Herbs in Many Forms

Herbs and herbal products come in many forms, and are now available not only in natural food stores, but also grocery stores, drugstores and gourmet food stores.  Also, a number of multilevel marketing organizations sell a variety of herbal products, as do mail order purveyors.

Conditions Benefited by Herbal Medicine

Herbal remedies have been successfuly used for many centuries for a wide range of minor ailments that are amenable to self-medication, including stomach upset, the common cold, minor aches and pains, constipation and diarrhea, coughs, headaches, menstrual cramps, digestive disturbances, sore muscles, sore muscles, skin rashes, sunburn, dandruff, and insomnia.   A growing number of American health consumers use herbal remedies for these conditions, which have been traditionally the domain of the nonprescription or over-the-counter drugs.

Other conditions that respond well to herbal medicine include:  digestive disorders such as peptic ulcers, colitis and irritable bowel syndrome; rheumatic and arthritic conditions; chronic skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis; problems of the menstrual cycle and especially premenstrual syndrome; anxiety and tension-related stress; bronchitis and other respiratory conditions; hypertension; and allergies. 

Herbal medicines can also be used for a number of conditions normally treated by prescription only.  One example is milk thistle seed extract for use in cirrhosis and hepatitis.¹²  Another example is the use of hawthorn as a heart tonic.¹³  This herb is highly recommended for cardiac patients by physicians in Germany (see The Herbal Medicine Chest section in this chapter). 

“When treating chronic illness with herbal medicine, it is extremely important to treat the entire body, as the illness may be simultaneously affecting many systems of the body at various levels,” says Mary Bove, N.D., L.M., head of the Department of Botanical Medicine at Bastyr College of Natural Health Sciences, in Seattle, Washington.  “The course of the treatment must include nutritional, tonic, and restorative plants in conjunction with herbs that support the body’s elimination functions. 

We find the alterative and adaptogenic plants to be very effective.   We certainly need to include digestion in any useful consideration of most chronic diseases and health challenges. Digestion, and what we're digesting, is far too important to overlook or gloss over.   The duration of treatment is often longer, with a constant dose of the remedy being given over a longer period of time.” 

Dr. Bove reports, “I had a thirty-eight-year-old female patient who came in with a ten-year-old case of colitis.  She had been seen by several M.D.’s and N.D’s over the past decade with some improvement.  After discussing her long history, I chose to treat her from a different perspective.  Primarily, I gave her digestive nerviness and tonic herbs like catnip, lemon balm, and tilia flowers.  Within three days, she went from eleven stools per day to two per day.  I continued with these herbs, adding some others for gut healing.   We had excellent results which were supported by diagnostic imaging.

Herbal medicine has also had great results with arthritic conditions.   Consider the case of a forty-two-year old woman with rheumatoid arthritis, confined to a wheelchair due to extreme and almost constant pain and swelling.  She consulted with David Hoffman, B.Sc., M.N.I.M.H., past President of the American Herbalists Guild, whose treatment involved herbal medicine and a re-evaluation of her diet and lifestyle.   Herbs were selected initially to east the digestive problems caused by medications she was taking and to help her sleep.   Once such side effects were alleviated, a program was started that enabled her to completely abandon the wheelchair after six months.   Though she still had some arthritic pain, she was able to live with it comfortably.  

The uniqueness of each individual is important in evaluating any holistic therapy, whether it be homeopathic, herbal, or nutritional.  In order to prescribe effectively, it is critical that a physician be knowledgeable and adaptable to each patient’s individual situation.  John Sherman, N.D., of the Portland Naturopathic Clinic in Oregon tells of a woman he treated who came to his clinic complaining of heart palpitations.  She was also concerned about the drugs she’d been prescribed for her heart arrhythmia.  She told Dr. Sherman that the drugs had been “sapping” her energy and only partially helping her heart problem.   Dr. Sherman prescribed a combination herbal tincture of cactus, hawthorn, valerian, and lily of the valley, which is a standard combination naturopathic physicians use to combat arrhythmia and a “feeble” heart.   He also analyzed her diet to determine her intake of specific minerals which affect the heart, including calcium, potassium, and sodium.

She returned to Dr. Sherman’s clinic two weeks later, still complaining of heart palpitations and feeling even more frustrated.   Dr. Sherman decided to change the herbal formula slightly by adding scotch broom.   Within a few days, she happily reported the absence of any heart symptoms and was subsequently able to wean herself off the prescription drugs.