Herbalists have always known that whole plants are better than drugs manufactured from single compounds for treating patients. But the pharmaceutical industry has been selling single compound drugs ever since they discovered how to extract salicylic acid from the bark of willow trees and turn it into aspirin. The whole Western medical system is now based on prescribing single compound drugs to patients. At first this seemed to produce miraculous results, and hence the term “silver bullets” was coined. But gradually the organisms that cause disease: bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, developed resistance to these single compound drugs. Doctors also began to realise that these drugs were producing unpleasant side effects. In 2006 a report by the Institute of Medicine in the US showed that 1.5 million Americans per year were injured by medication.
Medicinal plants are far less likely to produce harmful side effects because they contain a mixture of chemical compounds, which are usually more dilute and act together to produce their healing effect.
Doctors often say that the concentrations of healing compounds in plants are so weak that they cannot have any effect on the patient. However, Rajapakse and his co-workers have recently demonstrated that even very low concentrations of compounds in a plant are effective when they form part of a mixture of compounds. Herbalists have been saying this for years but the medical profession did not listen to them because they did not have any proof. Now a number of scientists have come up with this proof. For example a single plant can affect the immune system, stimulate hormones, act as an anti-inflammatory, speed up enzyme activity and get rid of bacteria.
Refs
Rajapakse N, Silva E, Kortenkamp A. Combining xenoestrogens at levels below individual no-observed-effect concentrations dramatically enhances steroid hormone action. Environ Heltha Perspect 2002: 110(9):917-921
"Silver Bullet" Drugs vs Traditional Herbal Remedies: Perspectives on Malaria. By Kevin Spelman, PhD. http://www.herbalgram.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment