Herbal Treatment, Natural herbal, Herbal Medicine, Herb World News Online, Herbal Solutions


		Herbal Treatment is the study of the use of extracts from natural origin as medicines or health-promoting agents. Traditional phytotherapy is a synonym for herbalism and regarded as alternative medicine by much of Western medicine. Although the medicinal and biological effects of many plant constituents such as alkaloids (morphine, atropine etc.) have been proven through clinical studies, there is debate about the efficacy and the place of phytotherapy in medical therapies.

		In herbal medicine, plant material that has been processed in a repeatable operation so that a discrete marker constituent is at a verified concentration is then considered standardized. Active constituent concentrations may be misleading measures of potency if cofactors are not present. A further problem is that the important constituent is often unknown. For instance St John's wort is often standardized to the antiviral constituent hypericin which is now known to be the active ingredient for antidepressant use. Other companies standardize to hyperforin or both, although there may be some 24 known possible constituents.

		Not necessarily. Don't think that herbal health products are safer than other medicines just because they come from plants. Many plants are poisonous. Although herbal products are advertised as "natural," they aren't natural to the human body. Unlike prescription medicines, herbal products don't have be tested before they're sold to prove that they work well and are safe. In addition, herbal products may not be pure--they might have other ingredients, such as plant pollen, that could make you sick Yes. It may not be safe to take herbal medicines if you have certain health problems.