The therapeutic situations dealt in this section have been identified as suitable for coverage as separate database units. When the work is completed on all of them, which would probably take some decades, a comprehensive database will emerge. The databases on a) plants with antimicrobial effects, b) plants used in gastro-intestinal disorders, and c) plants used in dental care in India, have been compiled. These databases are ‘open-ended books’, revised periodically with necessary additions, deletions and modifications, and as such there is nothing like a final version. Databases on a) plants used in cancer, b) plants with anti-inflammatory and astringent effects, are in an advanced stage. The list of aromatic plants is fairly comprehensive. For the remaining therapeutic states, the master lists of identified species have been drawn, but the details are in different stages of compilation. A point to be remembered is that, a number of species appear simultaneously on different lists, due to their varied therapeutic effects.

        Gastro-intestinal disorders are one of the most common human ailment caused by a variety of factors, bacterial and viral infection being the most important. Gastro-intestinal ailments cause enormous amounts of misery and are the single largest cause for an extensive loss of man-hours throughout the world, more particularly among the poorer sections of the populations. Some of the gastro-intestinal infections such as cholera and hepatitis often attain the proportion of large scale epidemics, affecting vast defenseless populations in the developing world. A variety of drugs and treatment protocols are available in the west but much more than what is available is required by the poorer sections of the rest of the world. More importantly, inexpensive and easily accessible relief measures are the most urgent need. Herbal medicine can largely fill in this vacuum.

        The holistic concept of Indian medicine, concepts and control of gastro-intestinal disorders in Ayurveda, basis for the choice of species selected for the database and encyclopaedic profiles, therapeutic potential of the species in the database, a comparative account of specific therapeutic effects, therapeutic value of food plants in gastro-intestinal disorders, the Ayurvedic formulations for gastro-intestinal disorders, dietetics during gastro-intestinal disorders and the plants used in the control of gastro-intestinal disorders in Africa and China were discussed. A glossary of terms used and the references cited in the database and profiles were given.

        Emesis and purgation are the body’s reaction to throw out an offending agent from the stomach or the intestines, respectively. The two are symptoms of several gastro-intestinal disorders and operate on an apparently similar physiological basis, emesis if the problem is pre-duodenal and purgation, if post-duodenal. However, the basic difference is that in the case of emesis, the often very strong spasmodic movements run counter to the natural direction of the movement in the oesophagus while in purgation the accelerated movement and the normal movement are in the same direction. In consequence, emesis is far more closely controlled by the central nervous system, than purgation.

        Depending upon the site of response, emetics are grouped into three classes: a) the centrally acting emetics, by the stimulation of chemoreceptor trigger zones in the central nervous system, b) the peripherally acting emetics and c) those that function both centrally and peripherally. Emetics and anti-emetics would also function as central nervous system stimulants and depressants, respectively.

       The purgatives are also considered in three classes: a) the bulk purgatives, b) faecal softeners and c) the stimulant purgatives, that are associated with the response of the nervous system. Anthraquinones and irritant oils belong to the stimulant group.

        In view of the very common occurrence of emesis and purgation, all systems of medicine have extensive protocols to deal with them, with the result that a large number of anti-emetic and antipurgative drugs has been in use.