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Evidence suggests that primative 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 doorframes 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 contemperaries. However, despite the fact that the theory was
disproven, it was quickly reinforced by the university trained physicians because of a need for this profession to
find one standard explaination 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 pharmocology and diverse medical training backed financially by wealthy
manufacturers, herbalism or alternative approaches to health care were stigmatized as "quackery".
Dispite 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 surpress 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 togeather 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.
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 doorframes 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 contemperaries. However, despite the fact that the theory was
disproven, it was quickly reinforced by the university trained physicians because of a need for this profession to
find one standard explaination 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 pharmocology and diverse medical training backed financially by wealthy
manufacturers, herbalism or alternative approaches to health care were stigmatized as "quackery".
Dispite 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 surpress 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 togeather 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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