Medicinal plants for the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases

Respiratory diseases are ranked among the leading causes of death worldwide. These types of diseases are mainly caused by smoking, pollen, suspended chemical substances and air pollution. The current work focuses on the main medicinal plants and therapeutic mixtures used in the treatment and the prevention of respiratory diseases in the High Atlas Mountains, Morocco. We have identified a total of 30 medicinal plant species and two main mixtures used to prevent and to treat these diseases. Information has been given on the biological effects and on the most abundant secondary metabolites in each plant. Not only these plants are used against respiratory diseases, but the constitutive plants of these mixtures have also innumerable benefits because of the diversity of the secondary metabolites they contain.