History of Medical Herbs

Chamomile	Echinacea	Periwinkle	Poppy

Medical herbs' history follows our human history very closely. You may be surprised to discover that many familiar medications of the twentieth century were developed from herbology - herb science.

Salicylic acid, a precursor of aspirin, was originally derived from white willow bark and the meadowsweet plant.

Vincristine, used to treat certain types of cancers, comes from periwinkle.

The opium poppy yields morphine, codeine and paregoric (a treatment for diarrhea). Laudanum, a tincture of the opium poppy, was the favored tranquilizer in Victorian times.

Herbs for Medicine Today

Today, about 25% - or 1/4 - of the prescriptions drugs given in the United States contain at least one active ingredient derived from plant material. Some are made of plant extracts, while others are synthesized to mimic a natural plant compound.

Prior to the discovery and subsequent synthesis of antibiotics, the herb Echinacea was one of the most widely prescribed medications in the U.S. It was used to fight infections.

Today, scientific research confirms that Echinacea boosts the immune system by stimulating the productions of disease-fighting white blood cells. Echinacea contains arabinogalactan and galactose - two glyconutrients - which stimulate the immune system.

Herb Uses Throughout History

Medical herbs' history can be traced back to 2735 B.C., when the Chinese emperor Shen Nong wrote a book on herbs that is still in use today.

Ma Huang - known as ephedra in the Western world - was used to treat respiratory distress. Today ephedrine, extracted from ephedra, is widely used as a decongestant. The synthetic form, pseudoephedrine, is produced by pharmaceutical companies and used in allergy, sinus and cold-relief medications.

There are texts surviving from the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia, Egypt and India that describe and illustrate the use of many medicinal plant products, including castor oil, linseed oil and white poppies.

As mentioned before medical herbs' history is rich, it goes back a long time and spans many various cultures.

In the Book of Ezekiel in the Bible, it is written:

In the middle ages, homegrown herbs for healing were the only medicines readily available. No self-respecting household would be without a carefully tended and extensively used herbal garden. These medical herbs were passed down from generation to generation - mothers taught daughters and the village herbalist taught the apprentices.

In 1649, Nicholas Culpeper wrote A Physical Director, and a few years later wrote The English Physician. These herbal pharmacopeia - herbal dictionaries - were one of the first manuals that the layperson could use for health care, and there are still widely referred to and quoted today.

Herbs for Healing in the United States

The first U.S. Pharmacopeia was published in 1820.

This volume included an extensive list of herbal drugs, with descriptions of their properties, uses, dosages and tests of purity. It was periodically revised and became the legal standard for medical compounds in 1906.

However, once scientific methods were developed, the pharmaceutical laboratories took over. The use of medical herbs - which for most of history has been mainstream medical practice - began to be considered unscientific, or at least unconventional, and to fall into relative obscurity.

Medical herbs remain much in use around the world today. In the US, where plant medicine lost favor for a while, herbal remedies are gaining popularity as an "alternative medicine."

Herb Uses and Pregnancy

Midwives have always used herbs as part of their well woman care. Herbs work with nature rather than against it. Unlike pharmaceutical drugs - which have side effects and now are found in different amounts in our ground water - most herbs are gentle on humans and the environment as well.

Medical herbs should be part of any "green pharmacy." And certainly, herbs should remains part of well woman care.