PENDAHULUAN

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Selama berabad-abad, obat tradisional telah digunakan secara luas sebagai terapi
pencegahan dan pengobatan terhadap berbagai macam gangguan kesehatan pada hampir setiap
kebudayaan di dunia. [3] Dahulu, banyak obat konvensional berasal dari tanaman, seperti aspirin
(dari pohon willow), digoksin (dari foxglove), kuinin (dari cinchona) dan morfin ( dari pohon
poppy). (book) Tanaman tradisional dapat di proses melalui berbagai macam cara dan bentuk;
utuh, teh, sirup, minyak esensial, salp, kapsul, tablet hingga bubuk tabur. Terdapat variasi dalam
pengolahan ekstrak tanaman tradisional dalam hal pelarut, suhu, hingga waktu ekstraksi.

WHO (2000) mendefinisikan obat tradisional sebagai perpaduan dari pengetahuan,

keterampilan dan latihan yang didasarkan pada teori, kepercayaan serta pengalaman dari
berbagai macam budaya yang digunakan untuk memelihara kesehatan baik sebagai tindakan
pencegahan, diagnosis, hingga pengobatan fisik maupun mental. [1]

Meski perkembangan obat sintesis terus berkembang, namun penggunaan obat tradisional
khususnya di negara-negara berkembang masih tinggi. Sebesar 90% populasi di Afrika dan 70%
populasi di India masih bergantung pada obat-obatan tradisional sebagai terapi utama. (WHO
2005) (book nbk)

Saat ini obat tradisional digunakan sebagai pengobatan terhadap penyakit akut, kronik dan
penyakit lainnya seperti penyakit kardiovaskular, prostat, depresi, inflamasi dan meningkatkan
sistem imunitas. [2]
Many conventional drugs originate from plant sources: a century ago, most of the few effective drugs
were plant-based. Examples include aspirin (from willow bark), digoxin (from foxglove), quinine (from
cinchona bark), and morphine (from the opium poppy).

Herbs and plants can be processed and can be taken in different ways and forms, and they include the
whole herb, teas, syrup, essential oils, ointments, salves, rubs, capsules, and tablets that contain a
ground or powdered form of a raw herb or its dried extract. Plants and herbs extract vary in the solvent
used for extraction, temperature, and extraction time, and include alcoholic extracts (tinctures),
vinegars (acetic acid extracts), hot water extract (tisanes), long-term boiled extract, usually roots or bark
(decoctions), and cold infusion of plants (macerates). There is no standardization, and components of an
tradisional extract or a product are likely to vary significantly between batches and producers. (book)

The most common reasons for using traditional medicine are that it is more affordable, more
closely corresponds to the patient’s ideology, allays concerns about the adverse effects of
chemical (synthetic) medicines, satisfies a desire for more personalized health care, and allows
greater public access to health information. The major use of tradisional medicines is for health
promotion and therapy for chronic, as opposed to life-threatening, conditions. However, usage of
traditional remedies increases when conventional medicine is ineffective in the treatment of
disease, such as in advanced cancer and in the face of new infectious diseases. Furthermore,
traditional medicines are widely perceived as natural and safe, that is, not toxic. This is not
necessarily true, especially when herbs are taken with prescription drugs, over-the-counter
medications, or other herbs, as is very common (Canter and Ernst 2004; Qato et al. 2008; Loya,
Gonzalez-Stuart, and Rivera 2009; Cohen and Ernst 2010)
Alasan utama penggunaan obat tradisional adalah karena lebih terjangkau, sesuai ideologi
pasien, kecemasan akan efek samping obat sintesis. Obat tradisional dianggap obat alami yang
aman dan tidak beracun, meskipun hal ini tidak sepenuhnya benar karena