make immunity difficult to sustain.

It is even possible that viruses, through natural selection, are becoming better equipped at infecting host cells and evading immune destruction.

The world least developing Countries are currently facing the prospects of two major chronic viral epidemics among other prevailing infectious diseases, those are AIDS and Hepatitis B, and due to the poverty and lack of health care facilities, uses of medicinal herbs has consequently intensified , and have much to offer in this area. Plants are subject to viral infections too and it is possible that they have evolved effective and nontoxic antiviral metabolites. Even if this is not the case, the diversity of chemical compounds found in plants far exceeds the human imagination, and it is likely that potent non-toxic antiviral agents already exist, however it is unfortunate that medicinal plants which can contribute to the prevention of so many infectious diseases are underscored only by the traditional healers, waiting recognition and new developments in research to take place by professional investigators from and outside of this least developed world. We will now proceed to review some commonly used herbs (Herbal medical)

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