Herbal medicinal products for functional disorders of the digestive tract organs

Abstract

Herbal medicinal products are very important in the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGD) and are very often used, both in self-medication and as recommended by the doctors. They have been used in the treatment of poor appetite (bitter drugs), dyspepsia (bitter drugs, holagogues, carminatives), irritable bowel syndrome (peppermint oil), acute diarrhea (tannic drugs), and constipation (bulk-forming and stimulative laxatives). The clinical studies proved the effectiveness of the peppermint essential oil in alleviating the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, stimulative (plant drugs with anthranoids; castor oil) and bulk-forming laxatives (linseed, ispaghula and psyllium seed) in the treatment of constipation, while the majority of the other drugs and their preparations that are used in the therapy of FGD, a traditional application was documented. Each herbal drug used in the treatment of any of these functional disorders has its own specific application restrictions (contraindications, special warnings, precautions, interactions and adverse effects).

Keywords

• functional gastrointestinal disorders
• bitter drugs
• holagogues
• carminatives
• laxatives
• antidiarrheal medicine
• ema/hmpc