Herbal Medicine is the world’s oldest healing art, both in recorded and unrecorded history. Medicinal herbs were found in the remains of a 60,000 year old human burial – herbs still in use today (Yarrow and Shepherd’s Purse). Herbal Medicine is also the world’s most widely recognized healing art. According to a Smithsonian statistic, 82% of the world’s population uses herbs as a primary system of healing. Herbal medicine is so powerful and effective that it has survived for thousands of years. By contrast, conventional medicine is less than 100 years old. Not only is herbal medicine an ancient, time tested and effective system of medicine, but it has evolved with humans. It is a living tradition which changes and grows with people. In fact, the history of medicine is the history of herbal medicine.

From the earliest times, herbs have been prized for their healing abilities, and today we still rely on the curative properties of plants in many of our medicines. Over the centuries, societies around the world have developed their own traditions using medicinal plants. For all but the last 50 years, humans have relied almost entirely on plants to treat all manner of illness, from minor problems such as coughs and colds to life threatening diseases. Scientific inquiry is now validating the effectiveness of traditional herbal therapy.

Herbal medicine is focused on bringing the body into balance and supporting the body’s natural capacity to fight disease and maintain health. Herbs can work to nourish and strengthen the organs and functions of the body or to reduce deficiencies. Herbs can eliminate or quiet excesses such as heat, inflammation, agitation or spasm. Herbs can also aid in rebalancing or normalizing body systems that are responding inappropriately, such as the hormone or immune systems.

Herbalists provide educational counseling for health maintenance, disease prevention and treat health imbalances through nutrition, lifestyle changes and herbal medicine.

The art of herbalism is in knowing which herbs have an affinity for particular body systems and knowing the plants’ actions and energetics. Synonyms for herbal medicine include plant medicine, botanical medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy.

Strictly speaking, an herb is any plant without a woody stem. However, in herbal medicine, “herb” generally refers to any plant material that may be used in the realm of health and wholeness, e.g. roots, flowers, whole plant, seed, bark, etc. We are all familiar with using teas as a beverage, but this is also a powerful way to take many herbs medicinally – for example, chamomile tea to relax at bedtime.

Because humans have co-evolved with the plants, plants represent the most appropriate way for us to get food nutrients and medicines. Our enzyme systems have evolved to extract nutrients and chemical components from plants sources, not from synthetic chemicals. Hippocrates said it best, “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.”

“The doctor of the future will give no medicines, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in causes of disease.”

—Thomas Edison

• Many people are searching for gentler medicines.
• The increased incidence of side effects from pharmaceuticals.
• Issues surrounding overuse and overdependence on pharmaceuticals.
• Lack of access issues to expensive health care.
• People taking responsibility for their own health.
• Cost considerations.
• The risk/benefit ratio of pharmaceuticals vs. herbs.

In all parts of the world that use herbal remedies, herbs are divided into categories of food, medicine or poison. Food herbs, the largest percentage, can be safely taken in food quantities. Medicine herbs, a smaller percentage, should be used only for a specific problem for a specific period of time. Poison herbs, the smallest percentage of medicinal plants, should be used only by highly trained herbalists and in minute amounts. As the old toxicology saying goes, “the dose makes the poison.”

Many people feel that if it’s natural, then it must be safe. Any substance, even water or oxygen, can be harmful in the wrong dose. This include herbs. The important point is that herbs are relatively safe compared to drugs, but as the above system implies, if you use a powerful medicine herb like Ma Huang (Ephedra) which is intended for short term use of asthma, add caffeine, and take large doses for a recreational high, you will have problems. It’s common sense.

Another common American assumption is, “if a little is good, then a lot must be better.” This is faulty logic from both a pharmaceutical and an herbal perspective. It is important to follow dosing recommendations for herbs or drugs.

An article in the April 15, 1998 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that for “properly prescribed” pharmaceutical drugs in 1994 alone, more than 100,000 Americans died from the side effects. This does not include those who overdose or abuse medications, nor the greater than two million people injured by taking the conventional drugs (serious adverse drug events, such as kidney or liver failure). By comparison, over a five year period, herbs had approximately 50 deaths attributable to them, mostly from excessive use and with extremely large doses of Ma Huang (Ephedra) mixed with caffeine. The risk/benefit ratio of herbs as compared to pharmaceuticals is important to consider. Herbs are remarkably safe compared to drugs, but this also leads to a call for critical thinking and common sense in the use of herbs.

Herb/drug interactions present a difficult problem for a number of reasons. Much is unknown about drug/drug reactions, let alone herb/drug interactions, and there is no ADE reporting system for herb reactions (an idea whose time has come). There are rare reports of adverse events for some herbs, like Ma Huang, but most of what you see in books are tables of potential side effects of herbs and drugs based on the known action of the herbs and drugs.

Examples:

• Hawthorn strengthens and nourishes the heart, and can potentiate the effects of Digoxin. This is not an absolute contraindication, but a caution to realize that the Digoxin dose will need to be monitored and possibly decreased after starting Hawthorn. In fact, since Digoxin is so toxic, it can be a therapeutic benefit, but must be closely monitored.
• It would be unwise to take blood thinning herbs like Ginkgo and Garlic with Coumadin or before surgery.
• It is pretty safe to assume that diuretic herbs will potentiate pharmaceutical diuretics and may lead to fatal electrolyte imbalances.
• It would be safe to assume that laxative herbs will potentiate pharmaceutical laxatives.

By knowing the actions of herbs, you can make reasoned judgments about their potential to interact with drugs.

I feel that conventional and herbal medicines are complementary to each other. Conventional medicine is great at managing trauma, medical and surgical emergencies, and treating acute bacterial infections with antibiotics. However, conventional medicine cannot treat viral infections, nor can it cure most chronic degenerative diseases, allergies, autoimmune diseases, or cancers.

“Do not seek help from a conventional doctor for a condition that conventional medicine cannot treat, and do not rely on an alternative provider for a condition that conventional medicine can manage well.”

Andrew Weil MD. Spontaneous Healing, Alfred Knopf, Inc., 1995, pp. 225-6.

Dr. Weil’s advice is a way to blend the advances of conventional medicine’s diagnostic and treatment therapies with other complementary therapies that excel in areas where conventional medicine does not.