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Herbal
Medicine has been used for thousands of
years to succ |
by:
Danny
Siegenthaler |
Herbs
or medicinal plants have a long history
in treating disease and health disorders.
In traditional Chinese medicine, for example,
the written history of herbal medicine goes
back over 2000 years and herbalists in the
West have used "weeds" equally long to treat
that which ails us. We are all familiar
with the virtues of Garlic, Chamomile, Peppermint,
Lavender, and other common herbs.
Interest in medicinal herbs is on the rise
again and the interest is primarily from
the pharmaceutical industry, which is always
looking for 'new drugs' and more effective
substances to treat diseases, for which
there may be no or very few drugs available.
Considering the very long traditional use
of herbal medicines and the large body of
evidence of their effectiveness, why is
it that we are not generally encouraged
to use traditional herbal medicine, instead
of synthetic, incomplete copies of herbs,
called drugs, considering the millions of
dollars being spent looking for these seemingly
elusive substances?
Herbs are considered treasures when it comes
to ancient cultures and herbalists, and
many so-called weeds are worth their weight
in gold. Dandelion, Comfrey, Digitalis (Foxglove),
the Poppy, Milk Thistle, Stinging nettle,
and many others, have well-researched and
established medicinal qualities that have
few if any rivals in the pharmaceutical
industry. Many of them in fact, form the
bases of pharmaceutical drugs.
Research into the medicinal properties of
such herbs as the humble Dandelion is currently
being undertaken by scientists at the Royal
Botanical Gardens, in Kew, west London,
believe it could be the source of a life-saving
drug for cancer patients.
Early tests suggest that it could hold the
key to warding off cancer, which kills tens
of thousands of people every year.
Their work on the cancer-beating properties
of the dandelion, which also has a history
of being used to treat warts, is part of
a much larger project to examine the natural
medicinal properties of scores of British
plants and flowers.
Professor Monique Simmonds, head of the
Sustainable Uses of Plants Group at Kew,
said: "We aren't randomly screening plants
for their potential medicinal properties,
we are looking at plants which we know have
a long history of being used to treat certain
medical problems."
"We will be examining them to find out what
active compounds they contain which can
treat the illness."
Unfortunately, as is so often the case,
this group of scientists appears to be looking
for active ingredients, which can later
be synthesized and then made into pharmaceutical
drugs. This is not the way herbs are used
traditionally and their functions inevitably
change when the active ingredients are used
in isolation. That's like saying that the
only important part of a car is the engine
- nothing else needs to be included.
So, why is there this need for isolating
the 'active ingredients'?
As a scientist, I can understand the need
for the scientific process of establishing
the fact that a particular herb works on
a particular disease, pathogen or what ever,
and the need to know why and how it does
so. But, and this is a BIG but, as a doctor
of Chinese medicine I also understand the
process of choosing and prescribing COMBINATIONS
of herbs, which have a synergistic effect
to treat not just the disease, but any underlying
condition as well as the person with the
disease - That is a big difference and not
one that is easily tested using standard
scientific methodologies.
Using anecdotal evidence, which after all
has a history of thousands of years, seems
to escape my esteemed colleagues all together.
Rather than trying to isolate the active
ingredient(s), why not test these herbs,
utilizing the knowledge of professional
herbalists, on patients in vivo, using the
myriad of technology available to researchers
and medical diagnosticians to see how and
why these herbs work in living, breathing
patients, rather than in a test tube or
on laboratory rats and mice (which, by the
way, are not humans and have a different,
although some what similar, physiology to
us.).
I suspect, that among the reasons for not
following the above procedure is that the
pharmaceutical companies are not really
interested in the effects of the medicinal
plants as a whole, but rather in whether
they can isolate a therapeutic substance
which can then be manufactured cheaply and
marketed as a new drug - and of course that's
where the money is.
The problem with this approach is however,
that medicinal plants like Comfrey, Dandelion
and other herbs usually contain hundreds
if not thousands of chemical compounds that
interact, yet many of which are not yet
understood and cannot be manufactured. This
is why the manufactured drugs, based on
so-called active ingredients, often do not
work or produce side effects.
Aspirin is a classic case in point. Salicylic
acid is the active ingredient in Aspirin
tablets, and was first isolated from the
bark of the White Willow tree. It is a relatively
simple compound to make synthetically, however,
Aspirin is known for its ability to cause
stomach irritation and in some cases ulceration
of the stomach wall.
The herbal extract from the bark of the
White Willow tree generally does not cause
stomach irritation due to other, so called
'non-active ingredients' contained in the
bark, which function to protect the lining
of the stomach thereby preventing ulceration
of the stomach wall.
Ask yourself, which would I choose - Side
effects, or no site effects? - It's a very
simple answer. Isn't it?
So why then are herbal medicines not used
more commonly and why do we have pharmaceutical
impostors stuffed down our throats? The
answer is, that there's little or no money
in herbs for the pharmaceutical companies.
They, the herbs, have already been invented,
they grow easily, they multiply readily
and for the most part, they're freely available.
Further more, correctly prescribed and formulated
herbal compounds generally resolve the health
problem of the patient over a period of
time, leaving no requirement to keep taking
the preparation - that means no repeat sales.
no ongoing prescriptions. no ongoing problem.
Pharmaceuticals on the other hand primarily
aim to relieve symptoms - that means: ongoing
consultations, ongoing sales, ongoing health
problems - which do you think is a more
profitable proposition.?
Don't get me wrong, this is not to say that
all drugs are impostors or that none of
the pharmaceutical drugs cure diseases or
maladies - they do and some are life-preserving
preparations and are without doubt invaluable.
However, herbal extracts can be similarly
effective, but are not promoted and are
highly under-utilized.
The daily news is full of 'discoveries'
of herbs found to be a possible cure of
this or that, as in the example of Dandelion
and its possible anti-cancer properties.
The point is, that these herbs need to be
investigated in the correct way. They are
not just 'an active ingredient'. They mostly
have hundreds of ingredients and taking
one or two in isolation is not what makes
medicinal plants work. In addition, rarely
are herbal extracts prescribed by herbalists
as singles (a preparation which utilizes
only one herb). Usually herbalists mix a
variety of medicinal plants to make a mixture,
which addresses more than just the major
symptoms.
In Chinese medicine for example there is
a strict order of hierarchy in any herbal
prescription, which requires considerable
depth of knowledge and experience on the
physicians part. The fact that the primary
or principle herb has active ingredients,
which has a specific physiological effect,
does not mean the other herbs are not necessary
in the preparation. This is a fact seemingly
ignored by the pharmaceutical industry in
its need to manufacture new drugs that can
control disease.
Knowing that medicinal plants are so effective,
that these plants potentially hold the key
to many diseases, are inexpensive and have
proven their worth time and time again over
millennia, why is it that herbal medicine
is still not in the forefront of medical
treatments, and is considered by many orthodox
medical professionals and pharmaceutical
companies as hocus-pocus.. hmmm.
About the Author
Danny Siegenthaler is a doctor of traditional
Chinese medicine and together with his
wife Susan, a medical herbalist and aromatherapist,
they have created Natural
Skin Care Products by Wildcrafted Herbal
Products to share their 40 years of
combined expertise with you. |
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