Regulating Herbal Medicine

In the modern day world, there are still some remedies and treatments practiced that was discovered by the Egyptians. Some herbal and natural remedies used in modern day time include mint and Aloe Vera, while their other herbal medicines provided a base for our everyday medicines, such as antibiotics and pain killers. When it came to pain killers, it is recorded that ancient Egyptians had an understanding and used “natural remedies to control pain long before Europeans figured out the natural powers of such herbs” (Gordon). They understood and used multiple herbs and natural elements to rid themselves of disease and parasites. In Egypt, they treated worms with pomegranates, later proven by “modern medical studies [show] ... that the ancient Egyptians were absolutely right to treat worms with the fruit” (Gordon). This is because, “modern scientists confirmed that the high tannin content in pomegranate can actually paralyze worm” (Gordon). As for everyday remedies, the Egyptian also used the soothing powers of the Aloe Vera plant to calm burning skin and mint to relieve gastric pain. The ancient Egyptians relied greatly on their natural resources and provided a stepping stone for the medicine in today’s world, although we would never know about their discoveries if it hadn’t been for the way they kept a written record of their

The two most important factors that fueled the movement toward drug regulation in the 20th century were the fact that the abuse of patent medicines and the association of drug use with minority groups. During the 20th- century “patent medicine” treat the ailments for soldiers and for women with female problems. Furthermore, patent medicine in the twentieth century included ingredients such as alcohol, opium, morphine, and cocaine. Moreover, patent medicine was not required by law for registration with agencies or the federal government or list ingredients on labels or bottles. However, patent medicine was those of traveling salesman’s, magicians or culminated with a ‘pitch man” task to convince people to buy his medicine. Originally, morphine

What do we know about prehistoric medicine and what are the problems with the evidence?

The clear definition of an herbal supplement is defined by The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) as a product not a drug. The product contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, and dietary constituents for use to supplement the diet (“Using Dietary Supplements Wisely,” 2014). Like medications, dietary supplements exert both negative and positive effects to the body. Supplements may improve health but they also produce the potential harmful if interacting with certain drugs. For this reason, dietary supplements are regulated by FDA to ensure both safety and effectiveness

Medicine is the scientific practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, this encompasses a variety of natural health remedies using herbs, saves, and transmutation of various ingredients including precious metals. Throughout history societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. In early history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, adverse astral influence, or the will of the gods! Some of the earliest records on medicine have been found ranging from ancient Egyptian, Babylonian , Ayurvedic (the Indian subcontinent), classical Chinese (before what we now know as traditional Chinese Medicine), and ancient

One of the best examples of herbal remedy use in Western Medicine would be the use of Opium in pain treatment. Opium is made by drying the “tears,” or latex from a opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) bulb before becoming mature. By cutting the bulb, the latex seeps out, therefore producing a solution containing various substances, most notoriously, the 12% by volume of alkaloid morphine, which is used as a method of chronic pain treatment, as well as the production of heroine. It was originally used in the 16th century to induce sleep and relieve pain, and was introduced to western medicine by a man of the name Paracelsus. It was only after reading the Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius book, a collection of herbs names and diseases, that he managed to

Although there is no record to establish when plants were first used for medicinal purposes, the use of plants as healing agents as well as clays and soils is ancient. Dioscourides, a Greek physician of the Roman army, prescribed extracts of willow bark for joint pain. First, willow bark was confirmed to be effective, and then the natural ester of salicylic acid (salicin) was isolated as the willow’s active ingredient by Johannes Buchner in Germany (Rainsford,1984). It was then derivatized by Rafaela Pirea to yield salicylic acid, and later (1899) by the Bayer company, to yield acetylsalicylic acid, or aspirin.

By current standards, the historical use of herbal preparations was not too harmful. It became so only after mankind learned to increase the potency and effects of these substances.

Another favorable position to home grown pharmaceutical is cost. Herbs cost a great deal not as much as doctor prescribed prescriptions. Research, testing, and promoting add impressively to the cost of physician recommended medications. Herbs have a tendency to be reasonable contrasted with

Mrs. Emily, when I did your history and physical you did not mention having depression in the pass or being followed by an herbalist for your care. Have you had any experience with depression in the past? It is possible that Yasmin is the contributing factor for Mrs. Emily depression. It is not recommended, but individuals take St. John’s Wort to relieve symptoms of low mood and anxiety disorder (Garner, 2014). I do not recommend patient taking this medication especially when they are taking combined oral contraceptive. Mrs. Emily pregnancy is possible due to her combing St John’s Wort with her oral contraceptive. She should have used another form of contraceptive while taking herbal medication.

Herbs and alternative treatments have been used for centuries in different cultures as medicine and in religious practices. In ancient China traditional medicine was a compilation of centuries of knowledge. However, "Öprofessional jealousy and competition resulted in little sharing of empirical knowledge gained by practitioners who saved it to pass on to a few selected

Ancient Chinese medicine, originating from almost 2,000 years ago, is a set of traditions that has influenced modern medicine because of its diverse methods, techniques, and discoveries. Since its beginning, it has yet to diverge from its original practices:

An average consumer, named Greg, enters a pharmacy looking for medication to clear up his common cold. Normally, Greg would just grab some cough syrup and lozenges and not think twice about it. But now his pharmacy not only offers traditional medications such as Acetaminophen or Pseudoephedrine but they also offer combinations of herbs such as peppermint for coughing or eucalyptus for a nasal decongestant. How does Greg decide between the herbal remedy and the traditional pharmaceutical medicine? How will he know if the herbal combination will actually work or be safe for him? These are the kind of questions most consumers ask themselves when faced with this dilemma. Well first, Greg falls under one of the “many people [who] use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for different health problems such as anxiety, or allergic disorders, as well as minor ailments or chronic diseases”, in his case the common cold (Freymann et al. 13). Second, in current society, the trend to be “organic” or “natural” is pushing consumers, like Greg, to approach the already established idea of herbalism or other alternative medicinal methods, therefore making the choice of the herbal remedy a possible candidate for him by societal pressures. Third, Greg is unaware of any of the health risks that could occur with either medicine options. Any of these points make the decision for either medicine an uneducated choice that could come with health repercussions, even if it just for a common

Abstract – Throughout history, medical properties have been used by many civilizations. Many of the medications that are available in our pharmacies are plant based. The discovery of the antimalarial effects of qinghao provides a new foundation for the development of antimalarial plant based medications. The research being made by Youyou Tu has lead to evidence that the Ming Dynasty had discovered qinghao as a natural remedy centuries ago.

To be given information on the historical uses of herbs and herbal remedies, with regards to our health, would be beneficial to us all as this would give people choices. Plants have been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history. Ancient Chinese and Egyptian papyrus writings describe medicinal uses for plants as early as 3,000 BC. Indigenous cultures (such as African and Native American) used herbs in their healing