Mohammad Kamil
Biography
Dr. Kamil is the Director-General of the Lotus Holistic Health Institute, Abu Dhabi, and former Head of TCAM Research, Department of Health-Abu Dhabi. With over five decades of research experience and 650 publications, he is internationally recognized in Natural Products, Herbal Medicine, and Traditional Complementary & Alternative Medicine (TCAM).
He has mentored 16 M.Phil. and 14 Ph.D. scholars, contributed to the standardization of over 1,000 herbal medicines, and discovered novel bioflavonoids published in leading international journals.
Dr. Kamil has served as WHO Focal Point and Expert (2007-2014, 2018-2022), received the Sheikh Zayed International TCAM Award (2020), the Hakim Ajmal Khan Global Award (2013), and the Commonwealth Award (1992). He also holds a UAE Golden Visa (Talented Person Category, 2021).
Currently, he leads scientific committees, editorial boards, and international congresses, continuing his pioneering work in integrating traditional medicine with modern healthcare.
Research Interest
Head TCAM Research(Prof.) Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine-research, Zayed Complex for Herbal
Research & Traditional Medicine-MOHP, UAE
Abstract
Counterfeit Herbal Medicines and Herbal Medicinal Products (HMP): The mass production of fake and substandard medications is a growing global problem with a deleterious impact on the individuals who ingest them. Estimates of the scale of the global trade in counterfeit medications vary widely. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 6%-10% of medicines sold worldwide are counterfeit. The use of herbal remedies, nutraceuticals, and dietary supplements has increased greatly over the past 40 years. Much of the increase in use can be attributed to the common belief that natural ingredients are inherently safer and healthier than synthetic ingredients. Products sold as "dietary supplements" are subject to signifi cantly less regulation and are often not required to have safety testing or FDA approval before they enter the market. Without adequate safeguards and quality control mechanisms, there is no assurance that the concentrations of active ingredient are consistent from batch to batch or even that these supplements contain the ingredients they purport to contain. In recent years, with ever-growing commercialization in the field of herbal medicines, there has been an instant demand for quality control of drugs used in this system. For this, standardization is usually recommended as the solution to the problem. Unfortunately, many of these licensed herbal products have been found to contain non-prescription or even prescription drugs such as phosphodiesterase 5 -inhibitors e.g. sildenafil, tadalafil, verdenafil and their analogues. The imperceptible use of these analogues is very dangerous because they have not been tested formally for safety & efficacy. In view of the potential harm to the public health, more effective and proactive measures are required to guard against the illicit use of pharmaceutical analogues. Slimming drugs e.g. sibutramine HCl, des methyl sibutramine, diethyl propion, phenolphthalein, phentermine, Orlistat, Xenical, mazindol, pencil amine, phendimetrazine tartarate, methyl phenidate, anti-histamine e.g.; anti-diabetic like liraglutide; antidepressant e.g. fluoxetine HCl; antihypertensive e.g.tenormin; laxative like ducolax; psychostimulants like benz; meth and dextro amphetamine,are commonly found admixed with herbal drugs, inspite of fact that some of the synthetic drugs are banned e.g. Phenolphthalein as it causes cancer and Sibutramine HCl due to its side effects. Analgesics e.g. paracetamol, indomethacin, diclofenac are frequently found adulterated in herbal analgesics. Most of the cholesterol-lowering herbal medicines contain Statins, e.g. Pravastatin, Simvastatin, Atrovastatin; Steroidal drugs e.g., Cortisone, cyproheptadine HCl, are found in many of the herbal medicines. Antidiabetic herbal drug contains sulphonyl ureas e.g., glibenclamide, tolbutamide, metformin, rosiglitazone and many of them are found to contain two at a time. The abnormal presence of sulphonyl urea and it' s overdose causes profound hypoglycemia. Adulterations found and identified in different classes of Herbal Medicines and Dietary Supplements will be dealt in the present paper.
