Introduction
With the advent of modern synthetic drugs, herbal medical practice was pushed to the periphery in many countries around the world (Anderson, Barnes, Ernst, Halkes, & Houghton, 2000). Very few countries, mostly in Asia, South America, and Africa continued to depend significantly on herbal extracts for their health care needs. Today, medical herbalism has been thrust back into the limelight due to awareness campaigns and the loss of substantive faith in western medicine (Lee, 2003). Many types of research have been conducted to provide evidence that indeed herbal medicine works. This paper seeks to explore the available literature on herbal medicine to determine whether it is a viable alternative to traditional medicine.
Paradigm shift
Herbal extracts have continued to provide effective treatments for diseases in many different societies, as they have done for centuries (Akerele, 1995). For instance, Ayurvedic medicine in India and traditional Chinese medicine both depend, to a large extend, on the use of precise plant-based prescriptions for the treatment of particular diseases. Similar practices are found in many other areas of the world such as South America, Russia, Africa, Other parts of Asia, and the Middle East. Western medicine practices have led to the abandonment of herbal extracts in favor of synthetic medicines. “The perceived advantages of dose control were consistent with prevailing reductionist scientific models and with commercial incentives associated with patenting of novel chemicals” as drugs (Wallis, 1998, p. 24). Thus so many people were made to think that only western medicine provided a solution to their health problems. Herbal extracts were considered to be crude and less effective for most health conditions. Scientists trained by western thinking were reluctant to conduct studies to verify the medicinal properties of the herbal extracts. However, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, there has been a marked interest in herbal extracts (Jirage, 2010). An increase in the number of contemporary scientists and medical practitioners considering plant and their chemicals as sources of novel, effective and safer drugs have been witnessed (Chi, 1994). The contraindications associated with synthetic drugs have led to scientists and medical practitioners thinking of the herbal alternative. For instance, the tragedy of birth defects that are induced by anti-emetic synthetic chemical thalidomide was one of the key events that triggered the paradigm shift in the western world (Elujoba, Odeleye, & Ogunyemi, 2005). Since then, there has been an increasing concern about the safety issues in the medical arena, especially about synthetic compounds.
Herbs as Alternative Medicine
a variety of “herbs can be used to treat various minor and major health problems such as common cold, sleep disorder, allergy, weight loss, digestive problems, hair and skin problems, anxiety disorder, heart problems among others” (Copper, 2005, p. 67). The herbal extracts that are utilized as medicine are sourced from various parts of the plant such as the stem, roots, leaves, barks, and seeds.
Different “types of herbs such as the Indian kino, bitter melon, gurmar, garlic, onion. Fenugreek, blueberry leaves, Ginkgo Biloba, and cinnamon can be utilized effectively in the control of blood sugar levels and diabetes” (Ernest, 1999, p. 23).
There are different herbal remedies for a person suffering from different types of allergies. A variety of “herbs such as nettle, quercetin, butterbur, astralagus, and ephedra can be used to treat different types of allergies. These herbs are anti-histamines and they possess anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties” (Kaphle, Shin, & Lin, 2006, p. 12). They are also applied in the treatment of a variety of skin conditions such as eczema.
Herbal medicines are also effectively used to detoxify the body naturally. Herbs “such as Plantago Psyllium seed, Rhubarb Juice powder, aloe vera, alfalfa juice, chlorella, carrot concentrate, and garlic can be used to cleanse the colon, improve digestion and food absorption and boost one’s immune system” (Thomas, Mathew, & Skaria, 1998, p. 23).
Herbs have also been successfully used to treat conditions that are associated with blood circulation (Wuttke, 2000). High blood pressure, varicose veins, angina pectoris, and varicose ulcers have been treated successfully using herbs such as motherwort, ginkgo, hawthorn, ginger, garlic, and capsicum (Deng, 2004). Garlic has been particularly useful in the treatment of coronary artery disease and the reduction of cholesterol in the serum.
Several herbal extracts have also been used to reduce weight and lower the chances of diabetes which is itself a major risk for many other health conditions. Herbs that are used for weight loss can be categorized as “appetite suppressants, cathartics, stimulants, and diuretics” (Deng, 2004, p. 4).
Challenges
Several factors are challenging the development of herbal extracts as a reliable alternative medicine. The specific challenges are outlined below.
First, the preparation of a drug from its natural source is not easy. It is much easier to produce synthetic drugs than prepare phytomedicine. The “formulation of herbal extracts in their crude form requires special skills that are only provided by specialized experts” (Lee, 2003, p. 5). It takes a lot of training and experience for one to master the art of preparing herbal extracts.
Secondly, there are no methods of standardizing and ensuring that herbal drugs are of standardized quality (Zhang & Yu, 2005). Thus herbal extracts from similar plants may have varying effects depending on the concentration of the active principle and this is not acceptable by conventional western medicine.
The inability to monitor the quality and concentration of herbal extracts leads us to another problem, the “lack of ways of predicting side effects due to toxicity, over-dosage and interaction with conventional medicine” (Sawer, Berry, Brown, & Ford, 1999, p. 15).
Phytomedicine is also faced with a lack of precision in diagnosis and therefore selection of an appropriate dose for the specific disease condition involved. This is one of the biggest challenges facing phytomedicine as lack of dosage information is often responsible for toxicity side effects (Okigbo & Mmeka, 2006).
Another major challenge lies in the lack of collaborative research among Traditional medicine practitioners, orthodox medical practitioners, and scientists (Anderson, Barnes, Ernst, Halkes, & Houghton, 2000). This “presents the risk of losing valuable ethnomedical knowledge that the Traditional medical practitioners have concerning the plant and other aspects of the medicinal system that is intrinsically part of their lives” (Normile, 2003, p. 23).
There has also been a lack of or insufficient randomizations in several studies that are done to test phytomedicine. There “have been instances whereby patients are not properly selected and the numbers used are often not of significant statistical use” (Murray, 1998).
The long-established culture of discrediting herbal medicine by orthodox scientists and practitioners of conventional western medicine has made it difficult for the communities to take up phytomedicine (Chi, 1994). Many societies have been made to believe that Western medicine is superior and therefore they are not willing to abandon it for the safer herbal option. There is also a lack of goodwill from different stakeholders who can fast track the incorporation of herbal medicine in health care systems around the world
Discussion and conclusions
At this point, herbal medicine is not a viable option to conventional western medicine. There is a lot that needs to be done before herbal medicine attains similar status with conventional western medicine (Deng, 2004). First, the quality of herbal extracts needs to be assured. This can be achieved through the use of standardized plants, whose extracts should be placed in regulated conditions such as temperatures and light. Processes such as chromatography and spectrophotometry can aid standardization (Anderson, Barnes, Ernst, Halkes, & Houghton, 2000).
Efforts should be made to ensure that there is effective communication between Traditional medical practitioners, scientists, and conventional medical practitioners. This will ensure that important knowledge is shared and improvements attained. The pharmacognosist, pharmacologists, pharmacists, and physicians need to learn the importance of herbal medicine, especially regarding the safety aspects (Ernest, 1999).
With all the above done, there will still be challenges as it is difficult to deal with the issues of diagnosis and establishment of the appropriate doses for various health conditions. Phytomedicine may not also be able to provide for other requirements such as sterile conditions in surgical procedures (Murray, 1998). Furthermore, it will require a lot of herbs to cater to the healthcare needs of all individuals (Wallis, 1998). Therefore phytomedicine cannot be used as a viable alternative to conventional western medicine.
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