Eclectic Medicine

Eclectic medicine was a branch of American medicine which made use of botanical remedies along with other substances and physical therapy practices, popular in the latter half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.
The term was coined by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1784 to 1841), a physician living among the Native Americans, and observing their use of medicinal plants. Rafinesque used the word "eclectic" to refer to those physicians who employed whatever was found to be beneficial to their patients (eclectic being derived from the Greek word "eklego", meaning "to choose from").
Therefore, "Eclectics" were doctors who practiced with a philosophy of "alignment with nature," learning from and using concepts from other schools of medical thought. They opposed the techniques of bleeding, chemical purging and the use of mercury compounds common among the "conventional" doctors of that time.

Gemmotherapy

Gemmotherapy-[from Lat. gemma, bud, and New Lat. therapīa, Grk. therapeia, medical treatment] is a form of herbal medicine that uses remedies made principally from the embryonic tissue of various trees and shrubs (the buds and emerging shoots), but also from the reproductive parts (the seeds and catkins) and from newly-grown tissue (the rootlets and the cortex of rootlets). In two instances, remedies are also made from the sap.
This raw material is taken in the Spring (in the case of the seeds, in the Autumn), at the peak time of the tree or shrub’s annual germination, in order to capture the various nutrients, vitamins, plant hormones and enzymes that are released during this process, and which in some cases are only present in the plant at this time. Some practitioners of gemmotherapy (they are rarely referred to as ‘gemmotherapists’) furthermore believe that:

• the vital energy of trees and shrubs is at its highest point when the new leaves, branches and flowers begin to emerge
  


• the vital energy is concentrated in these parts
  


• this energy in some way remains in or informs the resulting gemmotherapy remedies; and
  


• the efficacy of gemmotherapy remedies is enhanced or explained by it

Ethnopharmacology

When studying the effectiveness of herbal medicines and other nature-derived remedies, the information of the traditional uses of certain extracts of even extract combinations plays a key role. The lack of studies proving the use of herbs in traditional care is especially an issue in the United States where the use of herbal medicine has fallen out of use since the Second World War and was considered suspect since the Flexner Report of 1910 led to the closing of the eclectic medical schools where botanical medicine was exclusively practiced. This is further complicated by most herbal studies in the latter part of the 20th Century having been published in languages other than English such as German, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Farsi. As it may be more difficult to review foreign language publications, many of these publications have undergone been incorporated into the US Food and Drug Administration's "FDA" determinations of drug safety. In 1994 the US Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), regulating labeling and sales of herbs and other supplements. Most of the 2000 US companies making herbal or natural products choose to market their products as food supplements that do not require substantial testing.

Pharmacognosy

Pharmacognosy is the study of medicines derived from natural sources. The American Society of Pharmacognosy, defines pharmacognosy as "the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs, drug substances or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin as well as the search for new drugs from natural sources."

The word "pharmacognosy" derives from the Greek words pharmakon (drug), and gnosis or knowledge. The term pharmacognosy was used for the first time by the Austrian physician Schmidt in 1811. Originally - during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century - "pharmacognosy" was used to define the branch of medicine or commodity sciences ("Warenkunde" in German) which dealt with drugs in their crude, or unprepared, form. Crude drugs are the dried, unprepared material of plant, animal or mineral origin, used for medicine. The study of pharmakognosie was first developed in German-speaking areas of Europe. The term drogenkunde ("science of crude drugs") is also used synonymously.
Although most pharmacognostic studies focus on plants and medicines derived from plants, other types of organisms are also regarded as pharmacognostically interesting, in particular, various types of microbes (bacteria, fungi, etc.), and, recently, various marine organisms.
Pharmacognosy is interdisciplinary, drawing on a broad spectrum of biological and socio-scientific subjects, including botany, ethnobotany, medical anthropology, marine biology, microbiology, herbal medicine, chemistry (phytochemistry), pharmacology, pharmaceutics, clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice. The contemporary study of pharmacognosy can be divided into the fields of:

• medical ethnobotany: the study of the traditional use of plants for medicinal purposes;
• ethnopharmacology: the study of the pharmacological qualities of traditional medicinal substances;
• the study of phytotherapy (the medicinal use of plant extracts); and
• phytochemistry, the study of chemicals derived from plants (including the identification of new drug candidates derived from plant sources).

