| A Brief History of Herbs: |
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Evidence suggests that primitive man, through observation, trial and error, discovered and used herbs in there daily lives both as food and
as medicine. Throughout the bible there are numerous references to herbs. "Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the
sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire,
along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast." (Exodus 12:7-8).
The first known written record of curative plants was from a Sumerian herbal of 2200 BC, which described the use of medicinal plants
such as laurel, caraway, and thyme. Egyptian records dating back to 1000 BC indicate that early civilizations used many herbs as food,
medicine, and dyes. Approximately two thousand years ago Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek contemporary of the Romans, wrote De
Materia Medica. He discussed about 500 plants (or plant products) familiar at that time, including almost forty plants still used in
medicine today; Also mentioned were plants from all regions of the world, including India and Egypt. Dioscorides was regarded as the
ultimate authority on plants and medicine for almost two millenia .
Following the fall of the Roman empire standard medical knowledge was based on surviving Greek and Roman texts. Medical practices
during the middle ages where barbaric at best. Bloodletting was used to restore a patients health and surgeries were performed by
barbers who used no anesthesia. Medical treatment was reserved for the wealthy, while those living in villages rarely if ever had access to a
doctor. Remedies were herbal in nature, and administered by people outside the medical tradition. Many medieval medical manuscripts
contained recipes for remedies that called for hundreds of therapeutic substances--the notion that every substance in nature held some
sort of power accounts for the enormous variety of substances. With the influence of Christianity came a growing tension between the
church and those practicing folk medicine. The church felt that much of folk medicine was magical and mystical because spells and
incantations were used along with herbs and other remedies. The church taught that God often sent illness as a punishment, and that
repenting would cure all ills. Greek physician Hippocrates (460 - 377 B.C.), founder of the Hippocratic oath, developed a system of
diagnosis and prognosis using herbs. He considered illness a natural, not supernatural, phenomenon and maintained that medicine should
be given without magic. Based on these writings, a unified theory of medicine began to develop.
The Chinese had been using plants for over 4500 years for medicinal purposes and many of these were brought to Europe in the
seventeenth century. In England, herbal treatment reached its peak of popularity with the publication of the herbal of Nicholas Culpeper
(1616-54), a book first called the English Physician. In his book, Culpeper cataloged all the known herbal remedies of England.
Culpeper showed the people how they could rely on their own herbal remedies for healing.
In 1665, a plague ravaged England. Lasting from June until November, it reached its peak in September, when in one week 12,000 people
in London died, from a population of 500,000. The king and his court fled to Salisbury, but a doctor named Nathaniel Hodges remained
in London to fight the disease. He fumigated houses with smoke from resinous woods, suggested rest and a light diet, and relieved fever
by giving his patients Virginian snake root. Although his favourite powders were made from bezoar stone, unicorn horn and dried toad, he
found these of no use. He himself sucked lozenges with ingredients of myrrh, cinnamon and angelica root, and successfully survived in
London without contracting the plague.(National Meritime Museum -http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.138)
By the end of the 17th century, a more clinical and scientific approach to health, based on actual observation, began to appear.
However, folk medicine and herbal remedies remained a mainstay in most homes, and many of them were brought to the new colonies of the
Americas. In 1881 Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch presented the one germ-one-disease theory, which postulated that germs were the
primary cause of disease. This theory was quickly refuted by Pasteur and Koch's contemporaries. However, despite the fact that the
theory was dis-proven, it was quickly reinforced by the university trained physicians because of a need for this profession to find one
standard explanation of disease which would set them apart from the other alternative forms of healing which were being used at the time.
In 1882, however, Pasteur restated his theory, but revised it saying that germs were actually the secondary cause of disease and that the
debilitated terrain came first. Very little notice came of this revision and the original theory remained the dominant theory in the medical
circles. By the second half of the 19th century western medicine eventually turned away from herbalism in favor of chemical cures. In some
parts of the western world, herbalism was actually outlawed unless practiced by a doctor with medical training. With the advent of
pharmacology and diverse medical training backed financially by wealthy manufacturers, herbalism or alternative approaches to health care
were stigmatized as "quackery".
Despite all the medical advances and the new technology, the 20th century began to see a resurgence in traditional practices of healing.
Concerned about the high cost of health care, the lack of a personal relationships with doctors, and the concern over the safety and
efficacy of pharmaceutical drugs, more and more people began turning to a more natural approach to health care. In the year 2000, the
average waiting time for a patient to see a physician was 46.5 minutes. Injury, poisoning, and the adverse effects of medical treatment
accounted for over 35 percent of emergency room visits. In 2003, the United States spent $1.7 trillion --15 percent of the gross
domestic product -- on health care. That works out to $5,671 for every man, woman, and child. However, the United States still ranks
26th in the industrialized nations for individual health. Almost two-thirds of the earth’s 6.1 billion people rely on the healing power of
herbal medicine.
So it appears that in the 21st century, humans are coming full circle and realizing that nature can not be duplicated. The media and the
health care industry have lead us to believe that to suppress the symptoms of ill health through the use of pharmaceuticals and over the
counter medications is the key to overcoming poor health and disease. However, 25% of modern medicines are made from plants first used
traditionally. To extract the chemical properties of a plant and synthesize them in a laboratory only leads to a break down of the whole.
The plant properties work synergistically together to heal and to help the body assimilate them as though they are food. There is a place
in todays society for modern medicine and procedures, however, nature provides almost everything we need.
