Hamdard Pharmacopoeia of Eastern Medicine

by Hakim Mohammed Said

Contents:

1. Preface
2. Survey of drugs : List of medicinal plants used in eastern medicines
3. Pharmacopoeia (As standardised by Hamdard)
4. Pictures of plant drugs used in eastern medicine
5. Pharmaceutical codex (Of eastern medicine)
6. Drug research : Need for research in plant drugs/Salimuzzaman Siddiqui
7. Cardio-vascular pharmotherapeutics of six medicinal plants indigenous to Pakistan and India:
   • I. New vistas in search for antihypertensive agents
   • II. Developments of drugs for the treatment of congestive heart failure and cardiac oedema
8. Development of newer compounds from indigenous sources for the therapy of cardiac arrhythmias
9. Development of new complex coumarins for coronary thrombosis, related thromboembolic episodes and spasmodic conditions of blood vessels
10. Pharmacological studies on Emblica Officinalis Gaertn
11. Khamira Abresham Hakim Arshadwala:
    • I. Its pharmacological studies
    • II. Its effect on serum cholesterol levels in rabbits
12. Studies in Alkaloids of Rauwolfia Serpentina (Benth) and the mode of their occurrence/Salimuzzaman Siddiqui
13. A contribution to the anatomy of tinospora cordifolia (willd) miers/Dost Mohammad Khan, Bashir Hussain and N.A. Malik
14. Studies of Abroma Augusta (Linn.)/Sadiq Ali, Ahmad Mubashar Ahsan and George Hahn
15. Studies on Nepeta Ruderalis Hamilt. Examination of the petroleum ether extractive of the flowers and stems/Usman Ahmad Siddiqui and A.M. Ahsan
16. A pharmacognostic study of Withania Radix/Naseer Ahmad Malik
17. Isolation of a new compound from Lavandula Stoechas (Linn.)/Manzoor-i-Khuda and Moqaddas Ali Khan
18. Studies on Rhazya stricta (Dcne)/Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Yusuf Ahmad and M. Ibrahim Beg
19. Chemical investigation of Commiphora Mukul (Engl)/Amjad Ali and Mashooda Hasan
20. Anatomical studies of Commiphora Mukul (Engl.) and the localization of gums, resins and tannins/S.I. Ahmed, Fatima Asad and S. Shahid Husain
21. A reinvestigation of the alkaloidal constituents of Peganum Harmala/Salimuzzaman Siddiqui.

The eastern system of medicine practised in Pakistan comprises of three systems-Chinese, Ayurvedic and Greco-Arabic, having its roots in drugs of vegetable, animal and mineral origin. Public interest for some special reasons is at present focussed on indigenous herbs and their research. Men of science and medicine are investigating the natural kingdoms for cures of diseases, and we are encouraged to believe from the results obtained so far, that they will be successful.

It was this revival of interest in natural cures that encouraged us to conduct a survey to examine their therapeutic uses and describe the nature of research carried out in this sub-continent for the information of those engaged in research and particularly for those who wish to make this system of medicine the subject of their research activity. The book is divided into four parts, the first comprising a survey of drugs and list of medicinal plants used in eastern medicine, the second being a pharmacopoeia as standardised by Hamdard, the third being a pharmaceutical code of eastern medicine and the fourth, selected papers indicating the extent and scope of drug research.

The knowledge of drugs goes back to prehistoric times. Man as savage must have known by experience how to relieve his sufferings by the use of herbs growing about him. Records of ancient civilisations show that a considerable number of drugs used by modern medicine were already in use in ancient times. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese and people of the sub-continent of India and Pakistan, all developed their respective characteristic materia medica. Modern medicine traces its origin to the Greeks.

The Greek medicine was taken over by the Roman and then by the Arabs from whom, after its enrichment with Chinese and Indian medicine, it was taken over by modern Europe. The muslim rulers introduced it into India and incorporated with it the native Ayurvedic medicine; this mixture is now known as Unani medicine or broadly speaking eastern medicine. A brief account of the progress in the knowledge of drugs is given here.