What is Botanical Medicine?

What is Herbal Medicine?

Herbal medicine, also known as botanical medicine, phytotherapy, or phytomedicine, is the use of medicinal plants to treat and prevent disease, as well as to enhance general health and well-being.

Developed long before modern science, the knowledge of traditional herbal medicine has been accumulating over thousands of years of practise. [1]

Indigenous cultures around the world have recognised the therapeutic properties of medicinal plants to treat illness for centuries. [1]

For example, the Egyptian Papyrus Ebers, which dates back to 1,500 BC, is thought to be the first systematic medical text. It includes information on more than 800 plant medicines that were used to treat common illnesses. [1]

How Do Herbal Medicines Work?

Medicinal plants contain naturally occurring biologically active chemicals or constituents that act in a similar fashion to many pharmaceutical preparations.

Medical herbalists use the whole plant, in which the active ingredients or constituents work synergistically so that the sum of its parts has a greater overall effect than each individual component. [1]

When these active compounds in medicinal plants are consumed, they interact with human protein targets or alter the growth of commensal, pathogenic, or parasitic organisms living within the human body, influencing health and disease states. [1]

Herbal Medicine and Pharmaceutical Drugs

Since first discovered and approved for use in 1827, morphine, a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid painkiller iso­lated from Papaver somniferum or otherwise commonly known as the opium poppy plant, many drugs have been discovered from plants. [1]

Medical plants have been used for medical purposes and form the origin of much of modern pharmacotherapy. [1,2.3,4]

While the plant kingdom continues to serve as a source of potent chemicals in the discovery of new drugs, the modern pharmaceutical industry continues to exploit the therapeutic agents found in medicinal plants [1,2]

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What is a Herbal Medicine Practitioner?

Naturopathic herbal medicine practitioners are trained in medical science and use both conventional and functional diagnostic principles to determine the cause of your condition.

During your initial consultation, the naturopathic herbal practitioner will take a thorough medical history and perform a physical examination to assess the quality of your body's function.

For example, while treating a patient with irritable bowel syndrome, the practitioner may observe that the irritable bowel syndrome is due to an imbalance in the function of the patient's nervous system and consequently, the patient also exhibits symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

Thus, the treating naturopathic herbal medicine practitioner may decide that the patient's symptoms are the result of an imbalance in the patient’s autonomic nervous system function and prescribe a combination of herbal medicines to help the patient adapt to stress and restore, calm, and nourish the nervous system to treat the irritable bowel syndrome.

In addition to the herbal prescription, naturopathic herbal medicine practitioners may work with their patients to modify diet and lifestyle factors such as exercise and psychosocial emotional issues.

The herbal medicine formulation or prescription is made up of a number of medicinal plants mixed in a specific ratio in which the simultaneous action of multiple chemicals results in pharmacological effectiveness. [1]

What Role Does Naturopathic Herbal Medicine Play in the 21st Century?

Due to the complex nature of the underlying causes of chronic diseases, the use of target-based pharmaceutical medications faces enormous challenges in providing effective cures. [1]

Conventional medicine has become overly reliant on costly technological solutions to resolve health problems, even when these solutions are ineffective. [3]

In its pursuit of technology, conventional medicine has abandoned the importance of vitalism and holism and the role of simple effective interventions such as nutrition, dietary, lifestyle and behavioural modification. [3]

In addition, the use of medicinal plants may play a role alongside conventional medicine in the treatment and prevention of disease, without the negative side effects associated with pharmaceutical treatments. [2,3]

Besides patients want to be guided through the confusing maze of therapeutic options, especially when conventional approaches are unsuitable, ineffective, and harmful. [3]

Most patients seek out complementary medicines like naturopathic herbal medicine because they are dissatisfied with conventional medicine. [3]

According to research, complementary and alternative practitioners help patients take more responsibility for their health, and as a result, feel more in control of their illness. [3]

Potential Unwanted Effects of Herbal Medicines

Many people think that herbal medicines are safe because they are natural, which is a dangerous oversimplification. [2]

Since medicinal plants contain concentrated amounts of active chemicals, some herbal medicines have been linked to drug interactions and adverse effects, therefore herbal medicines should be used with the same caution as pharmaceutical drugs. [2]

Some herbal medicines and nutritional supplements may interact may be harmful and used with caution if you:

• ­   Pregnant or trying to become pregnant, or breastfeeding

• ­   Drink alcohol

• ­   Have kidney, liver or serious stomach problems

• ­   Are allergic to any of the substances in the medicines

• ­   Combine herbal medicines with prescribed medications without supervision

If you are considering using herbal medicines or natural supplements, consult your healthcare professional about the potential side effects and interactions.

Do Not Self-Diagnose

It is very important that people do not self-diagnose any health conditions. Any medication (herbal or otherwise) should be taken under the supervision of a knowledgeable and qualified healthcare practitioner.

Consult a Licensed Herbalist or Naturopathic Practitioner

Before using natural medicines or supplements, consult a fully trained herbal medicine practitioner or naturopath.

Naturopaths aim to treat the person as a whole, using whole-plant medicines to stimulate the body’s own healing abilities.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or feedback