An impressive embodiment of evidence shows that naturally occurring herbal products contain a wide variety of phytochemicals that are regarded as effective pharmacological agents, possessing the ability to retard, block or reverse the disease state. These include dietary agents often termed as “nutraceuticals” and also the components of non-dietary plants. The herbal-based phytochemicals of non-dietary origin serve as leads for novel pharmaceuticals, and their exposure is intended for therapeutic regimen. Additionally, plant-derived nutraceuticals are components of human diet and possess pharmacological benefits. Unlike pharmaceuticals (drugs) which usually act on single molecular target, nutraceuticals have been shown to exert their pharmacological effects at multiple molecular and cellular targets. Of all the 175 small molecules approved for cancer therapy from the 1940s to the year 2014, 85 (49%) were natural products or directly derived therefrom. Therefore, nutraceuticals and other phytochemicals hold an importance place in drug discovery and design.
In the light of emerging drug resistance in the cases of antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs, associated ill effects, organ toxicities, and expensive commercial interests leading to inaccessibility, it is believed to be judicious to have alternative strategies, such as prophylactic interventions, for most human diseases. Moreover, approximately 60-80 % of the world’s population still relies on traditional medicines for the treatment of common illnesses and such a statistic also supports the potential of herbal constituents of dietary and non-dietary origin as an evidence-based complementary therapy for chronic disorders. An assessment of all FDA-approved new molecular entities (NMEs) reveals that natural products and their derivatives represent over one-third of all NMEs. Herbal-based phytochemicals of non-dietary origin serve as leads for novel pharmaceuticals and their exposure is intended for therapeutic regimens.
The proposed book shall present a prophylactic & therapeutic approach to primary prevention of chronic diseases by highlighting the translational potential of plant-derived dietary and non-dietary factors from epidemiological, laboratory and clinical studies, as prevention strategy in normal/risk populations through routine inclusion of specific dietary regimens and as therapeutic strategy for better management through adjuvant interventions with conventional treatment protocols.
It will also share the experiences of highly reputed experts working in the area of phytomedicine and nutraceutical agents in chemoprevention, to promote the significance of natural products and dietary factors as an elite priority for containing the chronic diseases in human population.
