Eastern herbal medicine

The use of herbs once belonged partly to the realm of magic, in the healing rites performed by shamans (men and women of natural wisdom ) and also stems from observations of how animals treat themselves by using various plants when sick or wounded. But a careful study of herbs and their properties over thousands of years has developed Eastern herbal medicine into a highly refined and complex discipline. In Chinese medicine, diet is a matter of great importance in preventing 

Air pollution is one of the worst problems caused by industries, agriculture, power stations, aerosols and other chemicals, and coal and other fires. As a result we suffer from headaches, respiratory tract infections and ailments, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, eye problems, and eventually a profound breakdown in health manifested by various cancers. Other environmental hazards include lead from gasoline — which causes hyperactivity and birth defects — acid rain, carbon monoxide poisoning, water pollution, and radiation. Clinical ecologists treat illnesses and disorders that they believe stem from an individual s reaction to these environmental factors. They practice what is known as environmental medicine, and they estimate that between 10 and 30% of the population suffers from some form of ecological disease (Thomas, 1997 and General References). 

Although flowers have played a role in healing for centuries — Australian Aborigines and Native Americans were using remedies made from flowers to ease emotional trauma and achieve peace of mind thousands of years ago — the healing power of flowers was only rediscovered in the West in the 1920s when it was revived by Edward Bach, who provided the following attributes  

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Pokeweed is a tall perennial shrub growing up to 12 ft. This shrub can be found in damp fields, along fences, and wooded areas of southeastern Canada, eastern United States, as well as California and Hawaii. The stalks are reddish. There are small, greenish-white flowers and berries in opposite clusters. The berry is dark purple, almost black in color, and matures late summer to autumn. Pokeweed has been used in tea and as a herbal medicine. In folk medicine, pokeweed as a tincture has been used for arthritis and chronic rheumatism. Taken by mouth pokeweed was used as a purgative and as an emetic. The young leaves, if boiled and drained twice, are supposedly edible. 

Herbal medicines, plant-derived materials, or products with therapeutic or other human health benefits that contain either raw or processed ingredients from one or more plants (1) have been utilized to treat various diseases for thousands of years, especially in Far Eastern countries. It is estimated that traditional herbal preparations account for 30%-50% of the total medicinal consumption in China (2). However, The quantity and quality of the safety and efficacy data on traditional medicine are far from sufficient to meet the criteria needed to support its use worldwide. The reasons for the lack of research data are due not only to health-care policies, but also to a lack of adequate or... 

As in Eastern medicine, Systems biology aims to understand the human organism from holistic view point, and to diagnose and treat illness with consideration of individual s genotypic and phenotypic variances and lifestyle characteristics. Asian doctors prescribe personalized (herbal) medicine for each patient. They do not prescribe one-fits-all type of medicine except for... 

Dennis, PA.1988. Herbal medicine among the Miskito of eastern Nicaragua Economic Botany 42(1) 16-2S. 

Watt, J. M. and M. G. Breyer-Brandwijk. 1962. The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa, 2nd ed. E. S. Livington Ltd., Edinburgh and London Weiss, R. F. 1988. Herbal Medicine (translated from German by A. R. Meuss). Beaconsfield Publishers Ltd., Beaconsfield, LfK. 

In his foreword, herbalist Michael Moore notes that most bulk herbs are gathered in the Third World and Eastern Europe. They may be gathered and dried with care, or by more crude means, and thus buying herbs in a cooperative or health food store becomes a crapshoot — not to mention mix-ups in plant names, and the fact that sunlight and drying may cause the herbs to deteriorate. So is the herb industry a cheat Not exactly. No more so than the rest of commercial America. And as for the herbal practitioners, they may be skilled in medicine but not in plant knowledge, or the other way around, and so forth. 

Alternative medicine A form of treatment offered referred to as Eastern medicine. Its practice is based on ancient beliefs and traditions such as faith healing and herbal remedies. The effectiveness of these treatments is unproven and not scientifically tested. 

Foster, S. and J. A. Duke. 1990. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA. Foster, S. and C. X. Yue. 1992. Herbal Emissaries Bringing Chinese Herbs to the West. Healing Arts Press, Rochester, VT. Frohne, D. and H. J. Pfander. 1983. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe Publishing, Ltd., London. 

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