Herbs

Herbs have been used as medicines by mankind for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks and Romans used herbs extensively in their lives, developing one of the first systems of medicine and recording the usage of many herbs. On the other side of the world, the ancient Chinese developed their form of herbal medicine along side acupuncture. The Indians worked on a system known as Ayurvedic medicine, encompassing many types of herbs.

In the West , herb have been the starting material for many of the pharmaceutical medicines that we know today. Digoxin was first used as the plant Digitalis and Aspirin was first isolated from the bark of the Willow. Despite the advances of modern healthcare and modern medicine, it is quite clear to many people that plant medicine, or Phytotherapy, still plays a very important part in the health of everyone in our modern-day society. For many ailments, we do not need to resort to 'strong' drugs, when the gentler action of herbs can do the work. The example that is often encountered is the use of antibiotics for the common cold, when the action of Echinacea makes much more sense. The action of many herbs has now been confirmed and proven with research and in clinical trials.