Senin, 26 Oktober 2009

the list of medicine plants and the history of herbalism



Are plants used in modern medicine?

The practice of medicine is an ancient one. A surgical procedure called trepanation shows just how long ago people began seeking to heal the ill and injured around them. Trepanation is the practice of opening the skull, usually to release pressure in the brain or free an individual from spirit possession or other metaphysical maladies. Evidence of this primitive form of cranial surgery dates back as far as the Neolithic period of 7000 to 2000 B.C. [source: Wellesley College].

Because trepanation seemed to be successful, the practice continued and spread. Archeologists studying Mesoamerican trepanation in Precolumbian Andean cultures found that patients had a survival rate of more than 70 percent [source: Tiesler Blos].

The use of drugs is just as old as surgery. At least as far back as the Kemites (ancient Egyptians), whose first pharaoh studied plants, and the Sumerians, who worshipped a goddess of medicine, humans were aware of medicinal plants. The era beginning 1500 B.C. saw an explosion of understanding of medicines, with cultures in China, Africa and India codifying their knowledge and documenting it for future generations [source: Heath].

These ancient practitioners identified what plants possessed various healing properties. In some cases, they attributed these properties to higher powers, but in large part, they accepted the medicinal powers of plants at face value -- the plants did what they did. As scientific inquiry developed, however, nothing could be taken at face value. The scientific method demands that the underlying processes of everything be understood.

Plants and Medicine

Once science had a grasp on the interactions between drugs and the body, it became possible to synthesize natural compounds through chemistry. Science and tradition diverged. In the first edition of the American Pharmacopoeia, published in 1820, 70 percent of drugs were plant-based. In the 1960 edition, 5.3 percent were of plant origin [source: Royal Society of Medicine].

As divergent as folk medicine and modern medicine have become, chemists have occasionally doubled back to the traditional roots of medicine in order to move forward. Read the next page to find out about the role of plants in modern medicine.

Learn about herbs, wild medicinal plants, herbal remedies and herb uses.

Many of our most common weeds have uses in herbal medicine. Learn about medicinal herbs such as chickweed, ground ivy, plantain and violets that may be growing wild in your yard.

Prunella Vulgaris, heal all, woundwort, natural herpes cure plant

The Herbal Remedy used for Herpes, (Prunella Vulgaris) Prunella products are now available at my online store.

Jewelweed poison ivy treatment from Nature
Jewelweed Flower

Medicinal Herbs Gallery

Over 50 medicinal herbs and descriptions, uses in alternative medicine, and herb pictures to help you identify them.

Herbal Questions and Answers

Where to get Medicinal Herbs and Herbal Remedies, Herb Picture Use Guidelines, Questions from readers and more.

Herb Farming

Herb Farming Articles and Links to Informative Alternative Agriculture Sites

Over 300 Pictures of Herbs

Browse to learn to identify herbs. Need herb pictures for your blog? Just ask .

Amazing Jewelweed, Nature's Poison Ivy Treatment

I use Jewelweed to make herbal remedies and preventatives for Poison Ivy, Oak, Acne, and many other skin problems. The Amazing line of Remedies really live up to their name!

Handpicked Herbal Links

Handpicked links about herbs, medicinal plants and alternative medicine

Alternative Medicine Articles

ADD, Diet, and Herbs

Aphrodisiacs

Aromatherapy

Wild crafting Herbs

Harvesting Roots

SAM-e for Chronic Pain

Herbs for Animals


.........More

german chamomile herb picture

German Chamomile
A favorite tummy calming
herb used in tea.

