Ethnomedicine for Cardiovascular Diseases

The review deals with 290 species of plants covering 277 flowering plants, one gymnosperm, two pteridophytes and 10 fungi included in 233 genera of flowering plants, one gymnosperm, two pteridophytes and six fungi spread over 93, 1, 2, and 6 families, respectively, used by the tribes and folklore of the world for curing a variety of heart ailments including cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure, chest pain, cholesterol, blood purification, cardiac asthma etc. Well designed pharmacological and toxicological experiments and clinical trials are needed to investigate the role of different medicinal plants and their underlying mechanisms in the context of cardiovascular diseases.