Medicinal plants

Medicinal plants and the natural environment have a great connection with humanity in history.

The term herbal medicine comes from the Greek phyto, which means plant, and therapeia, which means treatment. In other words, phytotherapy is dedicated to the study of medicinal plants and their possible applications in the treatment of diseases and in the search for well-being. The use of medicinal plants has been known since 5000 BC, when humans used plants as therapeutic and survival resources. Accounts described by civilizations, such as India, China and Egypt, left records on the knowledge of plants, for food, medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Currently, its use has been growing in the Unified Health System (SUS), mainly by the population seeking an alternative and complementary treatment, considering that many doctors have adopted medicinal plants as a medicine in the most diverse clinical conditions (SIMÕES, 2017; MINISTRY OF HEALTH, 2006). Humanity has used medicinal plants as therapeutic tools for thousands of years. Some civilizations considered the use of herbal medicine as magical and supernatural, and not just curative (CORDEIRO, 2005; TAXAS, 2001). Reports found, such as in the Ebers papyrus, prove the use of medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes, evolving to the present day (HALLMANN-MIKILAJCAK, 2004). Paracelsus, a physician considered to be the creator of the bases for natural medicine, correlated the structure of plants with the anatomy of some organs and indications for use, reporting the use of medicine used until today - such as the use of yacon potato, as its structure resembles the pancreas and is indicated for use in high cholesterol, diabetes, colon cancer prevention, osteoporosis, aiding in the absorption of calcium and vitamins (HALLMANN-MIKILAJCAK, 2004).

In the mid-1800s, plants began to be studied as the main constituents of drugs, in addition to synthesized actives for the development of new drugs, thus giving rise to the pharmaceutical industry. In 1897, Bayer synthesized Aspirin. Until today, natural therapy medicine is widely used in the West, with Germany being the first and largest in the ranking of this therapy, where herbal prescriptions represent about 40% of the indications. Other countries, such as France, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and the United States, also make use of this herbal therapy, with published scientific papers. China, on the other hand, is considered the champion in the indication and use of natural medicines, where only these are replaced by allopathic drugs when a substitute is not found in herbal medicine. A Chinese herbal formula may contain six or more plants, which can prevent unwanted side effects from forwarding key agents to the site of disease.

Phytotherapy in Brazil exists mainly in the informal market and mainly oriented by popular knowledge. This is because we find different ethnic groups and a great diversity of the ecosystem. In the 1980s, the Ministry of Health adopted the use of medicinal plants as an alternative therapy and started a research program with a scientific basis for such alternative therapies. As public policies aimed at the encouragement and use of herbal medicine is increasingly in evidence, the State and Municipal Health Departments seek to facilitate the population's access to medicinal plants and herbal medicines by implementing programs, thus reducing the shortage of medicines, in addition to promote the quality of life of needy communities. Even with the government incentive for the use of medicinal and herbal plants, as an option

primary health treatment, greater encouragement and adherence to this complementary practice is needed.

Phytotherapy is the treatment in which medicinal plants are used, therefore, its preparations originate from different parts of the plants, in their raw form as an active principle. Medicinal plants are defined as those capable of producing active principles that can alter the functioning of organs and systems, restoring organic balance.