The Pharmacology and Therapeutic Value of Conventional Antihypertensive Drugs in the Management of Hypertension: An Ethno-Botanical Review of Commonly Used Antihypertensive Medicinal Plants in Arsi Zone, South-East Ethiopia

Plants have been used to treat a wide range of diseases throughout the history of human beings and this practice continues to date. In traditional methods, plant materials are tested for pharmaceutical purposes. Natural products from plants remain vital in drug discovery where they can be used directly as drugs or serve as leads to new drugs by providing chemical entities. Hypertension (HTN) is a progressive cardiovascular disease characterized by persistently elevated systemic blood pressure. If left uncontrolled, HTN will become the major cause of human suffering as well as imposing severe economic and service burdens on health systems. Today on the market there are large armamentaria of conventional antihypertensive drugs, however, the major concerns that often delay treatment allude to higher costs, unavailability and inaccessibility, undesired side effects of antihypertensive drugs and reduced patient compliance to consume more than a pill per day. The search for natural, cheaper, and nontoxic compounds is becoming necessary. In the past, the drug discovery of the biological compounds from plant materials and the process of identifying the structures of active compounds from the extracts were problematic. In Ethiopia, the long history of using traditional medicinal plants for combating various ailments can be confirmed by referring to the medico-religious manuscripts in the country. Herbal medicines have been also commonly used and remain. Symptoms of HTN can be also resolved by herbals.