Momentum of Ajwa Dates towards Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the top most cause of morality around the world. It is predictedthat the number casualties from CVDs will increase to more than 24 million till 2030 people. Medicinalplants provide the major raw materials for medicine preparations. They are gaining high consideration dueto their effectiveness and increasing cost of modern medicines. Many successful drugs are plant based,including aspirin from the willow bark, morphine from opium poppy, quinine from the cinchona bark, anddigoxin from the foxglove. According to World Health Organization (WTO), 70% to 80% of people aroundthe world rely on herbal sources for the treatment of their disease. Plant sources are endorsed due to thefact that they contain an optimal amount of antioxidants and phytochemicals that help to avoid and treatmany diseases.Phoenix dactylifera L. particularly Ajwa variety, is the most rich in phytonutrients that can benefitto control many cardiovascular diseases. It contains 6 vitamins (vitamin A, C, B1, B2, B3 & riboflavin), highamount of fibers, Potassium, Magnesium and 23 amino acids which play a healthy role towardshypertension, muscular contractions, and blood pressure control. It has been studied that Niacin (B3)helps to control cholesterol and low density lipoprotein levels (LDL), as high cholesterol is the one of themain cause of cardiovascular diseases so, Ajwa could be a vital regulatory source.According to the findings of Sabbah M. et al., Ajwa extracts significantly improved the DNA integrityand also reduced the cardiomyocytes congestion, edema and the cellular stress wielded on cardiacmuscles resulting the restoration of cardiomyocytes architecture in Doxorubicin (DOX) inducedcardiotoxicity in rats.Research done by Alqarni et al., proves that Ajwa extracts has successfully decreased the LDL‐C,VLDL‐C, and triglycerides concentration. Additionally, treatment with ajwa pulp also improved the HDL‐Clevel and antioxidant enzymes activity. In another invivo study, Ajwa preparation has successfullydecreased the diclofenac-induced pulmonary and hepatic instabilities.Vitamin-K play important role in blood coagulation, and in case of anticoagulant therapy, activityof vitamin-K controlled by drugs (warfarin) that sometimes causes serious side effects. According to thereported data, Salicylic acid is the vitamin-K antagonist and has capability to block the action of vitaminK during the coagulation pathway. Dates contain 3.75 to 4.50 mg/100 g of salicylic acid. Thus, providinganticoagulation effect too. So, the limelight of the reported data provides an enough reason that plantscan be used as primary source of drug designing for the cardiovascular disease. They hold true momentumto address the increasing health diseases, which cannot be lost to distraction or apathy. Fight against theburden of CDVs, is affecting all countries and specially, under developing and the poor countries.Huzaima Bibi1, Sobia Tabassum1, Naseer Ahmed21 International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan2 Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan