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"Before an era of modern pharmaceutics,
doctors used to treat their patients with plants, particularly herbs. That's
all they had, and they did a credible job with them, all things considered. In
those days, there was no FDA, and there was no requirement for double-blind
trials before a medicine could be used. Anecdotal accounts of the benefits of a
botanical agent, handed down from generation to generation, constituted all the
evidence doctors had-or needed-before using it to heal the sick. For example,
in the 17th century, natives in the jungles of Peru told a Jesuit priest living
among them that the bark of a local tree could lower fever. They showed him a
few cases, he was convinced, and he tried it on some feverish, sick people. It
worked. That observation changed the course of history and human suffering,
because the active ingredient in the bark was quinine, which is still used to
treat malaria, the most common disease of man.
Today, only one of every 140 mainstream physicians in this country views herbal
medicine seriously. But even though your own doctor may never have prescribed
herbs for you, statistics suggest that you or someone in your family is
probably taking one or more of them. So probably is your doctor!
Although you can buy herbs as fresh leaves and roots, most people get them in
the form of tablets, powders, drinks or capsules. You can take them internally,
apply them as compresses or lotions, or inhale their vapors.
They may not bear a fancy medical pedigree, but plants, roots, herbs, and
flowers play an important role in the prevention and treatment of
disease. Although the term "botanicals" brings to mind colorful boxes
and packages on the shelves of a health store, botanicals are the source of many
drugs prescribed and being developed today. |
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HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES: |
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Digoxin, the most widely prescribed heart medication
(from foxglove) |
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Vincristine and vinblastine, potent anticancer drugs (from the periwinkle
plant) |
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Morphine, codeine, and related pain killers (from the opium poppy) |
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Atropine, an important antispasmodic and cardiac drug (from
belladonna) |
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Penicillin, the first antibiotic (from mold) |
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Asprin-of which you take two and call your doctor in the morning
(from salicin in williw bark) |
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Senna, the ingredient in commonly used laxatives (from the senna
plant) |
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Caffein-who can start the day without it? (from the coffee bean) |
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Taxol-a powerful anticancer drug (from the yew tree) |
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The drugs listed above
are just the tip of the iceberg. So don't let the term "herbal remedy" conjure
up images only in health food stores, folklore, quacks, and your great grand
parents. Herbs are a stuff of life saving therapy. Today 120 commonly
prescribed pharmaceuticals are extracted from 90 species of plants. Many other
natural agents have been copied or synthesized. Hundreds of others are being
used by shamans, medicine men and women, and other "nonscientific healers.." To
their credit, almost half the world's pharmaceutical companies are now working
with "locals" on every continent, analyzing the constituents of plants
heretofore ignored by medical establishment. Now and then, one of them reaches
the West and is formally approved for use. But this is a slow process. Who know
how many potentially lifesaving agents lie buried in forests and jungles around
the world? And how many will never see the light of day because they are
becoming extinct as our forests are replaced by "civilization"?
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Not with standing our own "official," limited view of
botanicals, 80 percent of the world still continues to depend on "primitive"
herbal medicines. For these people, it is a matter of economics. They don't
have the money to buy modern drugs or to support pharmaceutical research in
their own countries." |
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