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Event Description

Investigating whether a Traditional herbal medicine frequently used in Chinese medicine, Rehmannia glutinosa, is protective for physical and mental health.

Abstract

Inflammation in the body is a normal response to protect the body from potential harms from any number of sources. Inflammation that becomes excessive or chronic is not normal, and can lead to a number of inflammation-mediated diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel diseases, neurodegenerative disease, and mental health disorders. Plant medicines, as phytopharmaceuticals, are being investigated for their phytochemical constituents in a quest to discover new and pharmacologically active sources that can attenuate inflammation and its pathways. Rehmannia glutinosa (RG) is one plant that has been recognised in Traditional medicine and modern Western herbal medicine as having anti-inflammatory activity in a range of rodent models and human conditions. 

The aims of this MPhil research project are to identify:

1. The relationship between the use of RG and its effect on inflammation in human health conditions,
2. A scientifically reliable safety profile, and
3. Prescribing practises of RG among Australian practitioners of Western herbal medicine.

Speaker Biography

Sarina is a biomedically trained, evidence-based naturopathic clinician with experience spanning 20 years in three continents. She also provide consultancy services to the government in governance, risk and assurance and enjoys merging all skills in health, technology and data for research purposes. 

Personal and clinical research interest areas are neuroscience, HPA Axis, mental health, inflammation, and phytopharmacologically active plants and constituents in neurobiological pathways of depression.