Posts for 'Herbal Medicine' Category

Introduction: Herbal medicine is a practice that is as old as mankind, and certainly older than agriculture or writing; every human culture on every continent of the Earth has practiced herbal medicine of one form or another. Perhaps best described as "medicinal botany", herbal medicine involves taking plants, ingesting them, and seeing if some of the elements in the plant have a palliative effect on the symptoms of the ailment.

Herbal remedies have formed the basis of traditional medicine for millennia, and have formed the root of modern pharmacology. While science from roughly the 1880's onwards has striven to isolate the active compounds found in medicinal herbs, the list is ever growing.

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What are Herbal Medicines?

"Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy." 1 These medicines use plant-based materials for the treatment of specific symptoms or diseases with many herbs and herbal formulations having been used for centuries within different cultures e.g. India and China.

Current Trends and Regulations

Today, the public is more informed about their health and the options available to them to prevent and/or treat disease. Couple this knowledge with the current focus on organics and health foods, herbal medicines have become increasingly popular. The traditional herbs and herbal formulations used in India and China are making their way into Europe and so increasing the range of herbal medicines available. Because of this trend, it is even more important that people are aware that herbal medicines do have a physiological effect on the body and therefore, should be used with care. Until recently, the regulation of herbal remedies within the UK has been fairly relaxed but particular safety concerns have come to light, for example, the interaction of St John's Wort with some conventional medicines.

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Sitting in her large, bright office, Dr. Heidi Robel prescribes what she believes to be the essential difference between her medical practice and others.

"Education, education, education." And she doesn't mean her own. As a licensed naturopathic physician, Robel believes a patient's care relies on what each client wants, needs and is willing to learn.

"We teach people to make educated choices about their health," she said. "We're just like other family doctors; we just have more tools in our kit to use."

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The Scientist that absolutely proves that Homeopathy has an absolutely proven mechanism of action will be a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

According to alternative complementary medicine statistics This is a field of medicine that is currently in its 207th year of clinical implementation with unquestionable proven success but its scientific mechanism is still the subject of fierce debate in the Ivory towers of academia.

The field of complex Homeopathy developed by Dr Hans Heinrich Reckeweg MD is only in its 68th year with likewise unquestionable clinical marvels of help to ailing patients but it too eludes acceptance at the AMA level even though some marvelous breakthroughs have developed in just the last several years that May be the answers we have long been awaiting.  What observations capture our attention and how can we explain them? Can we view it as a holistic approach in medicine?

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AT last the Department of Health woke up to a danger to health spreading in our midst. It is not a virus or bacteria or any disease but, ironically, the astronomical growth of companies producing and selling herbal medicines.

I have warned in previous columns about the danger of this phenomenon, asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test the herbal medicines being sold and inform the people whether they are effective, dangerous, or just a waste of money. But because of lack of funds and personnel, or just plain laziness, the FDA never got around to doing that.

The excuse is that the herbals are not drugs but food supplements and therefore not under the ambit of the FDA. (The FDA says they are.) This neglect by the government has allowed the proliferation of companies producing and selling herbal medicines and the tremendous increase in the various herbals being sold in the market. The herbal medicine industry is now a multibillion-peso business.

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Herbal Medicine is a form of alternative medicine based on the use of plants in the form of herbal supplements, raw herbs, herbal extracts, herbal tinctures, and other herbal remedies such as tablets, ointments, and capsules. Herbal medicine use is on the rise. Many health enthusiasts are turning to this natural, plant-based form of medicine as opposed to the chemical, pharmaceutical choice. A natural form of medicine, herbal medicine is the most ancient form of medicine on the planet. Many modern day prescriptions and conventional medicines are based on a form of herbal medicine.

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Find Herbal Medicine Schools in the United States and Canada. Herbal medicine schools instruct students in the essentials of herbalism and botanical medicine. Students who opt to enroll in herbal medicine schools will learn that this form of medicine is one of the oldest healthcare systems known to mankind.

Typically, students who possess an interest in participating in herbal studies at one of several herbal medicine schools should have attained some education in physiology and/or anatomy prior to enrollment. This is important, as it lends to the student’s ability to better understand the philosophy and theories behind herbal medicine therapies.

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A forensic pathologist has sounded a worldwide warning of the potential lethal dangers of herbal medicines if taken in large quantities, injected, or combined with prescription drugs.

A paper by Roger Byard, pathology professor at the University of Adelaide (U-A) outlines the highly toxic nature of many herbal substances, which a large percentage of users around the world mistakenly believe are safe.

Herbal medicines have also become increasingly popular in western countries in recent years, with an estimated 30 percent of US citizens using them, often without their doctor's knowledge.

"There's a false perception that herbal remedies are safer than manufactured medicines, when in fact many contain potentially lethal concentrations of arsenic, mercury and lead," Byard says.

"These substances may cause serious illnesses, exacerbate pre-existing health problems or result in death, particularly if taken in excess or injected rather than ingested."

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Contrary to popular opinion that herbal medicine is natural or safe, it can be potentially hazardous for health if taken in larger amounts, injected or combined with prescription drugs, warns a leading medical expert.

Forensic pathologist [physician who identifies diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope. ] Roger Byard, a pathology professor at the University of Adelaide (U-A), reviewed the risks attached to herbal medicines.

His findings have been posted in last month's edition of the Journal of Forensic Sciences.His research has been sparked by the death of a young South Australian man in 2006 who had injected chan su, a traditional Chinese herbal remedy that contains toxic compound, toad venom.

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Tomorrow, an army of medical herbalists will be demonstrating outside the House of Commons. "What are they going to do," wonders sceptic Adam Rutherford, an editor at the science journal Nature, "wave strands of lavender at MPs?" But Michael McIntyre, chair of the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (EHTPA), has called for the demonstration because, quite frankly, he has had enough.

For several decades, it's true, the field of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs, as they are often known) has boomed, with acupuncturists, osteopaths and homeopaths springing up on every corner. Lately, however, a fierce backlash has been brewing. Scientists such as Professor Edzard Ernst (who puts complementary medicine's claims through clinical trials), and writers such.

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