SNAKE BITES: ROLE OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN MANAGEMENT

Snake bites possess significant amount of mortality as well as morbidity all over the world including India. Despite various species of snakes, only few of these can be potentially lethal to humans. Snake antivenom being only therapeutic option available in snake bite management, but has many drawbacks in actual clinical practice like species specificity, difficulty in availability, affordability and ideal storage conditions. The medicinal plants, available locally and used widely by traditional healers, therefore need attention in this aspects. Large number of plants and their active principles has been evaluated for pharmacological properties useful in the treatment of snake bites. However, numerous unexplored plants are claimed to have definite role in this issue need to be further studied. This review is an attempt to present a comprehensive account of various Indian herbal plants used in the treatment of snake bite in any forms like venom neutralization, topical application for local pain relief, oral formulation for pain relief etc. Keywords: Herbal plants, Snake bite, Anti-snake venom, Venom neutralisation