Chemical Characteristics and Applications of Medicinal Plants Used in the Treatment of Chronic Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Medicinal plants have been a resource for healing in local communities around the world for thousands of years. Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 88% of all countries use traditional medicine, and 85% of the world’s population relies on medicinal plants for primary healthcare. In addition to the development of new drugs, understanding the action mechanisms of plants based on their phytochemical characterization, especially those that are used in traditional preparations, is essential for the progress of plant science. On the other hand, worldwide, we have an aging population among whom an increasing number are suffering from chronic diseases, many of them associated with the modern lifestyles (sedentarism and bad nutrition) or with the process itself. Conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, arthritis, asthma, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, some kinds of cancer, chronic inflammation processes, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic kidney of liver diseases, and so on are impacting local communities, and thus, traditional medicine is used in attempts to provide relief. Although it is well-known that many of these conditions cannot be cured, in many cases, the symptoms can be diminished, providing a better life quality for the patient. With this Special Issue, we encourage scholars all around the world, especially those involved with different traditional systems such as Chinese, Hindu, Persian, Latin American, African, etc., and working on chronic diseases, to contribute to plant science knowledge used to treat them.

Please note that the identification of the study material must be well-described; all species must be fully validated using an international accepted database; the link to traditional use must be clear and well-described; and the background of the chronic disease must be clear.

Dr. Adolfo Andrade Cetto
Guest Editor

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• medicinal plants
• natural products
• chronic diseases
• phytochemistry