According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the major health challenges globally. Principally they include heart failure, hypertension, stroke, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease, etc. CVDs are the leading cause of death globally. In 2015, an estimated 17.7 million people died from CVD-related conditions, representing 31% of global deaths. It is estimated that almost 23.6 million people will die from CVDs by 2030. Hence, the prevention and management of CVDs are essential to health care systems. Several risk factors, including hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, overweight, obesity, and inflammation, are suggested that have a substantial role in the onset and progression of CVDs. In this regard, pharmacological and lifestyle modification approaches are recommended to modify CVD risk factors. However, many effective pharmacological agents cause side effects, and adherence to lifestyle modification is difficult for many people. Given the financial burden of CVDs and the side effects of synthetic substances used for its treatment, it is demanding to discover new and efficacious treatments for CVD and CVD risk factors.
Herbal medicine has been widely used to treat and prevent various diseases for thousands of years worldwide, with some Asian traditions being particularly well documented. Over the past three decades, the usage of herbal medicine preparations or formulations derived from them has increased rapidly worldwide. Currently, the curative effects of medicinal plants are becoming more widely discussed, for example, in Europe and North America, especially as it relates to preventive remedies. The application of herbal medicine has been continuously increasing as an element of adjuvant therapies and remains important in many traditional and indigenous medical systems. However, the evidence on beneficial therapeutic effects and the mechanism of herbal medicine among persons with CVD and CVD risk factors is still inconclusive.
This Research Topic aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of herbal medicine in CVD and CVD risk factors, as well as the pharmacological effects and possible mechanisms.
The subtopics to be covered within this issue are listed below:
1?Clinical studies evaluating the evidence of the potential usefulness of herbal medicine in managing CVD and CVD risk factors.
2?Basic original research on the underlying mechanisms of herbal medicines in managing CVD and CVD risk factors.
3?Reviews or meta-analysis on the efficacy of herbal medicine on CVD and CVD risk factors and their underlying mechanisms.
4?Protocols of clinical research aiming to test the potential therapeutic effect of herbal medicine on CVD and CVD risk factors
Note:
(1) CVD and CVD risk factors include heart disease, stroke, pulmonary arterial hypertension, hematological disorders, atherosclerosis, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, obesity, etc.
(2) For manuscripts dealing with plant extracts or other natural substances/compounds, the composition and the stability of the study material must be described in sufficient detail. In particular, for extracts, chromatograms with the characterization of the dominating compound(s) are requested. The level of purity must be proven and included. All the manuscripts submitted to the collection will need to fully comply with the
Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version
here).