Medical Herbalism and Asthma Alternative Treatment
Using herbs to treat and heal is as old as the human race, today 70% of the worlds population still uses this form of therapy. Some of the sickness nations nations in the world have almost abandoned using this type of medicine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes the use of Medical Herbalism, and is beginning to take back some ground in countries where it was almost lost.
Herbs can be prescribed in many forms – dried for the use in infusions (steeped to make teas), decoctions (ingredients are boiled and simmered before drinking as a tea), tablets, capsules, and liquid tinctures.
A case study is taken to assess your individual symptoms – about an hour, after which one, two or several herbs are prescribed, in varying amounts. Each herb has various actions within the system, for instance in the case of asthma, the prescription might be – one herb to enhance the lung function, one for the immune system, one renowned for helping the adrenals, and allergies.
Herbs work in a similar but different way to pharmaceutical drugs.
Firstly herbs have a whole host of different plant compounds that have a synergistic affect on each other and on the body as a whole, far less likely to produce any side-effects. Pharmaceutical companies reproduce synthetically one compound and it is highly concentrated, a far cry from the natural plant.
Pharmaceuticals for instance can be prescribed to kill pain like a headache. A case study would look to see if for instance – the person was chronically dehydrated, had any neck problems, look at their diet, lifestyle, family history, check if any medical tests had been previously carried out. Plus some simple tests like taking blood pressure or requesting a blood test, before prescribing something that would enhance the body’s function as opposed to masking the headaches with pain-killers.
Naturopaths and Medical Herbalists receive 4 years of medical training anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and so much more. To find a practitioner ask around get a recommendation from someone who has been treated by them.
If you cannot afford to see a practitioner I suggest to find out where the schools, colleges or universities are, they have student clinics which are run under strict supervision, for a nominal fee.