Ginseng

Ginseng is a "good herb". We should keep our ginseng in North America. Much of the wild supply sold to dealers goes to Asia because they have exhausted their domestic Ginseng supply. Ginseng is known to have many herbal health benefits. I'm a believer!
Click here to read more about Ginseng

My Free Ginseng and Other Herbal Videos

ginseng wild in tennessee forest



Sponsor
Bulk Teas
Herb Information
Herbal Supplies and Glassware
Bulk Tea Bags

Quality Herbs, Low prices

Jewelweed
Natural Poison Ivy Treatment


Your Herbal Editor
Karen Bergeron
Email

Privacy Policy

Organic Medicinal Herb Seeds

Mounatin Rose Herbs. A Herbs, Health & Harmony Com

Campaign For Liberty

Add
AltNature Online Herbal to your Favorites

Trusted Herbal
Web Sites for More Information

HerbWorld.com
Herbal Business Tools and Resources

Easy Living Native Wildflowers

Nature's Herbal
My Friend Deb Jackson's Herb Descriptions and Images

NaturalNews.com
Natural Health News Articles, comics, and more

AltNature Home Medicinal Herb Uses, Pictures and Descriptions Ginseng Information
Herb Farming Info Herbal Links Alternative Medicine Articles 500+ Herb Pictures
Poison Ivy Pictures Tephyr's Co-Creative Gardening Jewelweed
The her

List of plants used as medicine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search



Species Common name Claim Evidence[1] Compendial status
Acanthopanax gracilistylus Prickly ginseng, Wujiapi [2] Aids digestion, cures hepatitis C, lowers blood pressure, increases stamina. [3]


Achillea millefolium Yarrow Eaten to counter poisoning, but must be eaten quickly [citation needed]
Allium sativum [4] Garlic Antibiotic (in vitro)/stops infectionNicole Johnston (April 2002). "Garlic: a natural antibiotic". Modern Drug Discovery 5 (4). http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/mdd/v05/i04/html/04news4.html. [5][6][7][8]


Cardiovascular health inconclusive[9]
Aloe ferox


WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants - Volume 1 [10]
Anethum graveolens Dill and Dill oil used to soothe the stomach after meals
Amorphophallus konjac Konjac Atopic dermatitis positive[11]


high cholesterol positive[12]
Aquilaria agollocha Eaglewood

Artemisia annua L. Sweet sagewort Help to prevent the development of parasite resistance,it also has anti-malarial properties, and has anti-cancer properties
Artemisia absinthium L. Wormwood

Aristolochia rotunda Smearwort

Arum Maculatum Lords and Ladies

Astragalus membranaceus Astragalus [4]

Cannabis Sativa L. Cannabis, Cannabis sativa, Marijuana, Hashish Pain relief, hunger stimulation, wasting caused by HIV/AIDS, Glaucoma, nausea
Citrus aurantium ssp. bergamia Bergamot orange Malaria[13]
Crataegus spp. L. Hawthorn Nervous tension
Cydonia oblonga Quince [14]


Cymbopogon flexuosus Lemon grass [14]


Cymbopogon schoenanthus Fever grass [4]


Digitalis lanata Digitalis, Balkan Foxglove Antiarrhythmic agent and inotrope positive[15][16]
Echinacea purpurea Purple coneflower, and other species of Echinacea Reduce the severity and duration of symptoms associated with cold and flu. inconclusive[17]
Glycyrrhiza glabra Liquorice

Hydrastis canadensis Goldenseal Antimicrobial[18]
Hypericum perforatum St. John's wort Antidepressant positive[19]
negative[20]
Kaempferia galanga Galanga resurrectionlily, Shannai [14]


Marrubium vulgare Horehound Expectorant
Matricaria recutita
(Chamomilla recutita)
Chamomile Relaxant/Calmative
Mentha × piperita Peppermint Irritable Bowel Syndrome/Peristalsis
WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants Volume 2 [21]
Nepeta cataria Catnip Soothes coughs
Panax Ginseng [22]



Papaver somniferum Opium Poppy Pain relief. Morphine made from the refined and modified sap is used for pain control in terminal patients. Dried sap was used as a traditional medicine until the 19th century.
Passiflora spp. Passion-flower Insomnia
Phytolacca spp. Pokeweed Topical: acne