Chinese Patent Medicine

Chinese patent medicine - zhōng chéng yào is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine. They are standardized herbal formulas. Several herbs and other ingredients are dried and ground. They are then mixed into a powder and formed into pills. The binder is traditionally honey. They are characteristically little round black pills.
Chinese patent medicines are easy and convenient. They are not easy to customize on a patient-by-patient basis, however. They are best used when a patient's condition is not severe and the medicine can be taken as a long-term treatment.
These medicines are not "patented" in the traditional sense of the word. No one has exclusive rights to the formula. Instead, "patent" refers to the standardization of the formula. All Chinese patent medicines of the same name will have the same proportions of ingredients.

Herbology

Herbology is the Chinese art of combining medicinal herbs.
Herbology is traditionally one of the more important modalities utilized in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Each herbal medicine prescription is a cocktail of many herbs tailored to the individual patient. One batch of herbs is typically decocted twice over the course of one hour. The practitioner usually designs a remedy using one or two main ingredients that target the illness. Then the practitioner adds many other ingredients to adjust the formula to the patient's yin/yang conditions. Sometimes, ingredients are needed to cancel out toxicity or side-effects of the main ingredients. Some herbs require the use of other ingredients as catalyst or else the brew is ineffective. The latter steps require great experience and knowledge, and make the difference between a good Chinese herbal doctor and an amateur. Unlike western medications, the balance and interaction of all the ingredients are considered more important than the effect of individual ingredients. A key to success in TCM is the treatment of each patient as an individual.

Medicinal Plants

Few herbal remedies have conclusively demonstrated any positive effect on humans.Many of the studies cited refer to animal model investigations or in-vitro assays and therefore cannot provide more than weak supportive evidence.

• Artichoke may reduce production cholesterol levels in in vitro studies. Clinical evidence of reduction in serum cholesterol is lacking.
• Soy and other plants that contain phytoestrogens (plant molecules with estrogen activity) (black cohosh probably has serotonin activity) have some benefits for treatment of symptoms resulting from menopause.
• Butterbur (Petasites )
• Calendula
• Cranberry may be effective in treating urinary tract infections in women with recurrent symptoms.
• Echinacea extracts may limit the length and severity of rhinovirus colds; however, the appropriate dosage levels, which might be higher than is available over-the-counter, require further research.
• Elderberry may speed the recovery from type A and B influenza.However it is possibly risky in the case of avian influenza because the immunostimulatory effects may aggravate the cytokine cascade.
• Feverfew is sometimes used to treat migraine headaches.However, many reviews of these studies show no or unclear efficacy.However a more recent RTC showed favorable results,Feverfew is not recommended for pregnant women as it may be dangerous to the fetus.
• Garlic may lower total cholesterol levels
• Ginger
• Purified extracts of the seeds of Hibiscus sabdariffa may have some antihypertensive, antifungal and antibacterial effect. Toxicity tested low except for an isolated case of damage to the testes of a rat after prolonged and excessive consumption.
• Magnolia
• Milk thistle
• Nigella sativa (Black cumin) has demonstrated analgesic properties in mice. The mechanism for this effect, however, is unclear. In vitro studies support antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and immune modulating effects. However few randomized double blind studies have been published.
• Oregano may be effective against multi-drug resistant bacteria.
• Pawpaw can be used for insecticidal purposes (killing lice, worms).
• Phytolacca or Pokeweed is used as a homeopathic remedy to treat many ailments. It can be applied topically or taken internally. Topical treatments have been used for acne and other ailments. It is used to treatment tonsilitis, swollen glands and weight loss.
• Peppermint oil may have benefits for individuals with irritable bowel syndrome.
• Pomegranate
• Rauvolfia Serpentina, high risk of toxicity if improperly used, used extensively in India for sleeplessness, anxiety, and high blood pressure.
• Salvia lavandulaefolia may improve memory
• St. John's wort, has yielded positive results, proving more effective than a placebo for the treatment of mild to moderate depression in some clinical trials. A subsequent, large, controlled trial, however, found St. John's wort to be no better than a placebo in treating depressionHowever more recent trials have shown positive results or positive trands that failed significance. A 2004 meta-analysis concluded that the positive results can be explained by publication bias but later analyses have been more favorable.The Cochrane Database cautions that the data on St. John's wort for depression are conflicting and ambiguous.
• Saw Palmetto can be used for BPH. Supported in some studies, failed to confirm in otherrs.
• Shittake
• Valerian root can be used to treat insomnia. Clinical studies show mixed results and researchers note that many trials are of poor quality.
• Vanilla
• Ocimum gratissimum and tea tree oil can be used to treat acne.
• Green tea components may inhibit growth of breast cancer cells and may heal scars faster.
• Lemon grass can lower cholesterol.
• Honey may reduce cholesterol. May be useful in wound healing.

