But Are Herbs Any Better? (September 9, 2014)
Even if medications are a questionable option when compared to lifestyle modification, why would herbs be any better than pharmaceuticals?
A medication is a single pure compound. At first blush that sounds like drugs would be far better than herbs, because doesn’t just one molecule means you can target one specific function in isolation and leave the rest alone? As I just wrote above, the answer is no, because if that were true THERE WOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS A SIDE EFFECT.
Most functions in the body (like digestion) are composed of an enormous number of different chemical reactions. These reactions, and the compounds that participate in them, are rarely unique to one single process in one single place – they are found in many different locations throughout the body. Normally the body keeps its functions well separated. But if you take something as a medication, it's absorbed into the blood and delivered not just to its target area but everywhere, and it affects that process everyplace that you find it. As an example, aspirin doesn't "know" to go to a backache - it goes everyplace. When it "does its thing" in your joints, it decreases inflammation there; when it does that same thing in your stomach lining, it can result in gastrointestinal bleeding.
An herb is made up of many compounds and an herbal combination (as used in Chinese medicine) will have thousands. Some of these compounds attack the problem, each in a slightly different way (that’s why “purifying the active ingredient” from an herb is so often futile). Some may mute side effects of the active ingredients, and some might lessen their toxicity. Overall, the multiple compounds perform multiple functions in the body that wind up enhancing the usefulness of that herb and minimizing any problems associated with it. Herbs are deliberately combined in Chinese medicine with just these purposes (and others) in mind, and when a particularly good combination is found it stays in common use for centuries. This is the benefit of using an herb over a pharmaceutical. It makes them harder to study and understand, unfortunately, which is one reason scientific investigation into their use is so slow and sometimes produces confusing results.
Herbs are not without risks, but neither is walking across the street. For all the brouhaha about how risky herbs are, in any one year up to a third of us take some herb or another and any resulting problems are so minimal that they never even show up in the statistics. Compare this to problems resulting from even the proper use of pharmaceuticals, and it starts to look like we have a winner here.
It’s become a joke with medications (well, it would be a joke if it were funny) that when one gives you side effects, you take another medication for the side effects, and then repeat the process until you wind up with a bag full of drugs big enough to make the angels cry. An herb (or herbal formula) that works appropriately will spare you most of that. If an herb has been in common use for something for a good long time, it’s stood the test of time and it’s worth looking into.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014
Even if medications are a questionable option when compared to lifestyle modification, why would herbs be any better than pharmaceuticals?
A medication is a single pure compound. At first blush that sounds like drugs would be far better than herbs, because doesn’t just one molecule means you can target one specific function in isolation and leave the rest alone? As I just wrote above, the answer is no, because if that were true THERE WOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS A SIDE EFFECT.
Most functions in the body (like digestion) are composed of an enormous number of different chemical reactions. These reactions, and the compounds that participate in them, are rarely unique to one single process in one single place – they are found in many different locations throughout the body. Normally the body keeps its functions well separated. But if you take something as a medication, it's absorbed into the blood and delivered not just to its target area but everywhere, and it affects that process everyplace that you find it. As an example, aspirin doesn't "know" to go to a backache - it goes everyplace. When it "does its thing" in your joints, it decreases inflammation there; when it does that same thing in your stomach lining, it can result in gastrointestinal bleeding.
An herb is made up of many compounds and an herbal combination (as used in Chinese medicine) will have thousands. Some of these compounds attack the problem, each in a slightly different way (that’s why “purifying the active ingredient” from an herb is so often futile). Some may mute side effects of the active ingredients, and some might lessen their toxicity. Overall, the multiple compounds perform multiple functions in the body that wind up enhancing the usefulness of that herb and minimizing any problems associated with it. Herbs are deliberately combined in Chinese medicine with just these purposes (and others) in mind, and when a particularly good combination is found it stays in common use for centuries. This is the benefit of using an herb over a pharmaceutical. It makes them harder to study and understand, unfortunately, which is one reason scientific investigation into their use is so slow and sometimes produces confusing results.
Herbs are not without risks, but neither is walking across the street. For all the brouhaha about how risky herbs are, in any one year up to a third of us take some herb or another and any resulting problems are so minimal that they never even show up in the statistics. Compare this to problems resulting from even the proper use of pharmaceuticals, and it starts to look like we have a winner here.
It’s become a joke with medications (well, it would be a joke if it were funny) that when one gives you side effects, you take another medication for the side effects, and then repeat the process until you wind up with a bag full of drugs big enough to make the angels cry. An herb (or herbal formula) that works appropriately will spare you most of that. If an herb has been in common use for something for a good long time, it’s stood the test of time and it’s worth looking into.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014