Diabetes mellitus and hypertension are the two most common diseases in
modern civilized countries. It is suggested that hypertension is more likely to be
associated with type II diabetes as the patient acquires both diseases at old age. Though
several therapeutic approaches were developed to treat the complications, plant-based
therapeutics remains one of the most promising approaches. Moreover, traditional
medicine remains as a primary health care system in the resource constraint societies.
The use of medicinal plants for therapeutic uses has a long tradition in Asia in the form
of Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Unani, Jamu, etc. In recent years, the
scientific community has focused on natural products derived from ethnomedicinal
plants for their wide therapeutic potentials, including diabetes mellitus and
hypertension. Phenformin, metformin, repaglinide (Prandin), nateglinide (Starlix),
pioglitazone, rosiglitazone, acarbose, miglitol are some of the antidiabetic marketed
drugs of plant origin. Lignans, cinnamaldehyde, and protodioscin are newly isolated
anti-diabetic drugs from plant sources. This chapter attempts to highlight the medicinal
plants of Asia used for antidiabetic and antihypertensive purposes with regard to their
phytochemical potentials, biosafety, and scientific evaluation of their traditional uses.
Keywords: Antidiabetic, Antihypertensive, Asia, Medicinal plants, Plant-based
therapeutics, Traditional medicine.