Natalie Vickery 2006 - All rights reserved.
as medicine. Throughout the bible there are numerous references to herbs. "Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the
sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire,
along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast." (Exodus 12:7-8).
The first known written record of curative plants was from a Sumerian herbal of 2200 BC, which described the use of medicinal plants
such as laurel, caraway, and thyme. Egyptian records dating back to 1000 BC indicate that early civilizations used many herbs as food,
medicine, and dyes. Approximately two thousand years ago Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek contemporary of the Romans, wrote De
Materia Medica. He discussed about 500 plants (or plant products) familiar at that time, including almost forty plants still used in
medicine today; Also mentioned were plants from all regions of the world, including India and Egypt. Dioscorides was regarded as the
ultimate authority on plants and medicine for almost two millenia .
Following the fall of the Roman empire standard medical knowledge was based on surviving Greek and Roman texts. Medical practices
during the middle ages where barbaric at best. Bloodletting was used to restore a patients health and surgeries were performed by
barbers who used no anesthesia. Medical treatment was reserved for the wealthy, while those living in villages rarely if ever had access to a
doctor. Remedies were herbal in nature, and administered by people outside the medical tradition. Many medieval medical manuscripts
contained recipes for remedies that called for hundreds of therapeutic substances--the notion that every substance in nature held some
sort of power accounts for the enormous variety of substances. With the influence of Christianity came a growing tension between the
church and those practicing folk medicine. The church felt that much of folk medicine was magical and mystical because spells and
incantations were used along with herbs and other remedies. The church taught that God often sent illness as a punishment, and that
repenting would cure all ills. Greek physician Hippocrates (460 - 377 B.C.), founder of the Hippocratic oath, developed a system of
diagnosis and prognosis using herbs. He considered illness a natural, not supernatural, phenomenon and maintained that medicine should
be given without magic. Based on these writings, a unified theory of medicine began to develop.
The Chinese had been using plants for over 4500 years for medicinal purposes and many of these were brought to Europe in the
seventeenth century. In England, herbal treatment reached its peak of popularity with the publication of the herbal of Nicholas Culpeper
(1616-54), a book first called the English Physician. In his book, Culpeper cataloged all the known herbal remedies of England.
Culpeper showed the people how they could rely on their own herbal remedies for healing.
In 1665, a plague ravaged England. Lasting from June until November, it reached its peak in September, when in one week 12,000 people
in London died, from a population of 500,000. The king and his court fled to Salisbury, but a doctor named Nathaniel Hodges remained
in London to fight the disease. He fumigated houses with smoke from resinous woods, suggested rest and a light diet, and relieved fever
by giving his patients Virginian snake root. Although his favourite powders were made from bezoar stone, unicorn horn and dried toad, he
found these of no use. He himself sucked lozenges with ingredients of myrrh, cinnamon and angelica root, and successfully survived in
London without contracting the plague.(National Meritime Museum -http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.138)
By the end of the 17th century, a more clinical and scientific approach to health, based on actual observation, began to appear.
However, folk medicine and herbal remedies remained a mainstay in most homes, and many of them were brought to the new colonies of the
Americas. In 1881 Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch presented the one germ-one-disease theory, which postulated that germs were the
primary cause of disease. This theory was quickly refuted by Pasteur and Koch's contemporaries. However, despite the fact that the
theory was dis-proven, it was quickly reinforced by the university trained physicians because of a need for this profession to find one
standard explanation of disease which would set them apart from the other alternative forms of healing which were being used at the time.
In 1882, however, Pasteur restated his theory, but revised it saying that germs were actually the secondary cause of disease and that the
debilitated terrain came first. Very little notice came of this revision and the original theory remained the dominant theory in the medical
circles. By the second half of the 19th century western medicine eventually turned away from herbalism in favor of chemical cures. In some
parts of the western world, herbalism was actually outlawed unless practiced by a doctor with medical training. With the advent of
pharmacology and diverse medical training backed financially by wealthy manufacturers, herbalism or alternative approaches to health care
were stigmatized as "quackery".
Despite all the medical advances and the new technology, the 20th century began to see a resurgence in traditional practices of healing.
Concerned about the high cost of health care, the lack of a personal relationships with doctors, and the concern over the safety and
efficacy of pharmaceutical drugs, more and more people began turning to a more natural approach to health care. In the year 2000, the
average waiting time for a patient to see a physician was 46.5 minutes. Injury, poisoning, and the adverse effects of medical treatment
accounted for over 35 percent of emergency room visits. In 2003, the United States spent $1.7 trillion --15 percent of the gross
domestic product -- on health care. That works out to $5,671 for every man, woman, and child. However, the United States still ranks
26th in the industrialized nations for individual health. Almost two-thirds of the earth’s 6.1 billion people rely on the healing power of
herbal medicine.
So it appears that in the 21st century, humans are coming full circle and realizing that nature can not be duplicated. The media and the
health care industry have lead us to believe that to suppress the symptoms of ill health through the use of pharmaceuticals and over the
counter medications is the key to overcoming poor health and disease. However, 25% of modern medicines are made from plants first used
traditionally. To extract the chemical properties of a plant and synthesize them in a laboratory only leads to a break down of the whole.
The plant properties work synergistically together to heal and to help the body assimilate them as though they are food. There is a place
in todays society for modern medicine and procedures, however, nature provides almost everything we need.
Natalie Vickery 2006 - All rights reserved.
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