Herbal Medicine

By far the two greatest factors which influence people today with respect to herbal medicine are fear of herbs (are they harmful?) and efficacy (do they work?). Rest assured herbs are extremely safe and herbs are also extremely healthful. Any thinking to the contrary is very likely the result of scare mongering by the medicos -- shame on them and their medical monopoly! The medico logic used to cast herbs in a poor light follows the same reasoning as feeding volumes of ice cream to a person suffering from severe hypothermia and severe frostbite -- yet ice cream is not considered to be a hazardous substance.

Herbs have been used for tens of thousands of years to good effect. If a herb was used to allay serious fever 10,000 years ago is there any reason to believe that it would not allay a fever today? No. If a herb was used to relieve digestive upset 10,000 years ago is there any reason to believe that it would not relieve indigestion today? No. The wonder of it all is why anyone would not choose to use herbal medicine today when the chemical alternatives are so insidiously dangerous. To my way of thinking, no rightful thinking person ever take chemical drugs while far less harmful options exist -- but I’m biased. The four leading causes of death in North America today are medical misadventure, heart disease, cancer, and drug side-effect. Herbal therapy is not even in the top ten. Not only that, despite the ready availability of supposedly “dangerous” herbs zero (0) deaths have been attributed to herbs in Canada last year, zero (0) the year before, and, in fact, zero (0) cumulatively over the last twenty years. Methinks they are not much of a threat. My battle is to make the herbal choice available to those who wish to exercise their right to explore this option.

The option is everything. The medical concept of “informed consent” involves, by way of example, having a surgery, or not. Repeated federal reviews of health care have identified the persistent yet unrequited need of people to “informed choice” in health options. I cannot make you change religion, your political views, your view on the opposite sex, or, for that matter your thinking on health care. But should you choose to exercise your right to what are often superior, cheaper, and less hazardous health care options then I want them to be there for you.

Every week, perhaps even every day, a new medico miracle cure is proclaimed throughout all our media ... disease is being vanquished by new and novel drugs & surgeries at a rate never before seen in the history of mankind. And yet, herbalism which was once driven to the brink of extinction by the medico system is making a strong comeback.

Drugs were once “proven” to be superior to the quaint herbs of eighty years ago by science and so-called evidence-based medicine. But scores of generations of drug improvement and enhancement have not vanquished studies which often rank the herb as performing on a par or superior to the drug. How can this be? Why are herbs making a comeback in the face of trillions of dollars worth of medical advancements? I leave it for you to puzzle out this conundrum.

Nobody, not even the medicos, is maintaining that herbs do not have medicinal properties. The properties of herbs have been investigated for so long and with such intensity that there exists a large body of knowledge on a considerable number of commonly available herbs. Herbalism is not about the herb itself. A hammer in the hands of my six year old is not going to be the same instrument of construction that it would be in the hands of an experienced carpenter. Similarly, a herb in the hands of the scientifically-oriented medico community will not be used anywhere near as effectively as it is used by a herbalist. Herbalism is an art form. Herbalists believe that the practice of healthcare is also a fine art form.

Scientific, medico-driven studies on natural medicines are by-and-large useless. A written presentation by the Nova Scotia Herbalist Association (NSHA) to the [third “advisory committee” of the] federal government introduced the descriptive concept of “duh-factor” studies. A duh-factor study is where some intrinsic component of a natural substance (in cherries, for example) is given to people in a double-blind, controlled study while monitoring some health outcome (fewer heart attacks, for example). Invariably the corporation paying for the study discovers improved health outcomes and announces this result to the popular media. Coincidentally they introduce and intensively market some iso-cherry-thingy natural product “proven to reduce heart disease.” Well, duh! Feed any random group of typical North Americans a quantity of fresh fruit over time and virtually any indicator of disease will be lessened.

The herbalist learns about the condition of the patient by talking to the patient and listening to what the patient has to say and observing what the patient is showing. The herbalist gets to know the patient and develops a feel for the patient’s general condition of ill-health. A specific allopathically derived disease name, osteoporosis, for example, is not representative in-and-of itself of the general shortcomings of the patient’s whole body, living environment, and emotional well-being. The herbalist uses herbs and natural therapies in a manner designed to improve the patient’s overall state of health. If the patient has degenerative osteoporosis, for example, then it should stop degenerating or even recede as the patient’s body becomes healthier. Thus, the herbalist is applying in practice the holistic belief that the body is fully capable of healing and restoring itself.

Healer J. Mark Taylor, Medical Herbalist

5, 1922 - 9 Avenue SE.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2G 0V2