Herbal Therapy
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The use of herbs to treat disease is almost universal among
non-industrialized societies. A number of traditions came to dominate the
practice of herbal medicine in the Western world at the end of the
twentieth century:
The Western, based on Greek and Roman sources, the Ayurvedic from
India, and Chinese herbal medicine (Chinese herbology). Naturopathic
physicians are trained in all three traditions.
Many of the pharmaceuticals currently available to Western physicians
have a long history of use as herbal remedies, including opium, aspirin,
digitalis, and quinine.
non-industrialized societies. A number of traditions came to dominate the
practice of herbal medicine in the Western world at the end of the
twentieth century:
The Western, based on Greek and Roman sources, the Ayurvedic from
India, and Chinese herbal medicine (Chinese herbology). Naturopathic
physicians are trained in all three traditions.
Many of the pharmaceuticals currently available to Western physicians
have a long history of use as herbal remedies, including opium, aspirin,
digitalis, and quinine.
| Copyright © 2003-2004 Boulder Natural Medicine Clinic, LLC. All rights reserved. Email : info@bouldernatural.com Phone: 303.447.1339 |
Herbalism, also known as Herbal medicine and phytotherapy, is a folk and traditional medicinal
practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts.
Finding healing powers in plants is an ancient idea. People in all continents have long used
hundreds, if not thousands, of indigenous plants for treatment of various ailments dating back
to prehistory. There is evidence that suggests Neanderthals living 60,000 years ago in
present-day Iraq used plants for medicinal purposes (found at a burial site at Shanidar Cave,
Iraq, in which a Neanderthal man was uncovered in 1960. He had been buried with eight
species of plants). These plants are still widely used in ethnomedicine around the world.
The first generally accepted use of plants as healing agents were depicted in the cave
paintings discovered in the Lascaux caves in France, which have been Radiocarbon dated to
between 13,000 - 25,000 BCE.
Anthropologists theorize that over time, and with trial and error, a small base of knowledge
would have been acquired within early tribal communities. As this knowledge base expanded
over the generations, the specialized role of the shaman emerged. The process would likely
have occurred in varying manners within a wide diversity of cultures.
Plants have an almost limitless ability to synthesize aromatic substances, most of which are
phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. Most are secondary
metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated, a number estimated to be less than
10% of the total. In many cases, these substances (esp. alkaloids) serve as plant defense
mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Many of the herbs
and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.
The use of and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have
accelerated in recent years. Pharmacologists, microbiologists, botanists, and natural-products
chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and leads that could be developed for
treatment of various diseases. In fact, many modern drugs have been derived from plants.
practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts.
Finding healing powers in plants is an ancient idea. People in all continents have long used
hundreds, if not thousands, of indigenous plants for treatment of various ailments dating back
to prehistory. There is evidence that suggests Neanderthals living 60,000 years ago in
present-day Iraq used plants for medicinal purposes (found at a burial site at Shanidar Cave,
Iraq, in which a Neanderthal man was uncovered in 1960. He had been buried with eight
species of plants). These plants are still widely used in ethnomedicine around the world.
The first generally accepted use of plants as healing agents were depicted in the cave
paintings discovered in the Lascaux caves in France, which have been Radiocarbon dated to
between 13,000 - 25,000 BCE.
Anthropologists theorize that over time, and with trial and error, a small base of knowledge
would have been acquired within early tribal communities. As this knowledge base expanded
over the generations, the specialized role of the shaman emerged. The process would likely
have occurred in varying manners within a wide diversity of cultures.
Plants have an almost limitless ability to synthesize aromatic substances, most of which are
phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. Most are secondary
metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated, a number estimated to be less than
10% of the total. In many cases, these substances (esp. alkaloids) serve as plant defense
mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Many of the herbs
and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.
The use of and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have
accelerated in recent years. Pharmacologists, microbiologists, botanists, and natural-products
chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and leads that could be developed for
treatment of various diseases. In fact, many modern drugs have been derived from plants.
