What is herbal medicine?
Herbal medicine, which is also known as botanical or phytomedicine, refers to the use of a plant's seeds, roots, berries, bark, leaves, or flowers for medical situations. Long practiced outside of conventional medicine like that of the United States, herbalism is becoming more mainstream as up-to-date analysis and research shows their values in the treatment and prevention of disease.
How do herbs help the body?
Each day, millions of Americans take high blood pressure medicine, an antidepressant, a nasal decongestant, an aspirin, a sleep aid or other pills. After doing some research about Americans taking so many drugs, Dr. P. Yutsis discovered that more than 150,000 Americans died in 2007 from taking the wrong prescriptions or they suffered from serious side effect of the drugs. Here in the United States it is ironic that we take more prescription drugs yet we live shorter lives! What is wrong with this picture?
The main reason for this dichotomy is simple: "Having Choices: The use of herbs is much higher particularly in Europe and Asia, where there are options available to try less invasive therapies before having to venture into complex drug treatments. Many cultures will primarily use natural remedies and herbs for adverse health condition
What is the history of herbal medicine?
Long before history was recorded, plants had been used for medicinal purposes. For instance, ancient Egyptian and Chinese papyrus writings tell stories of medicinal plant uses. Some of the other cultures like that of the Native American Indians and Africans used herbs in healing rituals, while other cultures developed traditional medical systems in which herbal therapies were used. It was determined by scientists that people in different areas of the world tended to use the same or even similar plants for the same symptoms.
In the early 19th century, scientists began to extract and modify the active ingredients from plants. Later on, chemists began to make their own version of plant compounds, starting from raw herbs to synthetic pharmaceuticals. Over time, the use of herbal medicines declines and pharmaceuticals rose to the forefront.
Recently the WHO estimated that approximately 80% of people all over the world relied on herbal medicines for some part of their primary healthcare. In the last twenty years here in the U.S. there has been increasing public dissatisfaction with the high cost of prescription medications, combined with an interest in going back to natural or organic remedies. This has leads to an increase in the use of herbal medicines here in this country.
How does herbal medicine work?
For most of the herbs of today, the certain ingredient that causes a healing effect is unknown. Whole herbs contain many ingredients, and it is very likely that they are found working together to produce the desired medicinal effect. There are many factors that will have an effect on just how effective an herb will be. For instance, the kind of environment in which an herb grows will affect its components, as well, when and how it was harvested as well as processed.
How are herbs used?
As was stated earlier, herbalists like using the whole plant rather than just extracting a single component. Whole plant extracts have a variety of components. These components all work together to produce therapeutic effects as well as to lessen the chances of developing side effects from any single component. Several herbs may be used together in order to enhance the effectiveness and synergistic action as well as to reduce any to toxic effect that the herb may have. Herbalists must take note of many things when they prescribe herbs. For instance, they have to know the variety and species of the plant, the plant's habitat, how it was processed and stored, and whether there are any contaminants.
Are herbal remedies safe?
There is not any set answer to this question. You see, the FDA does not regulate the supplement and industries that deal with herbal medicines. Herbs have been classified as foods and not as drugs. Just because you see that something has the "all natural" stamp on it, does not make it so. Several years ago, ma huang, a popular herbal supplement, was touted as being a weight - loss aid. It has since been linked to many symptoms including kidney stones, anxiety, hypertension, and even death.
There has been a potential for side effects as well as interactions with standard medications, but poor manufacturing practices have given rise to misidentification and contamination of plants that have been used in the making of herbal medicines. What is someone to do? For openers, learn as much as possible about all potential side effects.
When they are used in a proper manner, herbal remedies can be part of a person's healthy lifestyle, but taking herbal medicines is not a replacement for a well-balanced diet, regular exercise, or adequate sleep. If you wish to start taking herbal supplements, try finding a doctor who is willing to work with you to make sure that you are taking the proper supplements for the right reasons.