Herbal medicine uses plant substances to prevent and treat ailments. Herbal medicine is not new to mankind, as it has existed since prehistoric times. About 80% of herbal medicine use the world’s population. Herbal medicine has been in documented use in China for over 2500 years.
The herbal ingredients are present in most of the drugs over-the-counter. In fact, aspirin comes from willow bark (Salix species) and digitalis comes from the foxglove plant (Digitalis purpurea).
The E.E.U.U. have shown little scientific interest in the field of herbal medicine, when compared to countries in Asia and Western Europe, where medical graduates have studied herbal medicine. Yet millions in E.E.U.U. used herbal products.
The act dietary supplement and health in 1994 reclassified herbs as supplements rather than food additives. It forbids unreasonable health claims by manufacturers of herbal medicine. One issue relating to herbal medicine is the availability of wild plants for the market-expanding forever.
The potential for beneficial medicines extracted from plants has prompted large pharmaceutical companies contribute to the cause of protecting tropical rain forests.
Holistic Medicine
Holistic medicine is a system of medicine based on the concept of “whole person” where are the body, mind, spirit and emotions in harmony with the environment. Holistic medicine emphasizes personal responsibility in health that the holistic approach of medicine may include conventional medicine and alternative methods. Holistic medicine encourages patients devises a self-regulated regime to suppress some of the causes of the disease as smoking, alcohol, poor diet and stress.
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