Herbs Work Differently to Medical Drugs
There is a great deal of interest in the healing properties of herbs. Indeed there are many beneficial herbs and they have a great deal to offer for helping to improve our health. Herbal remedies have their roots in ancient cultures. Herbalism involves the medicinal use of plants to enhance general health and wellbeing and to treat diseases. There are over 750,000 plants on Earth but only a few of these have been studied scientifically in depth.
Conventional medicine and pharmacology look for the active ingredient or ingredients in a plant and seek to isolate each one. Therefore most of the research that is done on plants focuses on identifying and isolating active ingredients, rather than studying the medicinal properties of whole plants.
However it is often the interactions of the constituents in a pant that provide its effectiveness and this is only rarely explored by modern scientific research. Much of what we know about the qualities of plants and how they work on the human body comes from the depth of experience that has been built up by actual work with the herbs (and in this sense is true empirical medicine). This is often based on traditional uses for the herbs that have been handed down through the generations. It has frequently been borrowed from traditional cultures and then further explored and extended by present day herbalists.
It is a mistake to see herbs as acting exactly like pharmacological medications even though many familiar medications of the twentieth century were developed from ancient healing traditions that treated health problems with specific plants. For example, vincristine (an anti-tumor drug), digitalis (a heart regulator), and ephedrine (a bronchodilator used to decrease respiratory congestion) were all originally discovered through research on plants. These plants had been used in traditional herbal approaches, in some cases, for centuries before they were 'discovered' by scientific research.
In the process of 'discovering' these drugs they also made them more dangerous and toxic. For example, Valerianaccae, from which Valerian tea is made, is a naturally occurring part of a plant, which has been used for thousands of years to induce sleep and decrease stress. Researchers sought the key ingredient from the plant creating the synthetically derived Valium. Millions of people depend on Valium to relax muscles and reduce tension. Valium was later altered, adding another synthetic form. The development of the synthetic Valium resulted in serious side effects that society has had to deal with in the form of Valium toxicity cases. This process robs the Valerian tea of synergistic components such as vitamins, minerals, and trace elements which are needed to balance the naturally occurring reaction in the body. The synthetic dug was thought to be a solution, but it caused a significant social problem. Over 30 clinics have been established in America to deal with Valium addictions. Valium toxicity has developed into one of the greatest chemically induced diseases known. To date, there are no Valerian tea clinics anywhere in the world. In fact, there are no medical records of any Valerian tea toxicity or overdose.
Traditionally used herbs could have impact on infectious diseases. For example, the Chinese herbal remedy Artemisia annua, used in China for almost 2000 years has been found to be effective against resistant malaria and could create a breakthrough in preventing almost one million deaths annually, most of them children, from severe malaria.
In South Africa, the Medical Research Council is conducting studies on the efficacy of the plant Sutherlandia Microphylla in treating AIDS patients. Traditionally used as a tonic, this plant may increase energy, appetite and body mass in people living with HIV.
The pharmaceutical approach to medication takes what is consider to be the active ingredient out of the herb. They often develop what are considered to be synthetic equivalents and they also often concentrate the dose. This delivers a strong action in the patient but it also removes the additional benefits that the herb can offer. It also makes the pharmaceutical drugs potentially hazardous - this can be seen from the number of side effects that drugs have and many of these side affects are potentially life threatening.
Nearly all herbs have more than one action on the body - they work in many ways and indeed some herbs are able to adapt to the needs and requirements of the body by moving to any cell to restore specific function. These are called adaptogens and they can penetrate the cell membrane, often moving directly to the nucleus and from there to the genetic material of the cell. This can subtly and gently improve general cell function and hormone secretion as well as the transfer of messages to the nervous system. When the so called active ingredients are removed from the herbs the additional health benefits of the whole herb are usually lost.
Herbs are able to improve health and treat diseases. The modern drugs vincristine, digitalis and ephedrine all have the potential for serious side effects and can indeed be lethal and if you are taking these drugs you need to know about the drug, how it works and its potential side effects. It is the same for herbs and although many are essentially safe you need to understand what it is that you are taking and exercise reasonable precautions.
See how herbs and other natural therapies can work together to gain and maintain your health. Get your copy of Safe Colon Cleansing: Your Good Health Guide and begin now. Then get on with really enjoying life.
30.07.2007. 19:28
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