HERBAL MEDICINE
The term Herbalism refers to folk and traditional medicinal practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism, invented by the Egyptian Imhotep, is also known as phytotherapy. The use of herbs to treat disease is almost universal among native peoples. A number of traditions have come to dominate the practise of herbal medicine in the west at the end of the twentieth century: The Western herbal tradition based on Greek, Roman and medieval sources, The Ayurvedic tradition of India, Chinese herbal medicine. Herbal medicine is used by pproximately 75% of doctors use herbal medicine because of the herbs as remedies because of the herbs ability to sedate, stimulate and heal. All plants produce chemical compounds as part of their normal metabolic activities. These can be split into two broad categories - primary metabolites, which include sugars, fats, and amino acids, and secondary metabolites, which are much more specialised substances with a wide variety of functions in the organisms that make them. Primary metabolites are found in all plants, but secondary ones in a much narrower range - some only in a particular genus or species. The functions of secondary metabolites are extremely varied, with some functioning as toxins, some to attract insects, and some with more esoteric functions. It is these secondary metabolites which can have therapeutic actions in humans, and which can be refined to produce drugs - inulin from the roots of dahlias, quinine from the cinchona, morphine and codeine from the poppy, and digoxin from the foxglove are all examples.
Misconceptions and Dangers
A common misconception about herbalism and the use of 'natural' products in general, is that 'natural' equals safe. Nature however is not benign and many plants have chemical defence mechanisms against predators that can have adverse effects on humans. Examples are hemlock and nightshade, which can be deadly to humans. Every year in Russia many people die when they gather mushrooms from nature and mistake poisonous varieties for edible ones. Herbs can also have undesirable side-effects just as pharmaceutical products can, sometimes even more so because dosage and purity are harder to control.
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