Complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, is roughly defined as medical and health care practices and products that aren't considered conventional. Herbal medicines are a form of CAM, and they are becoming more popular as both a primary and complementary therapy for treating virtually any health condition. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that a survey done in 2007 -- the National Health Interview Survey -- revealed that 38 percent of American adults use CAM, and that the most popular form of CAM was "natural products," including herbal medicines. Herbal medicines, also called botanicals, can be ineffective, helpful, or harmful. If you plan to use herbal medicine, your safest and most effective plan is to follow the guidelines of a professional health care practitioner who is versed in their use.
Unlimited Choices
The number of herbal medicines available is vast, which is one reason why you're better off consulting a prescribing professional rather than trying to self-medicate. Besides the plentiful world of plants from which herbal medicines are made, there are several different, common formulas through which botanicals are administered. Depending on the plant basis and what is known about how a formula benefits your condition, patients can find herbal medicines in tablet or capsule form; tinctures, extracts, decoctions, or infusions -- all liquid forms; or even in dried or fresh and unprocessed form. Since allopathic drugs, or conventional Western medicines, were initially and still are sometimes based on ancient herbal formulas, you'll find herbal medicines in the same types of categories, based on how the treatment functions. So, there are analgesic, anti-imflammatory, antibiotic and antiviral botanicals.
Endocrine Balancing
Herbals can be used to help your body return to and maintain a state of balance in terms of your endocrine, or hormonal, system. Your complex endocrine system is at the root of many functions of your body. Achieving levels of hormones that are optimal can result in the stabilizing of numerous conditions. Lisa Cohn, M.M.Sc., M.Ed., R.D., says one of the herbal medications she recommends for highly stressed overweight clients is called holy basil. Taken as a gel capsule, "It works as a very supportive toner and tamer for adrenal glands and hormone balancing," she explains. Chris Axelrad, L. Ac., Clinical Director of Axelrad Clinic, says herbals can be safer for many patients in terms of endocrine balance therapies. For example, Dong Quai is a gently estrogenic herb that can help to balance premenstrual syndrome and menopausal symptoms. But unlike birth control pills -- sometimes prescribed for severe PMS -- or estrogen replacement drugs for menopause, Dong Quai is not contraceptive and doesn't carry the risks that patients with hormones should be made aware of, for example, increased risk of thrombosis. Fennel provides another instance of safer hormonal treatment. "Fennel can be used to increase lactation for nursing mothers. In contrast to drugs that increase prolactin, it is very safe. The prolactin-increasing drugs have potentially serious long-term effects on the central nervous system. Not a single adverse event has been reported with fennel use, and it has been safely used for centuries," Axelrad states.
Immune Boosting
Along similarly complex lines as the endocrine system, your organs that fight infection, referred to as your immune system, can reap the rewards of herbal medicine's relatively safe and gentle approach to healing and balance. Chris Axelrad lists echinacea as an herbal antiviral that is very easy on your system without any long-term side effects like those that many antiviral medications bring to a body. He also says the Chinese herb astragalus has potent immune-stimulating effects.
Multi-Treatments
Herbal medicines can very often treat more than one condition at a time. The benefits to this are lower cost -- since you might have to purchase more than one conventional drug to treat several symptoms -- and greater safety, since you're eliminating worries about drug-to-drug interactions that can be dangerous. Astragalus is an example cited by Axelrad, who says it's extensively prescribed to assist patients with low white cell counts. He adds that "Astragalus also slightly raises the blood pressure, so it would be possible to use it for someone who faints a lot or has dizziness caused by low blood pressure."
Not Always Medicine
Not all herbs used therapeutically are compounded into medicinal form. Lisa Cohn offers as an example several fresh herbs that work as natural diuretics. "Chopped parsleys and other curly varieties, like cilantro, are easy to add to your daily diet," Cohn, a medical nutritionist and registered dietitian, remarks, "so I commonly prescribe them to my clients." Another fresh herb that might enhance the healthful nature of your recipes is fennel. Chris Axelrad says fennel is good for aiding in digestion.
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