Types of Herbal Medicines

Use of medicinal plants can be as informal as, for example, culinary use or consumption of an herbal tea or supplement, although the sale of some herbs considered dangerous is often restricted to the public. Sometimes such herbs are provided to professional herbalists by specialist companies. Many herbalists, both professional and amateur, often grow or "wildcraft" their own herbs.
Some researchers trained in both western and traditional Chinese medicine have attempted to deconstruct ancient medical texts in the light of modern science. One idea is that the yin-yang balance, at least with regard to herbs, corresponds to the pro-oxidant and anti-oxidant balance. This interpretation is supported by several investigations of the {ORAC ratings of various yin and yang herbs.
Eclectic medicine came out of the vitalist tradition, similar to physiomedicalism and bridged the European and Native American traditions. Cherokee medicine tends to divide herbs into foods, medicines and toxins and to use seven plants in the treatment of disease, which is defined with both spiritual and physiological aspects, according to Cherokee herbalist David Winston.
In India, Ayurvedic medicine has quite complex formulas with 30 or more ingredients, including a sizable number of ingredients that have undergone "alchemical processing", chosen to balance "Vata", "Pitta" or "Kapha."
In addition there are more modern theories of herbal combination like William LeSassier's triune formula which combined Pythagorean imagery with Chinese medicine ideas and resulted in 9 herb formulas which supplemented, drained or neutrally nourished the main organ systems affected and three associated systems. His system has been taught to thousands of influential American herbalists through his own apprenticeship programs during his lifetime, the William LeSassier Archive and the David Winston Center for Herbal Studies.

Role of Herbal Medicine in Modern Human Society

Role of herbal medicine in modern human society
The use of herbs to treat disease is almost universal among non-industrialized societies.[17] A number of traditions came to dominate the practice of herbal medicine at the end of the twentieth century:
The herbal medicine system, based on Greek and Roman sources
The Ayurvedic medicine system from India
Chinese herbal medicine (Chinese herbology)
Unani-Tibb medicine
Shamanic Herbalism

Many of the pharmaceuticals currently available to physicians have a long history of use as herbal remedies, including opium, aspirin, digitalis, and quinine. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the world's population presently uses herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care.Herbal medicine is a major component in all traditional medicine systems, and a common element in Ayurvedic, homeopathic, naturopathic, traditional Chinese medicine, and Native American medicine.
The use of, and search for, drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have accelerated in recent years. Pharmacologists, microbiologists, botanists, and natural-products chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and leads that could be developed for treatment of various diseases. In fact, according to the World Health Organisation, approximately 25% of modern drugs used in the United States have been derived from plants.

Three quarters of plants that provide active ingredients for prescription drugs came to the attention of researchers because of their use in traditional medicine.
Among the 120 active compounds currently isolated from the higher plants and widely used in modern medicine today, 80 percent show a positive correlation between their modern therapeutic use and the traditional use of the plants from which they are derived.
More than two thirds of the world's plant species - at least 35,000 of which are estimated to have medicinal value - come from the developing countries.
At least 7,000 medical compounds in the modern pharmacopoeia are derived from plants.

Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medicinal botany,medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy. Sometimes the scope of herbal medicine is extended to include fungi and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.
Many plants synthesize substances that are useful to the maintenance of health in humans and other animals. These include aromatic substances, most of which are phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. Many are secondary metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated — a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total. In many cases, these substances (particularly the alkaloids) serve as plant defense mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Many of the herbs and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.