Medicinal qualities of plants shown to ease symptoms of genetic disease

Phytomedicines are medicines derived from plants and often responsible for the healing effects of traditional remedies used.

The use of phytomedicines represents an important convergence of traditional and classical medical treatments. One phytomedicine has been used in the treatment of sickle cell disease, and a systematic review of the available data indicates that it reduced the number of crisis periods with severe pain that people experienced over a six-month period. Furthermore, no adverse side symptoms were noted following the use of the phytomedicine.

The Cochrane Library - Issue 3 of 2004 is published this week by Wiley, and this newsletter highlights some of the key health care conclusions reached by new Cochrane reviews and their implications for practice.

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