Study on herb-drug associations, case of the Fez-Meknes region

BIOACTIVES, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT laboratory, Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, Morocco.

Abstract

The association of medicinal plants and drugs for therapeutic purposes is not free of adverse effects. In Morocco, this subject remains little known and untreated. A questionnaire study was conducted in the Fez-Meknes region with 250 people between May and December 2019. Structured, face-to-face and telephone interviews were used to collect data. This research focused on the chronically ill population. The Data is analyzed by appropriate statistical software. The study identified 50 species of medicinal plants used in combination with synthetic drugs belonging to 26 botanical families. The results of the survey show that 85.20% of the users prefer to combine the two types of treatment with drugs and medicinal plants. According to the age and gender of the users, the results showed that age is not a determining factor. Concerning gender, we noted that there is a predominance of women compared to men. The pathologies concerned by the study: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, gastric diseases, colds and others. The majority of the people questioned are unaware of the undesirable effects and toxicology of the association of plants with synthetic drugs. Indeed, 76.83% do not know these side effects and 64% do not know the toxic plants.