Organic Medicine – Part I – Philosophical and historical Background
History
History
Herbal medicine continues to be around since before recorded history. Cave paintings in France, radiocarbon dated to before 13,000 BC, present the use of plants as healing agents. Herbalism was intimately connected to religious practices, and was often the jealously guarded preserve of shamans, or “witch doctors”. The use of herbs as medicine pervades most cultures.
The original written records date back more than 5000 years in Western culture on the Sumerian civilization. In the East, www.fitafter50formen.com/v5 (click this link now) the Siddha, Ayurvedic and Unani devices from India arose some time before the Christian era, and are nonetheless practiced today. And traditional Chinese herbology is still thriving also.
Africa has a lengthy history of herbal remedies, strongly influenced by the links of its with trading partners from both east and West. Indigenous Americans hold to the belief that illness is the result of a disturbance in one’s balance with nature, and may be cured by rituals that usually include the use of herbal medicines.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that eighty % of the world’s population uses herbal medication for some aspect of primary health care. Quite a few pharaceuticals being used now by doctors were originally used as herbal cures, including aspirin, digitalis, and quinine. These days, researchers have been searching all over the world for healthy sources of phytochemicals which might be developed into therapies for various illnesses. The WHO estimates that 25 % of drugs presently in use in the U.S. had been created from plants.
Philosophy
Philosophy
Inspite of the fact that herbal medicines have an extended history of use, the point that in many cases their effectiveness hasn’t been scientifically proven has resulted in a controversy between herbalists as well as mainstream medicine. For Western culture, the rise of contemporary healthcare process brought with it a decline in the use of herbal medicines. This gave rise to the belief that such cures were nothing more than “old wives tales.” Recently, nonetheless, herbalism has turned out to be recognized by a number of as a substitute, or maybe at times complementary approach to treatment.
From the research of mine for this report, I discovered that there are essentially four groups, each espousing varying points of view about the use of herbal remedies: one) herbalists, two) pharaceutical manufacturers, sometimes aided by doctors, three) vitamin as well as mineral supplement manufacturers, with some assistance from herbalists, and four) governmental institutions.
To be continued…