Live Life Team
Herbalism is a folk medicine or a traditional medicinal practise using plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as herbal medicine and herbology. Sometimes the range of herbal medicine is extended to include fungi and bee products, plus minerals, shells, and some animal parts. Herbalism is such a varied field that few generalisations apply universally. Nonetheless, a rough harmony can be inferred.
Most herbalists say that pharmaceuticals are effective in emergency situations where time is essential. For instance, a patient has an elevated blood pressure and the situation is critical. However, herbalists say that using herbs for a long term can help the patient fight diseases as well as provide immunological and nutritional support that pharmaceuticals lack. They sighted their goal as prevention and cure.
Herbalists use plant and plant extracts such as the roots or leaves however they do not isolate specific phytochemicals. Pharmaceutical medicine prefers to use single ingredients as dosage can be quantified easily. Herbalists disagree with the notion of using a single active ingredient. Herbalists argue that in using different phytochemicals present, many herbs will interact to improve the therapeutic effects of the herb and dilute toxicity. Also they argue that a single ingredient can contribute to multiple effects. Herbalists reject that herbal synergism can be replicated with synthetic chemicals. They say that phytochemical interaction and trace components can change the drug response in ways that cannot currently be duplicated with a mixture of few active ingredients. Pharmaceutical researchers acknowledge the concept of drug synergism, however they note that clinical trials can be used to explore the effectiveness of a specific herbal preparation, provided the formulation of the herb is consistent.
