Table of Contents
What’s this
Herbal medicine is the science that deals with prevent and treat pathologies through the use of herbal drugs and phytotherapeutic products obtained from the processing of medicinal herbs. All the plant species that used on humans, internally or externally, produce apharmacological activity also not particularly marked. Medicinal plants therefore include whole plants or parts of plants that can be used for therapeutic purposes or used to extract molecules to be used to produce herbal medicines, herbal products or even drugs.
In addition to investigating the properties, use and indications of the various healing plants, phytotherapy also studies how these plants should be processed and administered to produce a benefit, at what dosage they should be taken and what are the possible contraindications, side effects and possible interactions remedies, for example with other herbal remedies, with drugs or with food.
History
Plants have always accompanied the life of man on Earth who already in prehistoric times used them to treat wounds, insect bites or animal bites and relieve symptoms caused by diseases. The relationship between man and plants therefore has very distant roots and has consolidated over time: by trying, failing and succeeding, human beings have learned the properties of plants, even before classifying them, analyzing them and learning the mechanisms that determine their therapeutic activity, initially mysterious and of divine origin.
It is not easy to establish with certainty the moment in which man hypothesized that the action of plants was due to active components – or active principles – present in them, but it is clear that phytotherapy is the oldest medical and pharmaceutical discipline. We know that Galen, a doctor considered the father of the pharmacy, in 131 BC classified the herbal medicines in alphabetical order and that he began to prepare phytotherapeutic remedies using extraction procedures and recipes: still today the phytotherapics formulated and prepared by the pharmacist are called galenic preparations. Subsequently, the gardens of the simple ones develop, where the monks cultivate, classify and study medicinal plants and, at the same time, the Arab and Salerno medical schools are born, which also deal with passing on the knowledge acquired on plants.
To understand that thetherapeutic action of plants it was probably Paracelsus, a Swiss doctor who used tinctures, decoctions and essences instead of plants as they are, and who was the first to extract plant principles through distillation techniques, depending on an active complex present in them. About four hundred years later, the first ones were discovered and isolated plant active ingredients including morphine and caffeine, confirming the ideas of Paracelsus: the properties of plants derive from the presence of active molecules. From these discoveries thepharmaceutical industry which isolates the plant active ingredients, stabilizes them, studies their mechanism of action and toxicity and creates increasingly effective drugs, also by modifying the natural molecules and synthesizing new ones, inspired by those present in plants. At the same time there is a decline of phytotherapy in favor of the drug, at least until theadvent of herbalists, a figure who acts as a “bridge” between folk remedies and the actual drug and who deals with studying phytotherapeutic remedies in a scientific way, without forgetting tradition.
Today phytotherapy is in excellent health and more and more people are choosing phytotherapeutic or herbal remedies to stay healthy, prevent pathologies or treat mild or moderate ailments.
What it heals
Herbal remedies, as we have seen, are products obtained from the extraction of active compounds of plant origin, called phytocomplex. Thanks to phytotherapy it is possible prevent a number of diseases or treat ailments mild or moderate, especially if the use of herbal remedies takes place as part of a healthy lifestyle. Phytotherapy can also be associated with traditional drugs, for example to reduce its dosage, enhance its effect or decrease the risk of adverse effects. The ailments for which phytotherapy can be used are different. For example, it is possible to effectively treat:
Thanks to phytotherapy it is also possible maintain a state of well-being, counteract the effects of aging, prevent cognitive impairment, improve concentration and memory, strengthen the immune system and better cope with seasonal changes and particularly stressful times. Before resorting to herbal remedies it is however preferable to hear the doctor’s opinion o ask your pharmacist or herbalist for advice since phytotherapeutic and herbal products, although natural, can have side effects, interactions or contraindications.
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