Medicinal plants used against rheumatoid arthritis by traditional medicinal practitioners of Bangladesh

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack the joints, which can be disabling and painful. The disease has a worldwide distribution with an estimated prevalence of 1 to 2%. This prevalence increases with age and can approach 5% in women over age 55. Since this disorder is also present in Bangladesh, we conducted an ethnomedicinal survey amongst the traditional medicinal practitioners (Kavirajes) of Bangladesh to gather information on medicinal plants used by them to treat this disorder. The rural populations of Bangladesh, often lacking access to modern medicinal facilities rely on Kavirajes, who possess in them an incredible knowledge of medicinal properties of plants and often use such plants with success in treating various ailments. Plant samples were collected from the Kavirajes and identified at the Bangladesh National Herbarium. The plants mostly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (with family name given in parenthesis) include Cananga odorata (Annonaceae), Scindapsus officinalis (Araceae), Tylophora indica (Asclepiadaceae), Cleome viscose (Capparaceae), Mesua ferrea (Clusiaceae), Argyreia speciosa (Convolvulaceae), Thuja orientalis (Cupressaceae), Euphorbia antiquorum (Euphorbiaceae), Cinnamomum iners (Lauraceae), Crinum latifolium (Liliaceae), Michelia champaca (Magnoliaceae), Spathoglottis plicata (Orchidaceae), Piper cubeba (Piperaceae), Zanthoxylum simulans (Rutaceae), Madhuca indica (Sapotaceae), Stemona tuberose (Stemonaceae), Boehmeria nivea (Urticaceae), and Kaempferia galanga (Zingiberaceae). Since modern medicine is unable to cure this disease but merely addresses the symptoms associated with the disease like pain, the above plants can be of potential importance for further scientific studies leading to complete cure of this debilitating disease.