A limpia (?cleansing?, in the Spanish language) is a physical?symbolic method, used in the Mesoamerican traditional medical practices, to reach a new balance. The verb «to clean» means «make something or someone free of dirt, mess or defects». When what is removed is visible, the result of ?cleaning? is an objective fact; when, however, the alteration, the defect, the block inside the person is symbolic (?energetic?), the limpia becomes an act of faith, a physical ritual that is a step away from the sacred or the traditional. In fact, according to Mesoamerican natives, the human being is built up also by ?something more? than the body: this is a kind of vital energy that is an integral part of all creatures, and of course the human being. Not specific of Mesoamerican worldview, the ?spiritual vibration? is communicated, with other discursive images, by other ethnic groups coming from all around the world. Mesoamerican people, thus, think that health problems have not only corporal or psychological causes and relations but ?energetic? too. The limpia makes the person connected with itself and with its own environment (biological, community and of cultural beliefs); its purpose is to re?harmonize the person with that environment, removing and expelling from it the elements (physical, psychic, social and ?symbolic?) causing its sickness or influencing it.

Medicinal plants in Ecuador add up to 3118 species, 75% being native, of these, 80 were investigated by the PUCE-KRIBB project, finally 30 species were collected in this publication for being the most promising. We hope that this book contributes to new research on active ingredients that at some point will be used for the preparation of phytopharmaceuticals, for the benefit of society in general.

A fresh examination of the past successes of natural products as medicines and their new future from both conventional and new technologies. High-performance liquid chromatography profiling, combinatorial synthesis, genomics, proteomics, DNA shuffling, bioinformatics, and genetic manipulation all now make it possible to rapidly evaluate the activities of extracts as well as purified components derived from microbes, plants, and marine organisms. The authors apply these methods to new natural product drug discoveries, to microbial diversity, to specific groups of products (Chinese herbal drugs, antitumor drugs from microbes and plants, terpenoids, and arsenic compounds), and to specific sources (the sea, rainforest, and endophytes). These new opportunities show how research and development trends in the pharmaceutical industry can advance to include both synthetic compounds and natural products, and how this paradigm shift can be more productive and efficacious.

The objective of this book is to promote and enable closer co-operation between different health professionals in treating pain, by introducing psychosocially oriented team members to the medical aspects of pain, and medically oriented team members to the psychosocial aspects. The structure of the book completely mirrors this objective. The book has nine parts, arranged according to a balanced plan. Parts I and II deal with theoretical (basic science) approaches to pain, whereby Part I focuses on the medical approaches and Part II on the psychosocial ones. Part III is devoted to pain evaluation and assessment, whereby chapter 9 deals with the medical aspects, chapter 10 with the psychophysiological and psychiatric aspects, and chapter 11 with the psychological psychometric approach, describing different commonly used questionnaires for assessing various aspects of pain. Parts IV to Part VII are devoted to treatment of pain. Part IV focuses on medical treatments, Part V on psychological treatments, Part VI on palliative approaches, and Part VII on complementary approaches (mainly those supported by enough research and evidence). Part VIII focuses on particular pain syndromes, those that are most frequent in the practice of pain, emphasising both medical and psychological aspects in each chapter. Finally, Part IX deals with the practice of treating pain -- in chapter 29 with the facilities and pain centres, namely, the locations where the integration of the described approaches to pain is expected to take place, and in chapter 30 with the problems of the health professional that treats pain.

Natural Products in Vector-Borne Disease Management explores the potential application of natural products in vector control and disease management. The chapters discuss the global impact of specific vector-borne diseases, gaps in management, and natural products in specific stages of development - discovery, optimization, validation, and preclinical/clinical development. Toxic effects and mechanisms of action are also discussed. This book also explores how therapeutic plant derivatives can be used to combat the vectors of infection and how natural products can be used to manage and treat vector-borne diseases like malaria, leishmaniasis, dengue, and trypanosomiasis. With the inclusion of case studies on field and clinical applications and the contributions from experts in the field, Natural Products in Vector-Borne Disease Management is an essential resource to researchers, academics, and clinicians in parasitology, virology, microbiology, biotechnology, pharmacology, and pharmacognosy working in the field of vector-borne diseases. - Offers an alternative, natural approach to the prevention of vector-borne diseases - Discusses the current and future perspectives of vector-borne diseases and natural product management - Covers the properties of plants extracts and their phytoactives in vector-borne disease management - Explores the advantages and disadvantages of natural products versus western medicine for treatment of vector-borne diseases