Caribbean plant therapies to treat diseases.

Tropical plants have a long history of use in traditional medicine in many parts of the world especially in the Caribbean. Even today you will find part of our population that relies solely on the administration of plant-derived preparations as a treatment. Some of the therapies work due to the placebo effect but most of the time the plant formulation contains active chemical components responsible for the action. To improve the efficacy of modern medical practice, researchers are increasingly turning their attention to folk medicine as a source for new drugs. This chapter will review the existing published scientific literature on plants with active ingredients, with antibacterial and molluscicidal properties, as well as plants that have being recognized as antidiabetic and those used to treat cancer in the Caribbean region. Special attention is given to the scientific evidence that supports the historical uses of these remedies. Our intention is not to document the uses of plants that are without scientific evidence, nor is it to encourage the general population to change their drug therapies for herbal/botanical ones without medical supervision, it is to summarize the scientific knowledge gathered in the Caribbean that could lead to new drug therapies.