It is has really only been in the last hundred or so years that the switch to synthetic medicines has taken place, a relatively recent amount of time. Many of us have now come to assume and trust that this switch was necessary and better, but are these modern inventions really that superior to the traditional herbal medicines used for the several thousand years before them?
A recent study conducted by the L.A. Times found that in 2009 drug induced deaths exceeded traffic fatalities, with 36, 284 lives claimed just in the United States alone! I know of no comparable study linking deaths caused by herbal medicines to that same degree and level. Is it really ok that we accept such a fate?
So reason number 1 for why herbal medicines are superior to synthetic drugs – they are safer! Sure there are reports that people have been harmed by herbal medicines, but in most cases the reasons can be linked to one of several things – wrong species of medicine, a tainted patent medicine (something I never ever suggest my patients try. Best to stick with raw herbals or granules from reputed companies that test for contamination), self or wrongly prescribed medicine (herbals are medicines and should be prescribed by a qualified, or better yet registered practitioner/ doctor, and lastly idiosyncratic (meaning a totally random reaction that could not be foreseen in anyway. This could be like someone getting sick from broccoli – I mean who gets sick from broccoli right?). Herbal medicines, when properly prescribed are safe, history tells us so.
Now what would you consider better – a house made of particle board or one made of solid wood? The wooden one will probably be stronger right. Well history shows us time and time and again that manufactured items are not necessarily better than the ones Nature provides. Reason number 2 has to do with quality. Many synthetic chemical drugs are replicas of a natural herbal product. The problem is that they only synthesized one part of the herb, isolated only one thought-to-be “active ingredient”.
As we know herbal medicines are a composition of a multitude of different constituents, all arranged in harmonious ways, all contributing to a different duty and, most importantly, doing this all at the same time. Most synthetic drugs are designed from the reductionist point of view where-by one chemical is to influence one receptor in the human body. But guess what? The human body does not work via a one to one type of relationship, it works via thousands upon thousands of mini relationships going on all at once. Herbal medicines are just more in line with how our body is designed.
The December, 2006, issue of the British Journal of Pharmacology states, “The development of systems biology has led to a new design principle for therapeutic intervention strategy, the concept of ‘magic shrapnel’ (rather than the ‘magic bullet’), involving many drugs against multiple targets, administered in a single treatment. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers an extensive source of examples of this concept in which several active ingredients in one prescription are aimed at numerous targets and work together to provide therapeutic benefit.” Herbal medicines, particularly those figured out by the early Chinese, are quite frankly a better quality medicine than synthetic chemicals simply because they are Whole intact products. Designed by Nature for Nature (us).
Reason number 3 has to do with history. Even though we may not have a lot of specific research explaining in detail the exact bio-chemical reasons why herbal medicines are able to do what they do, there does exist a lot of “empirical” evidence showing that they do work. I mean herbal medicines are still prescribed in Chinese hospitals in very similar ways as to how they were several thousands of years ago. I remember walking through the museum in Chengsha, China, looking over the relics of the Mawangdui tomb, and being quite delighted that I could recognize many of the herbal medicines on display there. This tomb was probably sealed in like 300 b.c. and the herbs in it are ones that I, a Doctor of Chinese medicine practicing way over in Vancouver, Canada, still used! Pretty amazing hey!
Chinese herbal medicine quite simply has a long track record of use. The medicines have been well documented for efficacy and safety for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Millions of patients have received effective treatments for pretty much every known health complaint imaginable. Learning that a herb was used to treat eczema 2000 years ago, is still used to treat eczema, and in fact was never stopped for its effective use in alleviating eczema becomes a lot more trustworthy than a steroidal cream that may only be a few decades old (and which has already shown to have a whole slew of bad side effects!).
So there you have it, herbal medicines are superior (in my eyes anyways) than synthetic medicines because they are safer, of better quality, and have a longer history proving their effectiveness. Three reasons to keep believing, advocating, and protecting our Natural environment.
Wishing you health,
Dr. Trevor Erikson
Copyright © 2019 Dr. Trevor Erikson