THE PREVALENCE, PATTERN OF USAGE AND PEOPLE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS HERBAL MEDICINE AMONG INDIAN COMMUNITY

Abstract

The use of herbs for treating various ailment date back several centuries. The belief that natural medicines are much safer than synthetic drugs has gained popularity in recent years and lead to tremendous growth of phytopharmaceutical’s usage. Market driven information on natural product is widespread and has further fostered their use in daily life.

A survey by means of self administered questionnaire and face to face interview was conducted among Indian community inquiring into self health perceptions, herbal medicine use, their attitude towards usage of herbal medicines, pattern of usage, prevalence of use.

The outcome of 85 subjects surveyed was that, age was not a limiting factor in the usage of herbal medicines, as people of age group from 14 to 72 years were using it. Females are the major consumers of herbal medicines. 37% of total population studied was found to be consuming the herbal medicine over a longer period of time and remaining people were consuming over a short duration and later discontinued. The tendency to take herbal medicine was more prominent in patients with chronic diseases and other general ailments.

Herbal medicine use is common among Indian community and is consistent with substantial increase in the use of alternative medical therapies. Awareness of this rising herbal medicine usage and documentation of the use of herbal medicine by health-care staff is important to prevent, recognize, and treat potential problem that may arise from herbal medicine taken alone or in combination with conventional medications due to various drug interactions. There should be universal regulatory system that should ensure the safety of phytopharmaceuticals.