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History of Herbal Medicine
As
human societies have reached to an
agronomical view of the world, the
cultivation of plants for medicine
was an important role in this;
eventually, herbal lore and herbal
remedies became codified, first with
the Egyptians, then with the Greeks
in the Western tradition, and the
knowledge base was slowly
accumulated upon by the Romans. It's
from the Greeks in particular that
the foundation of modern medicine -
of not just prescribing a treatment,
but recording what the treatment
was, and what its impact was, got
started.
It is possible the earliest form of
herbal medicine was marshmallow
root, which is a common grass chewed
for settling an upset stomach, and
has been eaten for (presumably) that
reason by our closest evolutionary
cousins, chimpanzees and bonobos.
Likewise, hyacinth (a diuretic)
causes the tissues to give up excess
water, is rich in tannins and
alkaloids, which have a bitter, or
pungent taste. As tribal human
societies grew, a small body of
knowledge over what plants were
beneficial for what ailments grew,
until the role of a tribal herb lore
specialist became known; often
times, in hunter-gatherer societies,
this herbalist carries a lot of
weight in the day to day running of
the tribe.
In the sub-continent, the herbalist tradition
was Ayurvedic, focusing on the use
of metals, herbs and parts of
animals generally considered
inedible, prepared in solution.
These herbs and other compounds are
used in varying proportions to
remedy specific ills, and may be
applied internally as pills or
infusions, topically as ointments,
inhaled as smoke, or pressed to the
body as powders.
In the Europe and Americas, without a written
tradition to work from, most herbalism is carried by oral
traditions from various tribes; this
has proven invaluable when looking
for herbal remedies in the rain
forests and Andean uplands. Much of
the American herbal tradition is
tied to shamanism and spiritualism.
In China and surrounding countries, herbalism and herbal
remedies were used as an adjunct to
acupuncture, and the medical
morphology in use is of balancing
qui or chi, the life force energies,
which have yin and yang elements; in
Chinese herbalism, the aim is to
bring the systems of the body,
treating it as an electrical system,
back into balance, which is a tactic
commonly expressed in modern, or
synergetic herbalism.
Herbal Medicine Today
Newly discovered herbal medicine takes a
synergetic approach, trying to cross
reference the benefits of various
herbs and treatments from different
traditions, and find the best
combination of herbal remedies. It's
estimated that upwards of three
quarters of the people on the planet
use herbal medicine as part of their
primary health care regimen.
Furthermore, it's estimated that
nearly three quarters of all
naturally derived medicines are used
in ways conforming to their herbal
component's or antecedents
traditional use, and somewhere close
to one third of all medical research
begins with botanical research of
samples collected from rain forests
and other biomes.
The most common herbs are aromatics
- the compounds we use to treat
illness are an effect of plants
conducting chemical warfare on each
other and to fend off herbivores.
The same compounds that make many
herbs bitter or smell strongly are
the ones used in herbal medicine and
clinical trials.
Herbal remedies have "no side
effect", this is not the case; it's
more than the side effects cannot be
attributed to one compound in the
herbal repertoire, and sometimes
this leads to dangers - for example, cochinea was used to treat gout
(rheumatoid arthritis, and a number
of related symptoms), but also has
severe side effects on the function
of the kidneys and liver, as it's a
slow, cumulative toxin. The primary
difference in side effects between
herbal remedies and those listed in
the Physician's Desk Reference is
that the Physician's Desk Reference
has double blind studies listing
what dosages cause which side
effects, while many herbal remedies
lack this benchmark. That being
said, most traditional therapeutic
doses of herbal remedies are small
enough to avoid the worst side
effects. (Whether some herbs have
their effect from the placebo effect
is also open to dispute.)
On the one side
herbal remedies can be
beneficial, the other side do understand that they
are not an either-or proposition
with modern medicine, though there
is a strong establishment precedent
for treating them that way - up
until the early part of this
century, most of the remedies
prescribed by doctors were herbal
and natural remedies. Do consult
with your health care provider about
possible interactions between herbal
remedies and prescription drugs. |
