History of Herbs - Part 3

1,700-1,900AD was the era of 'Deadly Cures' when metallic poisons, mercury, antimony and arsenic were in common use e.g., high doses of calomel 'Mercurous chloride' were used to treat syphilis. As a result patients developed major complications with this treatment.These practices reached the peak in the 'Heroic Medicine' of the early 19th century. Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), a leading physician of that time, had opinion that only bloodletting & calomel were required in medical practice.

Wherever theEuropeans settled during the great migrations of 18th and 19th centuries (North America, South America, South Africa and Australia), they learned much from observing native practices and new herbs were constantly added to official record of healing herbs. About 170 native plants were listed in ‘The Pharmacopoeia of the United States’. In Britain, the ‘National Institute of Medical Herbalists’ which was the first professional body of herbal practitioners in the world was formed in 1864 to establish Western herbal medicine as an alternative to conventional practices, particularly in industrial cities of North England.

Pharmacognosy ‘the study of plants as source of drugs’ is one of the oldest disciplines. Scientists extracted and isolated chemicals from herbs for the first time in the 18th century and since then we have been looking at herbs and their effectiveness in terms of the active constituents they contain. Research into isolated plant constituents has given rise to many of the world's most useful drugs. Tubocurarine, the most powerful muscle relaxant in existence was derived from 'Chondrodendron tomentosa' and the strongest pain killer morphine came from 'Papaver somniferum' in 1803. Many anaesthetics were also derived from herbs, for example, cocaine which was derived from 'Erythroxylum coca'. Digoxin, which is used in heart failure was isolated from 'Digitalis purpurea' in 1799. Similarly, inulin extracted from 'Inula helenium' in 1804 and salicylic acid, a chemical fore-runner of aspirin isolated from 'Salix alba' in 1838 and was first synthesised in laboratory in 1860. From this point on, herbal medicine and conventional medicine took separate paths. Aspirin, an entirely new chemical formulation, was first developed in Germany in 1899.

From 1860s scientists, most notably Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) began to identify the micro-organisms that were ultimately responsible for causing infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria. This led to the discovery, more accurately the rediscovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) in 1929. However, while the 20th century scientists were the first to scientifically evaluate antibiotics as medicine, they were not the first to employ them in healing. Antibiotic moulds had been grown and used to combat infection in ancient Egypt.

India is having the world’s richest flora with about 120 families of plants comprising 1,30,000 species. The use of about 2,400 of these species has been mentioned in Ayurvedic texts by Indian scholars like Charaka, Sushruta and Vagbhatta. Many other herbal medicines are used by tribals. The Chinese pharmacopoeia lists over 5,700 traditional medicines, mostly herbs. Western herbalists still make use of at least a thousand indigenous European herbal plants and many other species native to America, Africa & Australia. It is thought that around 10,000 herbs are used worldwide for medicinal purposes regularly out of the estimated 5,00,000 plants on our planet.

There is no doubt that the treatment devised by modern medicine can offer an unparalleled opportunity to relieve symptoms. Although there is spectacular success with modern allopathic medicines, there are horrific disasters too, for instance, the ‘thalidomide tragedy in 1962’. In Britain and Germany, 3,000 deformed babies were born to mothers who had taken the drug 'thalidomide' as a sedative during their pregnancy. It is estimated that 10 to 20 percent of hospital patients in the West are due to the side effects of modren medical treatment.

For most of us, medicine in the 20th century is exemplified by drugs such as steroids, antibiotics and highly technical methods of diagnosis and treatment. However, many might be surprised to discover that till this century, herbal medicines have been the primary form of treatment, even in the Western countries. During 1930s, around 90 percent of medicines prescribed by doctors or sold over the counter were herbal in origin. It is only during the last 55 years that allopathic medicines have become normal practice. During first World war (1914-1918) for example, Garlic and Sphagnum moss were used by the thousands in the battle trenches to dress wounds and to treat infections. Garlic is an excellent natural antibiotic and was the most effective antiseptic available at that time. It is hard to think of a world deprived of anti-malarial properties of quinine derived from 'Cinchona' or the heart remedy digoxin from 'Digitalis'.

Ethnopharmacological research programmes in India, China, Russia and elsewhere are in progress. The sages of antiquity told that old is gold. This is very true when we talk about herbal medicines. We are still using many herbal drugs in the same way as our ancestors did. It is generally recognised that our ancestors had a wide range of medicinal herbs at their disposal and they possessed a profound understanding of the healing power of herbs. In fact, till 20th century every village and community had a wealth of herbal folklore. Even though the medicinal effect of a herb is well established, the pharmacological approach to understand how the whole herb works, is extremely important. For example, in spite of having approximately the same level of caffeine, tea 'Camellia sinensis' is less stimulating than coffee 'Coffea arabica' because of less absorption of caffeine into blood stream due to the presence of tannins in tea.

The human body is much better suited to treatment with herbal remedies rather than chemicals. We have evolved, side-by-side with plants, over tens of thousands of years; and our physiology has adapted to plant based foods, which often have a medicinal value, as well as provide nourishment. For example, lemon 'Citrus limon' improves resistance to infection, papaya 'Carica papaya' is taken in some parts of the world to expel worms, onion 'Allium cepa' relieves bronchial infections and oat 'Avena sativa' supports convalescence. In fact, some herbal preparations are now so commonly used that they are accepted as a part of everyday life, for example, peppermint oil 'Mentha piperita' prescribed for irritable bowel syndrome and other gut problems; senna 'Cassia senna', a simple effective treatment for short term constipation, is one of the most frequently used medicine throughout the world. St. John’s wort 'Hypericum perforatum', an European herb is valued for its powerfully antiviral properties and is proving effective in the treatment of AIDS.

Despite the dramatic advances and advantages of conventional modern medicine, it is clear that herbal medicine has much to offer especially in chronic ailments. Herbal medicine has a great revival in the Western countries, because no effective conventional treatment yet exists for many chronic diseases. In addition, concern over the side effects of conventional medicine is encouraging people to look for more gentle forms of treatment.