Why use herbal remedies?
When confronted by ill health, human beings have always sought medicines from the natural world, in particular from plants. Today, we have the opportunity to combine traditional knowledge of herbal medicine with the clarity that scientific research can provide.
Herbal remedies can be safely used to:
• T reat common acute problems, for example coughs, headaches, and skin rashes.
• T reat chronic problems, for example mild depression, arthritis, and varicose veins.
• Prevent illness.
• Enhance health.
Although they are natural, herbal remedies are medicines and can therefore cause side effects. For best results, they need to be used sensibly and with respect. They also need to be used with an awareness of what they cannot do!
Minor Acute Problems
Herbal remedies are well suited to treating everyday health problems, though the standard caution about self, or home, treatment always applies: if you are in doubt, seek immediate professional advice, especially where unwell children are concerned. Relief for conditions such as headache, sore throat, cough, gas, and bloating can occur quickly, although gradual, ongoing improvement in symptoms is more common with herbal medicine. Warm teas and diluted tinctures can be particularly helpful. For simple problems, treatment for a few days will be sufficient. Skin problems such as minor burns, grazes, and rashes can be treated topically.
Example Symptoms of sore throat and hoarseness suggesting the start of a viral infection can be treated using remedies such as echinacea (Echinacea spp.), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), and sage (Salvia officinalis). Take tea or diluted tincture of one or more of these remedies, first as a gargle, then swallow. Continue taking three times a day until symptoms have cleared. If symptoms deteriorate sharply or there is no improvement after five days, seek professional advice.
Chronic Problems
Problems that have lingered for months or even years, such as acid indigestion, osteoarthritis, and fungal skin infections, can be successfully relieved or improved with herbal remedies, although longterm treatment may be required (a rule of thumb used by herbal practitioners is one month’s treatment for every year the condition has been present). Takinga remedy regularly is likely to prove more effective than occasional dosing when symptoms flare. That being said, there is nothing wrong in using herbal remedies for symptomatic relief.
Example Acid indigestion can be relieved (and hopefully reversed) by taking meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) tea or
tincture after meals for several months. Other remedies such as slippery elm (Ulmus fulva) and chamomile
(Chamomilla recutita) may also prove helpful, as will attention to diet.
Preventing Illness
Taken long-term, many herbal remedies have been shown to have a potent ability to prevent illness or deterioration in existing symptoms. Indeed, some would argue that working on the basis that prevention is the best medicine is the way to use herbal remedies. The difficulty with a preventive approach of course is that, if successful, one does not see results. Such an approach nevertheless comes close to the ancient Chinese emperor’s practice of paying his doctors only as long as he remained well. As a result it was always in his doctors’ interest to act preventatively rather than once illness had taken hold.
Example Millions of people take ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) on a daily basis in order to maintain healthy blood flow to the brain and limbs and to prevent dementia, both uses that are strongly supported by clinical research. The herb’s notable antioxidant activity also helps prevent inflammation and allergy.
Enhancing Health
Herbs can prove extremely helpful in promoting mental and physical performance, particularly where constitutional weaknesses exist. Whether taken by students studying for exams or athletes preparing for an event (who should remember that herbal remedies may test positive in drug testing), remedies with tonic and adaptogenic properties support endurance and the ability to cope with stress. Night shift workers, people putting in long hours or tolerating extreme conditions in the workplace, and those suffering from long-term stress may all benefit from such remedies.
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