Chinese Herbal Medicine
Herbal Medicine, sometimes referred to as Herbalism or Botanical
Medicine, is the use of herbs for their therapeutic or medicinal value. An herb
is a plant or plant part valued for its medicinal, aromatic or savory
qualities. Herb plants produce and contain a variety of chemical substances
that act upon the body.Herbal medicine is the oldest form of healthcare known
to mankind. Herbs had been used by all cultures throughout history. It was an
integral part of the development of modern civilization. Primitive man observed
and appreciated the great diversity of plants available to him. The plants
provided food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. Much of the medicinal use of
plants seems to have been developed through observations of wild animals, and
by trial and error. As time went on, each tribe added the medicinal power of
herbs in their area to its knowledgebase. They methodically collected
information on herbs and developed well-defined herbal pharmacopoeias. Indeed,
well into the 20th century much of the pharmacopoeia of scientific medicine was
derived from the herbal lore of native peoples. Many drugs commonly used today
are of herbal origin. Indeed, about 25 percent of the prescription drugs
dispensed in the United States contain at least one active ingredient derived
from plant material. Some are made from plant extracts; others are synthesized
to mimic a natural plant compound.The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates
that 4 billion people, 80 percent of the world population, presently use herbal
medicine for some aspect of primary health care. Herbal medicine is a major
component in all indigenous peoples’ traditional medicine and a common
element in Ayurvedic, homeopathic, naturopathic, traditional oriental, and
Native American Indian medicine. WHO notes that of 119 plant-derived
pharmaceutical medicines, about 74 percent are used in modern medicine in ways
that correlated directly with their traditional uses as plant medicines by
native cultures. Major pharmaceutical companies are currently conducting
extensive research on plant materials gathered from the rain forests and other
places for their potential medicinal value.Substances derived from the plants
remain the basis for a large proportion of the commercial medications used
today for the treatment of heart disease, high blood pressure, pain, asthma,
and other problems. For example, ephedra is a herb used in Traditional Chinese
Medicine for more than two thousand years to treat asthma and other respiratory
problems. Ephedrine, the active ingredient in ephedra, is used in the
commercial pharmaceutical preparations for the relief of asthma symptoms and
other respiratory problems. It helps the patient to breathe more easily.Another
example of the use of a herbal preparation in modern medicine is the foxglove
plant. This herb had been in use since 1775. At present, the powdered leaf of
this plant is known as the cardiac stimulant digitalis to the millions of heart
patients it keeps alive worldwide.Herbal Medicine can be broadly classified
into various basic systems: Traditional Chinese Herbalism, which is part of
Traditional Oriental Medicine, Ayurvedic Herbalism, which is derived from
Ayurveda, and Western Herbalism, which originally came from Greece and Rome to
Europe and then spread to North and South America.Chinese and Ayurvedic
Herbalism have developed into highly sophisticated systems of diagnosis and
treatment over the centuries. Western Herbalism is today primarily a system of
folk medicine.
Interest in the United States had been growing in the recent
years from the reported success stories from the use of herbs. For example, St.
John's Wort is widely used in the treatment of mild depression without the need
for Prozac. St. John's Wort does not have the side effects such as that of
Prozac. There are some Ayurvedic herbs that are very useful for reducing
cholesterol, diabetes etc. Similarly the popularity of Ginseng and Ginkgo
biloba (ginkgo) is rising due to its beneficial effects.
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