**14. Conclusion**

There is an increasing use of medicinal plants and herbal medicines which contribute significantly to the health of humanity worldwide, especially in developing countries. The limited scientific knowledge among the general population has led to the general assumption that herbal medicines being natural are therefore safe. However, evidence is being adduced from toxicological studies that show plant products to be potentially toxic thus affecting their safe use.

The source of potential toxicity could be traced to a number of factors: the type of constituents some of which may be intrinsically toxic such as tropane alkaloids and cardiac glycosides though they had been used in traditional medicine. Also, it is noted that the route of administration and dose, of any chemical, are important regarding safety due to chemical or pharmacological interactions; this is undergirded by the need for a regulatory regime for quality.

Serious adverse effects of therapies involving aqueous traditional medicines are rare. However, efforts to investigate toxicity, organ toxicity and cytotoxicity, have involved the use of organic solvent plant extracts and routes of administration which constitute a drawback to the conclusions drawn from such studies.

Information on the traditional formulation and use of the herbal medicines should be satisfactory to avoid possible toxicity from the medicinal plants. Manufacturers of herbal medicines should consider standardization of the products while patrons of herbal medicines need to inform their health-care providers about any herbal products they use to ensure effective and safe care. This is to avoid interaction between herbal and allopathic medicines which could yield adverse reactions.
