Herbal remedies have been used around the world for thousands of years. Long before there were medical doctors and laboratories to make chemical medicines, there were healers and wise people who understood that different parts of plants could make medical problems go away. This knowledge was passed down through the generations, and some of the herbs in use today have been used for more than 3,000 years.
Old Civilizations Were Right
The Chinese and Egyptians were among the first civilizations to separate medicine from magic and to write about which herbs were useful for what ailments. Now that herbs can be studied in laboratories, it has been found that many of those ancient remedies actually are quite effective, and many medicines have been developed based on herbal remedies.
People are opening their minds and wallets to the power of natural remedies now more than ever. Why? Modern medical treatments sometimes seem to cause more side effects than they treat, and drug interactions can be worse than the symptoms of the disease you were treating in the first place. As people seek to have more of a role in their own healing and begin to understand the power of the body to heal itself, the use of herbal remedies will only continue to grow.
Herbal remedies, alone or used with conventional medicine, are a gentler and saner approach for many people. The World Health Organization says about 80 percent of the world’s population uses natural remedies as their main method of health care. Countries in Asia and Europe seem to have latched on to herbal healing more quickly than the United States, but nearly every medical school in America gives future doctors some kind of training in “alternative” medicine.
In the Western world, Germany has embraced herbal remedies more than any other nation. Its Commission E has studied the safety and uses of more than 300 different herbs, and the reports, known as monographs, that came from these studies are extremely useful to natural health practitioners around the world.
There are more than 5,000 different herbs used to treat hundreds of different conditions worldwide. Traditional Chinese Medicine is probably the most well known school of traditional herbal medicine, using natural remedies to treat imbalance in the body’s energy and between the person and his or her environment.
Another type of herbal medicine that has grown in popularity in recent years is Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system of keeping the body’s health – and dealing with ailments, based on the balance of different elements or individual constitution.
But are Herbal Remedies Safe?
For the most part, herbs are far less dangerous than prescription drugs. There are many more reports of prescription drugs and drug interactions causing serious complications or death than there are for herbal remedies. Herbs tend to work much more slowly and gently than conventional medicine, and it is usually quite difficult to take so much of an herb that it causes illness.
Still, there are some ground rules that should be followed when taking herbs. Always do research and find out which herb and dosage will be best for treating the symptoms you are trying to treat. Consult an herbalist or someone knowledgeable about herbs if you need more information.
If an herb can be taken in a range of doses, start on the low end and work your way up if you do not see improvement. But remember that herbs can take a couple of months to start working, so be patient in the meantime. If an herb still isn’t working for you after two or three months, try something else. It won’t hurt you to take herbs that seem to have no effect on your symptoms, but why waste your money on something that isn’t working for you?
Herbal medicine has a lot to offer in terms of treating ailments gently and in a way that is more in tune with our bodies. And while it’s OK to be skeptical, you shouldn’t dismiss a possible treatment just because it wasn’t prescribed by your doctor.
Wishing you good health and happiness your friends,
