Botanical or herbal medicine is the use of plants to treat and prevent disease. Plants have been used as medicines for thousands of years in every culture known. Even animals are known to eat certain plants when they are ill. The World Health Organization estimates that about 80% of the world’s population rely on traditional medicines for their health needs. Botanical medicine is the major traditional therapy and often the only medicinal agent available. It is safe to say that the majority of the people in the world rely on plants as medicines.

Many pharmacological drugs are derived from plants. It is a fact that about 25% of all the prescription drugs in North America contain active ingredients obtained from plants.

Most adults in North America use plants with pharmacologically active compounds on a daily basis, such as coffee, made from coffee beans containing caffeine, tea derived from tea leaves, or cigarettes containing the highly addictive nicotine made from leaves of the tobacco plant. There are also well known recreational drugs such as marihuana and hashish made from the cannabis plant. One only needs to drink a cup of coffee to experience the medicinal effects of plants. Garlic is another good example of a commonly used medicinal plant with proven antibacterial and blood pressure lowering effects among others.

Many people also have at least heard of other common medicinal plants such as Echinacea, ginseng, milk thistle, gingko biloba and others.

Are Naturopathic Doctors trained in Botanical Medicine?

Naturopathic doctors receive comprehensive training in the history, indications and use of botanical medicine. Dr. Zimmermann received an award for excellence in botanical medicine upon graduation.

Is there Scientific Research on Botanical Medicine?

During the last 30-40 years that has been an explosion of research and information regarding plants as medicinal agents. There has also been a rapid development in the methodology and technology necessary to properly evaluate botanical medicines. Tremendous improvements in extraction and analytical techniques have allowed scientists to determine the exact quality and quantity of active ingredients in plants, which has led to precise standardization methods for plant preparations. These methods have also improved the farming, harvesting and processing of medicinal plants.

Unfortunately, since a plant cannot be patented, little research is done on the medicinal effects of whole plants in North America where health care is dominated by pharmacological medicine. Instead, researchers tend to focus on the isolation of specific active components in order to develop or manufacture new drugs, which then can be patented.

However, several European and Asian pharmaceutical firms began specializing in plant pharmaceuticals over the last few decades and have played a prominent role in developing and promoting botanical medicines.

What are the Advantages of Botanical Medicines over Synthetic Drugs?

Generally, botanical preparations are less toxic than their synthetic counterparts and offer fewer risks of side effects, even though there are exceptions to this rule. Additionally, the mechanism of the action of the plant is often to correct the underlying cause of the illness rather than to just mask its symptoms.

It has also been shown that the extract or use of the whole plant is often more effective the use of an isolated compound, as plants contain multiple compounds which may act in a beneficial combination with one another. Botanical medicines are more economical than pharmaceutical drugs; in fact anyone can grow helpful plants in a garden or find them in nature free of charge. Botanical medicines are also better for the environment as their production does not require the use of toxic chemicals.

What is the Future of Botanical Medicine?

Herbs and other plants have been used since antiquity as effective treatments for many common diseases. With the development of synthetic drugs during the last century the use of plants as medicinal agents has become greatly reduced, however, this is starting to change. The future of botanical medicine in Europe and Asia in particular looks extremely positive. North America is starting to catch up on this trend, driven more by consumers who are becoming more wary of potentially serious side effects of pharmacological drugs.