Herbal Products in Hypertension: Paradox or, Paragon

Hypertension is one of the most common diseases in the current health scenario as per the report of World Health Organization. It is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure remains elevated and thus leads to a plethora of pathological conditions including renal, pulmonary and cardiovascular disorders. The root cause of this disease lies in the changing lifestyle that includes food habits and stress. A number of conventional drugs are available for hypertension and its comorbidities viz. thiazide-diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and calcium channel blockers. Use of these drugs is limited by side effects like hypokalaemia, precipitation of diabetes, hyperuricaemia, diarrhoea, rash, abdominal pain, chest pain, dizziness, impotence, bleeding, etc. In last few decades, researchers have focused on drug discovery from herbal medicines. Moreover, we have a long history of usage of herbal drugs for the clinical management of hypertension. The pharmacological activity of these drugs is mainly attributed to phytoconstituents such as flavonoids, phenols and alkaloids, which synergistically act against hypertensive disease and significantly diminish the co-morbidities of this disease. In this chapter, we discuss about the anti-hypertensive activity of plants selected among the most reported in literature, with a focus on their possible mode of action.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, Herbal, Blood pressure, Cholesterol.