Medical Herbalism

Chinese medicine has been used for century and until today holds many accolades of healing ailments. But what about the herbs used in Europe and North America. The Celts and American Indians were quite capable of healing many ailments from simple infections to the common headache. Yet the herbs commonly used in Europe and North America are dismissed of having no use in modern medicine. Take the humble chamomile. It has recently been found that chamomile may be helpful for generalized anxiety disorder, and it has been found that in combination with other herbs it has benefits for an upset stomach, diarrhea in children and is found helpful for colic in infants. The only allergic reaction reported was in people who are allergic to related plants such as ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, or daisies. It has been reported that there is an interaction between chamomile and cyclosporine (CyA) (a drug used to prevent rejection of organ transplants) and warfarin (blood thinner) [1]. Any supplement used needs to be examined for interaction with medical drugs, however, if the patient does not take any medical drugs there is no reason for the patient to give this herb a chance to alleviate a stomach upset or to settle a crying infant suffering from colic.
Echinacea (E. angustifolia, E. purpurea, E. pallida) are plants related to sunflower and ragweed. The leaf, flower, and root are used as medicine. Native to the areas east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States it appears to decrease inflammation and stimulates the body’s immune system. Very commonly used for the common cold and other infections as a preventative measure. Echinacea should not be taken if the patient drinks coffee as it can increase the level of caffeine and lead to jitteriness, headache, and a fast heartbeat [2].
Many herbs have health benefits are much easier metabolized than chemical medicine. Koehn and Carter in 2005 [3] showed that unique compounds could be isolated from natural products. Chemical substances from plants or microbes have been a major source of lead compounds for the pharmaceutical industry. New chemical compounds called small-molecule New Chemical Entities introduced between 1981 and 2002, approximately 49% were natural products, semi-synthetic natural product analogues or synthetic compounds based on natural-product pharmacophores [3]. Despite this success, pharmaceutical research into natural products had been declining due to advances in molecular biology, cellular biology, and genomics, which shortened the drug discovery timelines. However, there is a renewed interest in natural products as a source of chemical diversity.