Herbal Medicine - Benefits And Harms

2023 Author: Rachel Wainwright | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-07-30 16:55

Herbal medicine

Herbal medicine is perhaps the most ancient method of treating diseases. The fact that the method has not lost its relevance to this day, despite the rapid development of medical science in general and pharmacology in particular, speaks of its fairly high efficiency. However, herbal medicine is mistakenly considered an absolutely harmless method, it, like all other methods of therapy, requires knowledge, their correct application and a responsible approach.

Unfortunately, there are no statistics on how many people have suffered from self-medication with herbs, but one must assume that the figure would be impressive. Meanwhile, it is worth remembering that almost all modern potent medicines owe their origin to herbs and herbal medicine, and only in relatively recent times has it become possible to replace natural ingredients with chemical products, and even then not in all.

As an example, we can cite one of the most popular drugs, which is probably in any medicine cabinet - aspirin, which has an analgesic and antipyretic agent. Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, was synthesized from willow bark, which in the form of an infusion has long been used in herbal medicine as an antipyretic medicine and as a remedy for joint pain. Another example is lily of the valley, used in herbal medicine to relieve heart pain. Lily of the valley contains cardiac glycosides that act on the heart muscle. Currently, it is widely used in the treatment of cardiopathology, including part of the drug Korglikon.

The harmless pink periwinkle contains in its leaves the alkaloid vincristine, which is one of the strongest cytostatics, that is, agents with an antitumor effect, and for this purpose is widely used in oncology. However, herbal medicine using periwinkle leaves is very dangerous in inept hands, since vincristine has a toxic effect on healthy tissue cells, it's all about the correct dosage.

Much safer, and therefore more justified, herbal treatment as a local therapy. For example, the antibacterial properties of chamomile, eucalyptus, calamus, plantain, coltsfoot can treat many diseases with their help, from bronchitis (inhalations with decoctions of medicinal herbs) to pyoderma (washing with decoctions and infusions). At the same time, herbal medicine acts more gently and gives fewer side effects than harsh chemicals due to the fact that the medicinal substances in herbs, leaves, flowers, roots and plant bark are in a lower dosage and in a balanced form.

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