Advantages of Herbal Medicine

This is the era of herbal never before it had such an importance today the market is flooded with so many “herbal products” or “ all natural products” . And many of us are confused so as to what they are and how to get acquainted with them and many are just startled by their sheer numbers and how they say this is better than this and what not . How did all these come up suddenly?
The answer lies perhaps in growing concern for health where we want what is best for us. Or On the other hand, maybe the media has so marked an effect over us that we generally turn a blind eye to see beyond the alluring models and endorsers. That said many such products have their origins 100’s of thousand’s of years ago. Archaeological remains and scriptures paintings from the ancient civilizations indicate use of various herbs in making medicines and remedies for skin care and otherwise.

Herbal medicines always have had a chequered history since the very beginning and have been improving ever since and today in the age of development and transition they have gained importance because of depleting health and growing awareness about side effect of medicines people have come to realize that natural is safe and good.

Of the many advantages of herbal medicines and natural products some are listed below:

• Cost- they are cost effective and are available over the counter and do not require any prescription. However, it is always better to consult your doctor before starting anything especially if you are taking some medicines. If something is natural that is no guarantee that it is safe there are substances that can cause harm too in the longer run natural medications do not fall under the category of drugs per se but rather they are considered as food. These are sold as supplements and do not undergo very extensive clinical trials as many drugs undergo, there is no standard measure to test the natural content of such supplements. Sometimes they may have additives like plant pollen or husk of a few plants which might be an allergen to some, hence more extensive clinical trials and researches are the need of the hour before labeling them safe.
• Effectiveness and Potency – why people choose herbal over conventional medicine is dissatisfaction with the treatment, the results and relief is very subjective and varies from patient to patient. Potency can vary depending upon what type of herbs are mixed in what ration and what is the water content in them and how have they been prepared and so forth, hence there is not a lot of uniformity between various manufacturers of herbal medicines, hence stricter rules need to be enforced, but the biggest plus with herbal and natural products are that they have comparatively lesser number of side effects.