Psyllium belongs to plant genus known as plantago consisting of more than 200 species. Its seeds are used in making of mucilage. It is grown in Russia, Pakistan, India and European countries. It is used in:
- Reduction of body Cholesterol found in the body circulation system. If body Cholesterol is not controlled at optimum level, it can cause diseases like hypertension.
- It is used to treat constipation and bowel abnormality
- Body weight reduction.
- Psyllium is a laxative. It facilitates absorption of liquid in the intestines.
- It has anti-toxic; it helps in removing toxin or neutralizing toxins.
- It is antimicrobial. It has the ability to kill or inhibit microorganisms.
- It is Anti-inflammatory agent, which inhibits tissue inflammation.
- It acts as anti-histamine. It inhibits action of histamine by blocking it components from attaching to histamine receptors (Kuhn, 1999).
- Psyllium treats gastro enteritis and stomachache.
- It used to cure allergic reactions
Its trunk is not long. Some herbs remedies are derived from this plant.Its seedling are tinny with red brown color. The psyllium seeds are covered by mucilage. Its flora is white in color and tinny. “Psyllium has four separate parts and which tend to be taut and ovoid, or have cylindrical spikes which present as irregular shape. Allergic reactions due to psyllium are common to the people operating farms engaged in the invent psyllium based herbal products “(Cho, Mower, Qiu, & Palmer, 2004).
. Drug interaction is defined as any alteration in normal body function caused by a different exogenous chemical (Kuhn, 1999). “The mechanisms for drug interaction can be divided into several general categories: pharmacokinetics which includes: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of a drug while pharmacodynamic interactions are the combined pharmacological effects of a drug” (Kuhn, 1999).
The methods of action of psyllium have not been resolute; as a result, the precise mode of drug-herb interface is anonymous. (Cho, Mower, Qiu, & Palmer, 2004). According to Kuhn and Winston psyllium interactions embrace absorption; it is soluble in water but poorly absorbable in gastro intestinal system; it takes phyllium more than hour to be assimilated into blood circulation system (Kuhn & Winston, 2007).
It is contraindicated to administer a number of these medications jointly with phyllium. In addition it lowers the metabolism of corticosteroids, leading to adverse and toxic effects from due to buildup of corticosteroids in the body tissues (Kuhn & Winston, 2007).
According to Dagar, Kumar and Tamar nurses should be educated on the herbal products that are consumed mostly by patients. To achieve a complete evaluation it requires that a nurse to recognize approved medications, drugs sold over the counter, nutritional supplements, and matching therapies used by patients.
In preoperative evaluation, it is vital for a nurse to ask about patient’s use of herbal supplements. Decisive use of herbal substances is a significant aspect of patients’ evaluation and may manipulate nursing interventions. Patients might also look for guidance from nurses concerning the use of herbal substances, about their usefulness and safety of those herbal products (Dagmar, Kumar, & Tamar, 2006).
References
Cho, Y., Mower, J. P., Quid, Y.L. & Palmer, J. D. (2004). Mitochondrial substitution rates are extraordinarily elevated and variable in a genus of flowering plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 101, 17741-17746.
Dagmar, J. C., Kumar, Y. & Tamar, O. S. (2006). Cultivation of medicinal isabgol (Plantago ovata) in alkali soils in semiarid regions of northern India. Land Degradation and Development ,17, 275-283.
Kuhn M. & Winston, D.(2007). Herbal therapy and supplements: A scientific and traditional approach. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Kuhn, M. (1999). Complementary therapies for health care providers. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.