*9.2.2 Treatment with herbal medicines*

Various herbal drugs are also utilized for the management of cardiovascular diseases (**Table 6**).

**Figure 7.** *General mechanism of action of diuretics (designed with biorender).*

**Figure 8.** *Mechanism of action of statins [99].*

**Herbal drugs Treated diseases References** Anthocyanidin Coronary heart disease [100] Ischemia–reperfusion injury Citrus fruits Ischemia–reperfusion [101] Peanuts, red wine, Hypertension [102] Ischemia–reperfusion *Rhizoma coptidis* Hypertension [103] Rhizome of a turmeric plant Hypertension [104] *Crocus sativus L.* Heart failure [105] *Angelica sinensis* Heart failure [106] *Sophora flavescens* Arrhythmia [107] *Dendrobium nobile* Acute myocardial infarction [108] Ischemia–reperfusion *Glycine max* Acute myocardial infarction [109] *Allium* in *Liliaceae* Hypertension [110] Tea Hypertension [110] *Carthamus tinctorius* L. Acute myocardial infarction [111]

*Panax ginseng* Coronary heart disease [112]

Ischemia–reperfusion injury

*Perspective Chapter: Physiology and Pathology of the Cardiovascular System DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108355*

#### **Table 6.**

*Lists of herbal drugs and treated cardiovascular disorders.*

### **10. Conclusion**

This review shines a spotlight on the physiology, pathology, and management of the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular system simultaneously eliminates waste products from the tissues and delivers fresh oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and cells of the body. The heart and blood vessels are the fundamental components of this cardiovascular system, with the heart serving as the core pumping unit. The heart is composed of two atria and two ventricles. It has been considered that the right side of the heart receives blood that is depleted in oxygen but rich in carbon dioxide. This blood is then pushed into the pulmonary veins and finally travels back to the left side of the heart, where the blood is oxygenated by the lungs, which removes carbon dioxide from the blood. The left ventricle is responsible for ejecting blood from the heart and distributing it to the rest of the body. During each phase of the cardiac cycle, the atria compress while the ventricles remain relaxed, and then the process is reversed. However, any dysfunction of this precious organ can have disastrous consequences, leading to serious cardiovascular ailments and even death. These cardiovascular ailments are the greatest cause of morbidity and mortality in both developing and developed countries, with CADs and arrhythmias being the most prominent. These CVDs can be triggered by a variety of risk factors that can be either modifiable or nonmodifiable, including age, gender, ethnic background, smoking, physical inactivity, high cholesterol, and blood pressure etc. The treatment of these cardiovascular

ailments requires the administration of certain allopathic drugs and herbal medications based on disease conditions and progression, as well as adherence to specified non-pharmacological interventions, which will significantly help in reducing the morbidity associated with severe cardiovascular events.