Internal: tonsilitis
Plantago spp. Plantain and Psyllium Astringent
Salvia Stenophylla Blue Mountain Sage

Poppiocious seediouphylla Poppy seeds Helps sleeping/relieves pain
Rosmarinus officinalis Rosemary [4]


Symphytum officinale Comfrey mends broken bones/stops infection
Tanacetum parthenium
(Chrysanthemum parthenium)
Feverfew Relieves Migranes, helps fevers and chills
Taraxacum officinale Dandelion Digestive

Tilia spp. Lime Blossom


Urtica dioica Urtica dioica


Valeriana officinalis Valerian Sedative

Verbascum thapsus Mullein boosts the Immune system, antispasmodic, diuretic, anodyne, and demulcent[23] Used to treat coughs, (protracted) colds, hemoptysis, catarrh, dysentery, diarrhoea and as a general tonic (like ginseng) to boost the immune system

Zingiberis Rhizoma Ginger can help ease nausea from chemotherapy[24]
JP XV [25]


bal information on this web site is intended for e

Herbs in history

Borage from Project Gutenberg EBook of Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses, by M. G. Kains

In the written record, the study of herbs dates back over 5,000 years to the Sumerians, who described well-established medicinal uses for such plants as laurel, caraway, and thyme. Ancient Egyptian medicine of 1000 B.C. are known to have used garlic, opium, castor oil, coriander, mint, indigo, and other herbs for medicine and the Old Testament also mentions herb use and cultivation, including mandrake, vetch, caraway, wheat, barley, and rye.

Indian Ayurveda medicine has been using herbs such as turmeric possibly as early as 1900 B.C.[12] Many other herbs and minerals used in Ayurveda were later described by ancient Indian herbalists such as Charaka and Sushruta during the 1st millenium BC. The Sushruta Samhita attributed to Sushruta in the 6th century BC describes 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources, and 57 preparations based on animal sources.[13]

The first Chinese herbal book, the Shennong Bencao Jing, compiled during the Han Dynasty but dating back to a much earlier date, possibly 2700 B.C., lists 365 medicinal plants and their uses - including ma-Huang, the shrub that introduced the drug ephedrine to modern medicine. Succeeding generations augmented on the Shennong Bencao Jing, as in the Yaoxing Lun (Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs), a 7th century Tang Dynasty treatise on herbal medicine.

The ancient Greeks and Romans made medicinal use of plants. Greek and Roman medicinal practices, as preserved in the writings of Hippocrates and - especially - Galen, provided the patterns for later western medicine. Hippocrates advocated the use of a few simple herbal drugs - along with fresh air, rest, and proper diet. Galen, on the other hand, recommended large doses of drug mixtures - including plant, animal, and mineral ingredients. The Greek physician compiled the first European treatise on the properties and uses of medicinal plants, De Materia Medica. In the first century AD, Dioscorides wrote a compendium of more than 500 plants that remained an authoritative reference into the 17th century. Similarly important for herbalists and botanists of later centuries was the Greek book that founded the science of botany, TheophrastusHistoria Plantarum, written in the fourth century B.C.

Thyme from Project Gutenberg EBook of Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses, by M. G. Kains

[edit] Middle Ages

The uses of plants for medicine and other purposes changed little in early medieval Europe. Many Greek and Roman writings on medicine, as on other subjects, were preserved by hand copying of manuscripts in monasteries. The monasteries thus tended to become local centers of medical knowledge, and their herb gardens provided the raw materials for simple treatment of common disorders. At the same time, folk medicine in the home and village continues uninterrupted, supporting numerous wandering and settled herbalists. Among these were the “wise-women,” who prescribed herbal remedies often along with spells and enchantments. It was not until the late Middle Ages that women who were knowledgeable in herb lore became the targets of the witch hysteria. One of the most famous women in the herbal tradition was Hildegard of Bingen. A twelfth century Benedictine nun, she wrote a medical text called Causes and Cures.

