| About Herbal Remedies
Herbs and plant extracts have been used for their healing, and culinary, properties for many centuries. Indeed, for thousands of years the Egyptians and the peoples of the Middle East have been using herbs in their medicines and cooking. In this latter respect, the Romans added herbs to just about everything. The use of herbs for medicinal purposes has a very long pedigree. It is believed that the Chinese used herbs for their curative properties over 4,000 years ago. There exist fragmental records of herbal remedies from Egypt (notably the extensive Ebers Papyri) and some found on Sumerian clay tablets, dating from around the same period. |
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| However, the earliest known text is the Herbal compiled by the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides, which dates from the second half of the first century A.D. He entitled it ‘De Materia Medica’, and it is in five books. A few years later, the naturalist, Pliny the Elder wrote his famous thirty seven volume treatise on the arts and sciences, of which only the ‘Historia Naturalis’ survives.which also included material on medicinal plants. It was the ‘father of medicine’, the Greek physician Hippocrates (he of the oath), who lived c460 - 377 B.C., who is credited with saying “Let food be your medicine”. He also believed in searching for the facts and making proper observation of the symptoms and decried the idea that illnesses were the judgement of the gods. Although little is known about him, he almost certainly used herbal remedies, there was little else at the time, but it is known that he was also interested in surgery, anatomy and dreams. It is almost certain that when he referred to ‘food’, he had in mind, not just a staple diet of meat and vegetables, but herbs, spices and fungi also. For all the early herbalists, the ‘proof of the pudding’ could only come from the eating. Dioscorides’ text deals not only with the medicinal properties of plants, but also with animal and mineral derived remedies. He included tried and tested cures as well as contemporary folklore and the prevalent superstitious beliefs of his day. In spite of this, his writings(1) , when introduced into Europe by the Romans and by the Moorish herbalists, via the Crusaders, were received uncritically, and it was mainly in the monasteries where the methods of use for herbal remedies were popularised. Thus ‘De Materia Medica’ became the standard text and remained so for several hundred years. In time, native English ‘Herballs’ were produced, most notably those by John Gerarde (1597) and the physician, the Rev. Dr. William Turner, some years earlier. Later, and following on the tradition of Dioscorides, so to speak, Nicholas Culpepper in his ‘Herbal’ of 1649, links remedies with astrology and he endows his herbs and concoctions with almost magical powers of healing. |
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| However, there was a serious, and potentially dangerous, problem for any would-be herbalist, or sufferer, who tried to follow of the receipts contained in the early herbals, since much ignorance abounded about the proper identification and full effects of the plants recommended to be used. This muddled, ad hoc situation might have continued but for the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus who introduced, in his book ‘Species Plantarum’ (1753), his strict system of (taxonomy) nomenclature for identifying flowering plants correctly. His system has since been expanded and refined into the one used worldwide by botanists, and other scientists, today. Earlier, the philosopher Francis Bacon had done much to further proper scientific method, established on inductive logical grounds, in his book ‘The Advancement of Learning’ (1605), and ‘The Novum Organon’(1620). The advances in scientific thinking following the publication of Bacon’s writings cannot be overestimated, and they applied as much to the serious herbalist as to the physicist. In view of what has been said, we should be careful, when reading the early herbal texts, not to take everything as read. Early remedies, of any kind, should be approached with caution; some are downright silly(2) , others are plainly dangerous, especially where allergic reaction is a possibility(3) . This injunction applies equally to the use of fungi(4) and the early conventional medical texts. For the proper methods to be employed in the specific use of the various herbs and for the preparation of plant infusions, salves, etc. do consult a reliable modern text, and consult a field guide, if need be. Finally, can you be sure that the diagnosis is correct? Remember, what works for one person may not work in quite the same way for another. We are all different and our metabolisms are not all the same, even when our complaints appear to be identical. Thus, for some people, a particular herbal remedy prepared in a particular way, may be toxic, even in small doses, but not so in the case of another person. On the other hand it would be dangerous for anyone to overdose on other herbal remedies and potions(5) . And now a word about herbs and medicine today. Contrary to common belief, herbs and plant extracts did not disappear from conventional medicine at some magical moment of enlightenment in the advancement of medical science. On the contrary, very many prescription, or other medicines, contain plant-derived ingredients: ‘Aspirin’ is a case in point, being derived originally from salicylates extracted, usually, from the willow species (Salix), known since ancient times for its medicinal properties. It was first synthesised for commercial production, in the 19th century, as acetylsalicylic acid. ‘Digitalis’ based drugs (derived from the fox-glove), for the treatment of heart conditions, are another striking example. Other plant extracts have been, and are being, introduced, which have no pedigree of ancient usage, as the beneficial effects of these natural sources are explored and tested. |
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| (1) The early Greek texts were translated into Arabic, and this accounts for their survival and eventual introduction into Europe.
(2) Two examples: During the Middle Ages, the (essential) aromatic oil of Laurus nobilis was said to be an antidote to, or cure for, a witch’s spell, and. Fennel was used to keep witches at bay. Cf. garlic prescribed as a repellant to werewolves. (3) Iatrogenic disease, or the side effects induced by treatment (drug therapy), is more common in modern medicine than is usually admitted by the profession. In the more severe cases this iatrogenesis can be fatal, or at least as serious, or debilitating, as the original, presenting condition. (4) The fungus Amanita muscaria is popularly known as Fly Agaric since it was believed in medieval times that the broken pieces floating in milk would act as a fly-killer. Fly agaric, although designated a poison, is used extensively in Latin America as an hallucinogenic. (5) Digitalis is a prime example. |
