Herbal Medicine

The truth is that conventional medicine has been derived from a herbal base. Until the 1930’s, most of the medicines we now attribute to the orthodox regime were actually of herbal origin. It was not until the refinement of chemical technology that the use of herbs in medicine diminished.  

The exploitation of amphetamines followed the discovery of the active ingredient ephedrine the Chinese herb Ephedra sinica, which was traditionally and is still used in the treatment of cold and flu. Similarly the commonly used pain reliever, Aspirin, is derived of the Willow plant, and haemorrhoid treatments often contain the herb Witchazel. Even very modern drugs such as Tamiflu (the purported weapon against birdflu) has a herb as its main ingredient.

Orthodox medicine still relies heavily on herbs for their pharmaceutical drugs.

Natural therapists view the body, mind and spirit as a complex whole, so the diseases it manifests are a disorder in the functioning on all these levels and each must be treated. The patients individual constitution is considered coupled with the intrinsic and extrinsic stressors that may be contributing to an imbalance in the body’s delicate homeostatic state.

Herbs are classified not only by their main therapeutic action, but also lesser actions that are believed to have a synergistic effect that matches the biochemical pathways of the human body. For example vitamin C can be extracted from an orange but once extracted does not have the additional benefits of bioflavonoids, fibre, essential oils, acids and other constituents found within the orange.

The remedies used, particularly in the field of herbal medicine, often have temperamentsthat are appropriate to a specific constitution or personality type.

Temperaments such as warming or cooling are deemed important classifications. Taste is also used in classification, as bitter herbs have metabolic and digestive effects different to sour or hot tasting herbs. This can make a certain herbal remedy specific for one patient with a particular disease, but not for another patient with the same disease.  

These factors cannot be measured by science, but are very important in the natural therapists treatment approach. That’s why we always take a full case history and treat every patient individually.

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