Herbal remedies, is it really better than chemical drugs?
Ever heard of the assumption that herbal remedies are better and safer than chemical drugs? It's a real medical fact.
Plants, berries, flowers, and roots are some of the basic ingredients that have been used for a long time as a mixture of herbal remedies. The drug derived from this nature is believed to have side effects that are virtually none, and are rewritable more potent than chemical drugs.
Not to be denied, the more here, the development of herbal and chemical medicine is increasingly rapid. As if competitive, both strive to answer the needs of the global community.
Differences in herbal and chemical medicine
Both herbal remedies and most chemical drugs use the basic ingredients of plants. So, the assumption that chemical drugs do not use plant material is wrong.
Did you know that the drug aspirin, digoxin, and morphine are drugs with basic ingredients derived from plants? So, what is the basic difference of herbal medicine with chemical drugs circulating on the market?
- Herbal Remedies
Herbal remedies usually use whole plants without special filtering to get the active ingredient. Practitioners of herbal medicine believe that using a whole plant will reduce the toxic effect (side effects) of the use of the drug.
In herbal medicine, the use of many different plants at one time is also commonly done. It is believed to provide synergistic effects and increase the effectiveness of the drug formulated. In fact, the use of many plants at one time as opposed to the practice of modern medicine that avoids polypharmacy as much as possible.
- Chemical drugs
Conventional chemical remedies typically use special technology to take extracts or certain active ingredients from the plant used as a base ingredient.
Herbal medicine Safety
Although herbal medicines have existed since ancient times, scientific research studying the safety of these drugs is still limited. The circulation of herbal medicines is also not regulated as strictly medical treatment. Therefore, the level of safety of herbal medicine is still not ensured.
Until now, there has been no clear standard for the preparation of herbal medicine. These types of drugs can be provided in several forms, such as herbs for diluted or powdered. Also, the degree of content of the active ingredient in herbal medicine and the suggested dose does not exist.
Not only that but the use of herbal remedies also potentially cause side effects if used in conjunction with conventional chemical drugs. One of the side effects ever found is the interaction of Echinacea with anabolic steroids, which can cause liver damage (hepatotoxicity).
Since the herbal treatment arrangement is still not strict, then the definite picture of the side effects of this treatment is also not well documented. This is what causes the various side effects of the herbal remedy is not clearly noticeable.
The use of herbal medicines can also not be done recklessly, because the reaction of each person to drugs can differ from one another. In other words, even though patients experience similar complaints and using similar herbal remedies, they do not necessarily give similar effects and do not give side effects.
So, if you do want to use herbal remedies, it would be better if you consult your doctor first. Especially if you also have to consume conventional chemical medicines at the same time. You do not want drugs that should bring healing causing a catastrophe, right?