Herbal medicine , also called botanical medicine or phytomedicine , refers to using a plant's seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes. Herbalism has a long tradition of use outside of conventional medicine. It is becoming more mainstream as improvements in analysis and quality control along with advances in clinical research show the value of herbal medicine in the treating and preventing disease.
A brief history of herbal medicine.
Humans have used plants to treat their ailments for at least tens of thousands of years; most likely even longer than that.
The first written accounts of the use of herbs originate in China, although all other civilisations from the ancient world were using plants as natural remedies for their ailments. Western herbal medicine dates back to ancient Greece.
The 15th to 17th centuries were the most popular time for herbalism in Europe. These remedies are still very popular today, because they are regarded as harmless because they are natural.
How do herbs work?
In many cases, scientists are not sure what specific ingredient in a particular herb works . Whole herbs contain many ingredients, and they may work together . Many factors determine how effective an herb will be. For example, the type of environment in which a plant grew will affect it, as will how and when it was harvested and processed.
