Herbal medicine (or herbalism) is an approach to healing that uses plants or plant extracts to treat, prevent or cure illness, and promote good health. Like most other complementary therapies, herbal medicine takes an holistic approach - it aims to treat the whole person, not just the symptoms, and to encourage the body to heal itself.
All parts of the plant are used - roots, leaves, stems and seeds – as herbal practitioners believe the whole herb has a wider healing potential than the single active agent used by the pharmaceutical industry in traditional medicine.
Many well-established, conventional medicines come from plants. For example morphine comes from poppies, aspirin from willow bark, and digoxin (a treatment for an irregular heart beat) from foxgloves.
Herbal remedies are available as drinks, tablets, capsules, ointments and creams, and are on sale in health food shops, pharmacies and even supermarkets. But they must be approached with caution. Not only can they have side effects, regulatory procedures differ from country to country and it is not always clear what the remedy contains, in what concentration, or whether it was manufactured properly. As a result, the safety of herbal medicines is often questioned. Even established remedies that have been shown to be helpful for certain problems, are not safe in all situations, for example when the patient is taking other medicines. In particular, herbal remedies should not be taken by those with angina, high blood pressure or glaucoma. Herbal treatment should therefore not be taken without supervision from a trained herbalist or a doctor.
The success of herbal medicine has also been questioned. There are some remedies that claim to treat almost any common complaint, but there is limited scientific evidence that these actually work. But other remedies have undergone clinical testing and have had some successes. For example, St John's Wort can be used to treat mild to moderate depression, garlic can reduce blood cholesterol levels and potentially lower the risk of heart disease, and ginkgo biloba may improve mental performance in people with Alzheimer's disease. However, the evidence for most herbal medicines is conflicting and further studies are needed.
Please Note! You should always consult a doctor and/or herbal practitioner before making any changes or additions to your medications, herbal or otherwise.
Herbalism is huge! According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 80% of the world’s population relies on herbal medicines for some aspect of their primary health care.