Herbal Medicines Used in the Treatment of Typhoid in the Ga East Municipality of Ghana

Abstract

In Ghana, majority of the people patronize herbal medicines for the treatment of both chronic and acute ailments as well as infectious and non-infectious diseases. As such, the use of herbs as medicines in the treatment of enteric (typhoid) fever is very widespread. Aims: This study therefore investigates anti-typhoidal herbal medicinal formulations that are for sale on the Ghanaian market with regards to the contents on the product labels and assesses the various active plant components in the light of documented evidence of their use in the treatment of typhoid. Bekoe et al.; IJTDH, 23(4): 1-13, 2017; Article no.IJTDH.31448 2 Methodology: Herbal products for the treatment of typhoid were sampled from herbal medicine shops and pharmacies and assessed for the type of formulation, plant and non-plant constituents, dosage, indications, treatment duration and contraindications. Results: Majority of the products (87%, n=16) had registration numbers whilst 13% had none. These anti-typhoid formulations were simultaneously recommended for the treatment of malaria (56%) (9 out of 16 products), jaundice (31%), various types of pains (body pains, headache, menstrual pains) (8%), stress (8%) and fatigue (8%). All the preparations had more than one plant as its active constituent. Forty-four percent (44%) contained 2 plants species as the active ingredients, 37% contained between 3 to 5 plant species, 13% contained 6 to 10 plant species and 6% contained more than 10 plant species. The most frequently occurring active plant constituents of these products were Carica papaya L. (Caricaceae), Morinda lucida (Rubiaceae), Citrus aurantifolia (Rutaceae), Vernonia amygdalina (Compositae) and Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae). Conclusion: In all, thirty-four different plant species belonging to 25 families were found to be present in these products. A literature search on the plants species showed that their traditional use in the treatment of typhoid is well documented and hence their resulting formulations may as well be very effective. Original Research Article

Malaria endemicity: A survey of antimalarial herbal products in Ijebu Ode, Nigeria

“…The others were Nauclea latifolia (55.6%), Enantia chlorantia (44.4%), Sphenocentrum jollyanum, and Citrus aurantifolia (38.9%) (Figure 3). This finding agrees with that of Bekoe et al (2017), who demonstrated the aforementioned as the most recurring plant active constituents of herbal medicines in Ghana. It seems possible that this may be because most herbal preparations were developed for multiple indications.…”

“…It is therefore obvious why most of these herbal preparations are multi-indicated, as further analysis revealed that all the antimalarial herbal preparations contain more than one plant species as their active component, with 66.7% comprising between 1 and 5 plant species as the active ingredients, while 16.7% contain between 5 and 10 and more than 10 active ingredients, respectively (Table 1). This result is consistent with that of Bekoe et al (2017). Of these, Azadirachta indica (83.3%) was the most common active component of the surveyed herbal preparations.…”

“…Moreover, regarding dosage, findings indicated that a sizable proportion (77.8%) of the herbal remedies were measured using a teaspoonful, while only 22.2% were measured using a measuring cup (ml) (Table 1). These results are in agreement with those of Bekoe et al (2017). This, to an extent, addresses one of many drawbacks of local herbal mixtures, which is the lack of appropriate measurement of the dose, causing incorrect measurement and consequently an inaccurate dose, which could either result in poor efficacy or harm due to overdosage.…”

“…It seems possible that this may be because most herbal preparations were developed for multiple indications. For example, one study reported that most Ghanaian herbal users believe that herbal medicine can address many ailments, which subsequently influences the high composition of plant species in the product (Bekoe et al, 2017).…”

“…This trend is similarly observed in Nigeria, where herbal medical practice constitutes a fundamental component of the healthcare system for most lowand middle-income populations. Herbal medicines have been extensively documented for the management of endemic diseases such as malaria (Adibe, 2009;Oreagba et al, 2011), typhoid (Bekoe et al, 2017), and other chronic ailments such as epilepsy (Danesi & Adetunji, 1994), hypertension (Amira & Okubadejo, 2007), diabetes mellitus (Ogbera et al, 2010), cancer (Fakeye et al, 2009), sickle cell anemia, and asthma (Oshikoya et al, 2008).…”