Medical schools known as Bimaristan began to appear from the 9th century in the medieval Islamic world, which was generally more advanced than medieval Europe at the time. The Arabs venerated Greco-Roman culture and learning, and translated tens of thousands of texts into Arabic for further study.[14] As a trading culture, the Arab travellers had access to plant material from distant places such as China and India. Herbals, medical texts and translations of the classics of antiquity filtered in from east and west.[15] Muslim botanists and Muslim physicians significantly expanded on the earlier knowledge of materia medica. For example, al-Dinawari described more than 637 plant drugs in the 9th century,[16] and Ibn al-Baitar described more than 1,400 different plants, foods and drugs, over 300 of which were his own original discoveries, in the 13th century.[17] The experimental scientific method was introduced into the field of materia medica in the 13th century by the Andalusian-Arab botanist Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, the teacher of Ibn al-Baitar. Al-Nabati introduced empirical techniques in the testing, description and identification of numerous materia medica, and he separated unverified reports from those supported by actual tests and observations. This allowed the study of materia medica to evolve into the science of pharmacology.[18]

Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine (1025) is considered the first pharmacopoeia,[19][20] and lists 800 tested drugs, plants and minerals.[21] Book Two is devoted to a discussion of the healing properties of herbs, including nutmeg, senna, sandalwood, rhubarb, myrrh, cinammon, and rosewater.[14] Baghdad was an important center for Arab herbalism, as was Al-Andalus between 800 and 1400. Abulcasis (936-1013) of Cordoba authored The Book of Simples, an important source for later European herbals, while Ibn al-Baitar (1197-1248) of Malaga authored the Corpus of Simples, the most complete Arab herbal which introduced 200 new healing herbs, including tamarind, aconite, and nux vomica.[14][22] Other pharmacopoeia books include that written by Abu-Rayhan Biruni in the 11th century[20] and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) in the 12th century (and printed in 1491),[23] The origins of clinical pharmacology also date back to the Middle Ages in Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine, Peter of Spain's Commentary on Isaac, and John of St Amand's Commentary on the Antedotary of Nicholas.[24] In particular, the Canon introduced clinical trials,[25] randomized controlled trials,[26][27] and efficacy tests.[28][29]

Alongside the university system, folk medicine continued to thrive. The continuing importance of herbs for the centuries following the Middle Ages is indicated by the hundreds of herbals published after the invention of printing in the fifteenth century. Theophrastus’ Historia Plantarum was one of the first books to be printed, but Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica, Avicenna's Canon of Medicine and Avenzoar's pharmacopoeia were not far behind.

Marjoram from Project Gutenberg EBook of Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses, by M. G. Kains

[edit] Modern era

The fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries were the great age of herbals, many of them available for the first time in English and other languages rather than Latin or Greek. The first herbal to be published in English was the anonymous Grete Herball of 1526. The two best-known herbals in English were The Herball or General History of Plants (1597) by John Gerard and The English Physician Enlarged (1653) by Nicholas Culpeper. Gerard’s text was basically a pirated translation of a book by the Belgian herbalist Dodoens and his illustrations came from a German botanical work. The original edition contained many errors due to faulty matching of the two parts. Culpeper’s blend of traditional medicine with astrology, magic, and folklore was ridiculed by the physicians of his day yet his book - like Gerard’s and other herbals - enjoyed phenomenal popularity. The Age of Exploration and the Columbian Exchange introduced new medicinal plants to Europe. The Badianus Manuscript was an illustrated Aztec herbal translated into Latin in the 16th century.

The second millennium, however, also saw the beginning of a slow erosion of the pre-eminent position held by plants as sources of therapeutic effects. This began with the introduction of the physician, the introduction of active chemical drugs (like arsenic, copper sulfate, iron, mercury, and sulfur), followed by the rapid development of chemistry and the other physical sciences, led increasingly to the dominance of chemotherapy - chemical medicine - as the orthodox system of the twentieth century.


Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar