The use of Medicinal Plants in the Management of Hypertension and Potential Concomitant use with Western Antihypertensive Drugs in Belize

Abstract

The world-wide increase in the use of plants for medicinal purposes, especially in developing countries, calls an urgent need for evaluation of their concomitant use with Western medications. Hypertension is a major non communicable disease in Belize and presently no study evaluated the concomitant use of medicinal plants with Western medications in its management of hypertension. This study examined the use of medicinal plants in the management of hypertension and the potential concomitant use of such plants with Western medications in the country of Belize with a view to provide baseline data for regular pharmacovigilance. Using a cross-sectional descriptive research design, data was collected from 422 hypertensive patients with a structured questionnaire. Most respondents in the study were knowledgeable (85.5%) and used (77.5%) medicinal plant therapies to treat their diseases. In addition, the majority (55%) of the respondents had used medicinal plants to manage their hypertension, while occasionally, approximately 23% combined their herbs with Western medications, and a few (6%) habitually combined herbs with Western medications in the management of their hypertension. There is need to regularly monitor and evaluate concomitant drug-herb use to avert harmful interactions among the hypertensive population in Belize.