Medicinal Plants and Malaria: Applications, Trends, and Prospects

Malaria is a potentially life-threatening disease that affects millions worldwide, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The recent emergence and spread of multidrug resistance in parts of Southeast Asia prompts the urgent need for novel and effective therapy against the disease. Medicinal Plants and Malaria: Applications, Trends, and Prospects highlights the therapeutic potential of plants for treating malaria. It collates useful information on malaria, current prevention and treatment, and scientific research carried out. This up-to-date book details the medicinal plant species used in treating malaria and describes the plant parts used, methods of preparation, and doses where available. The book begins with a brief introduction of malaria, and covers its epidemiology and implications on public health, the life cycle of Plasmodium parasites, clinical presentation of the disease, currently available antimalarial drugs and their roles in therapy, and medicinal plants used for malaria, including those that are currently in clinical use in various countries. It discusses the latest findings from ethnobotanical research, the challenges and isolation of antiplasmodial phytochemicals from medicinal plants, and the results from clinical trials and public health interventions using medicinal plants. This book has something for everyone, serving as a vital resource for students, teachers, healthcare professionals, and researchers interested in medicinal plants and promising antimalarial preparations. It will also appeal to those in the general public who are interested in herbal medicine and how plants can be used to prevent and treat malaria.