Common Herbs in TCM and Ayurvedic Medicine - A Review

Common Herbs in TCM and Ayurvedic Medicine – A Review According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 80% of world's population uses some form of herbal medicine as a remedy. Many modern drugs in Western Medicine have been derived from plants. Herbal Medicine is the mainstay in both traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and ayurvedic medicine (AM). Both single herbs and combination of herbs (formulas) are used for therapeutic purposes in both these systems. Furthermore, they are used in many dosage forms such as decoctions, pills, powders, pastes, plasters, ointments. Classical texts in TCM and AM recommend use of the entire plant or a part of a plant (fresh and/or dry) for the therapeutic benefits. While the herbs used in each system are grown indigenously, it appears that there are several herbs which are common in both these systems. Turmeric (Jianghuang in TCM and Haridra in AM), Caltrop fruit (Bai Ji Li in TCM and Gokshura in AM), Licorice (Gan cao in TCM and Yashtimadhu in AM) are some examples of common herbs in these systems. However, the classical therapeutic indications for these herbs do not match always. Hence a comparative study of the properties of these herbs may be beneficial in expanding the repertoire of therapeutic actions of these herbs. This paper focuses on the comparative study of such common herbs with regard to their classical properties, pharmacological actions and therapeutic indications.