Psyllium seed , consider

One should consider that plant-derived steroids alone account for about 15% ( 22 billion) of the 150 billion world pharmaceuticals market and that the annual market for taxol exceeded 1 billion in the year 2000. The antineoplastic agents vinblastine and vincristine have sales amounting to 100 million per year the market for psyllium seed products amounts to some 300 million annually and nicotine and scopolamine patches now have combined sales of more than 1 billion per year. It is obvious that natural products continue to play important economic as well as therapeutic roles in modem medicine. 

Mucilages—Presently, these substances are usually classified under gums, since they have many of the same properties. Formerly, mucilages were considered to be the plant polysaccharides which readily formed sticky, slimy (muci-lagenous) solutions in water. Two of the most familiar examples of these substances are those that may be extracted from flax seeds and psyllium seeds. Various products made from these seeds nave long been used as laxatives. It is noteworthy that ladies used to set their hair in curls or waves with a solution obtained by steeping flax seeds in hot water. 

Laxative effect. Seed hull, taken orally by adults at a dose of 7 g/person, increased weekly fecal mass without influencing transit time or frequency . Seedcoat, administered orally to 80 patients at a dose of 6.4 g/person three times daily, was active in a blinded placebo controlled study of efficacy of extract in treatment of irritable bowel syndrome " . Water extract of the dried kernel, administered orally to 40-year-old adults of both sexes, was active . Seed powder, administered orally to adults of both sexes, was active. Biological activity reported has been patented ". Dried seeds, administered orally to adults at a dose of 0.5 g/person, were active. Placing the seeds in water increased their volume, 90% alcohol produced a decrease in volume to normal seed size, and linseed oil had no effect on volume. The seed mucilage remained in gel form and is considered preferable to the solid form because it is more easily digested " . Dried seed powder, administered orally to 35 patients with chronic constipation at a dose of 50 mg/person, was active in a controlled, double-blind study " . Fiber, administered orally to adults, was active. Psyllium fiber and sennosides were prepared into a wafer to be... 

Plantago seeds are widely used as bulk laxatives under the names of psyllium (from P. psyllium or P. indica) and ispaghula (from P. ovata). The possibility that the intestinal absorption of lithium and other drugs may be inhibited should also be considered (658). 

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