Africa-Press – Tanzania. RESEARCHERS at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) Institute of Traditional Medicine have developed a herbal product for the management of diabetes.
The development of herbal remedy, dubbed Amoper, brings a new hope to patients fighting the chronic illness. Amoper offered in capsule form was developed in 2020 and has produced promising results for the individuals who are using it.
Assistant Research Fellow with the Institute, Mr Mourice Mbunde told the ‘Daily News’ in an interview that they produced the product to aid in the war against lifestyle diseases that beset many nations around the world.
“Medicinal plants and microorganisms contribute over 60 per cent of the existing conventional drugs. Many people do not know, for example, that metformin medication used to deal with type 2 diabetes was derived from a flower called French lilac in use since the Middle Ages,” he remarked.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 80 per cent of the people living in rural areas in developing countries depend on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare needs.
He said they usually inquire users to present their medical reports and then asked to check their blood sugar before and after use of Amoper and forward the report to the medical doctor based at the institute. These reports will be compiled and used to aid in the registration of this product.
According to Mr Mbunde, users can combine Amoper with conventional medicine with no complications. After finishing the first dosage, patients should call in a physician for an assessment.
The number of people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. As stated by WHO, prevalence has been going up more rapidly in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.
In Tanzania, the burden of NCDs has been alarmingly increasingly. The prevalence of diabetes has increased from around 1–3 per cent in the 1980s to around 9 per cent in 2012, WHO estimates of 2010 showed that NCDs account for 27 per cent of deaths in Tanzania.
Mr Mbunde advised people to exercise care while using traditional medicine as they can harm the body when not properly prescribed.
“Before using the medication, it is important to assure yourself of its safety to avoid potential side effects and to check if it is registered with the relevant authorities for human use,” he advised.
He said herbal medicine discovery studies take a long time from ascertaining information on medicinal plants to the point when traditional medicine can be developed.
They drew ethnomedical information of plants from society then subject them to laboratory analysis to verify the claims. In the laboratory, they assess the safety and efficacy of medicinal plants as well as identifying active molecules, after which they can prepare the formulations and submit to respective regulators including the Chief Government Chemist Laboratory Authority (GCLA), Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA) and the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Council.
