Why use this system?

Since many herb practitioners are only trained in one of these three paradigms, frequently asked questions are:

• Why use Western herbs?
• Why use Chinese medicine?
• Why use the principles of Western herb tradition?
• Why use data from research?
• An example of this integrated system

 

Why use Western Herbs?

Western herbs represent a treasure-trove of effective traditional medicines and the collected and refined experience of practitioners for over 2,500 years.

Three big advantages of Western herbs for people living in the Western world are:

• availability
• safety
• power

AVAILABILITY

Since they grow here in the West, they are more readily available, and to quote Julian Scott:

“This means that the plants can be studied at first hand: the way they grow; their preferred habitat; and the effect of climate on their therapeutic effectiveness. All can be observed through the changes of the seasons, often in the wild within a few miles of where one lives. They can be gathered in the wild or grown in the garden. All this helps to deepen one's understanding of the nature and action of a herb.”

SAFETY

Western herbs are often safer.

When herbs are grown, harvested, and processed, and tested and certified in the West, it easier to control quality. So Western herbs are more likely to be effective and safe.

In some countries, herbs are not always properly tested and certified. This means that they may be the wrong species, they may be endangered species, they may contain toxic impurities, or they may be ‘boosted’ with potentially dangerous drugs.

POWER

There is a common error that Western herbs are weak: just a pleasant cup of chamomile tea for Granny. People do not realize that some Western herbs are so powerful that, in the UK, their maximum dose is regulated by law, and their over-the-counter sales are forbidden.

Such powerful herbs include: Chelidonium, Cinchona, Convallaria, Ephedra, Gelsemium, and Lobelia. Like most conventional medical drugs, these useful herbs are powerful, and dangerous if not properly used. Practitioners must be fully familiar with their dose limits and with their contraindications.

DOSE

Another common error is that people think that Western herbs are only given in low doses, like 1-3 gram per day, so they won’t work. Sometimes a lower dose is appropriate, but Western herbal combinations may contain over 30 gram of herbs for a daily dose. For example, Jeremy’s combination Althea: gastritis contains 26 gram of herb per day.

 

Why use Chinese medicine?

The main problem in the practice of Western herbal medicine has been the lack of a system of theoretical principles for choosing herbs and for creating a balanced herb combination.

 

PRINCIPLES OF HERB COMBINATION

The Galenic theory system has not been in use for two centuries, and attempts to explain herb choice in terms of either Physiomedicalism or conventional Western medicine have not been wholly satisfactory.

Using Western herbs according to the theoretical principles of Chinese medicine has been seen by many as the most effective way of building balanced formulas of Western herbs. There has been a great upwelling of interest in this system in the West, among practitioners of both Western and Chinese herbal medicine.

 

CHINESE DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS

Galen’s sophisticated system of Western pulse diagnosis has largely been forgotten. Western herbal medicine badly needs diagnostic tools that give a more holistic picture than conventional medicine.

The powerful diagnostic tools of Chinese medicine, the system of diagnostic questions, and pulse and tongue diagnosis, reveal the Chinese syndromes of the patient, and hence suggest herb choice.

 

Why use the principles of Western herb tradition?

Just to apply the principles of Chinese medicine to Western herbs is to ignore over 2,500 years of tradition of herbal theory in the West.

 

WESTERN HERB THEORY IS COMING BACK!

Galenic medicine

Most people do not realize that a large amount of Galenic principles remain in English and German texts, and more is being recovered. In 1651, Nicholas Culpeper wrote A Key to Galen’s Method of Physic, which is still available in print. This is a clear description of Galen’s methods of herb prescription.

Nicholas Culpeper

Western herbal theory was very similar to Chinese medicine, and traditional Western syndromes were very similar to Chinese syndromes. For example, Culpeper discussed herbs to treat:

• cold in the stomach
• obstruction of the liver
• obstruction of the spleen
• obstruction of the lungs by phlegm
• depression of the heart spirit

Please read Resources: Interview: History, which is a detailed comparison of Western and Chinese herbal theory.

 

IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS

Western herbal theory has some very important contributions for world herbal medicine. For example the emphasis on:

• classification according to damp and dryness
• use of (plants with) essential oils
• treatment of emotional imbalances
• use of bitter tonics and stabilizers for the nervous system
• use of bitter tonics for digestive and hepatobiliary systems

 

Damp and dryness

Western herbs were classified, not just in terms of temperature, but also in terms of whether they were moistening or drying. This is very important in treating patterns with different degrees of dryness and damp.

For example, Culpeper classified nettles as warm and dry, and wrote that:
“ Winter is cold and moist, so nettle tops, eaten in the spring, consume the excess phlegm in the body that the coldness and moistness of winter has left behind.”

Aromatic herbs

The emphasis on the use of the aromatic herbs, and the aromatic oils in herbs, to treat mental and emotional conditions, is much greater in Western tradition than it is in Chinese medicine. This is the basis of aromatherapy in the West.

Culpeper in 1651 specifically described the use of rosemary essential oil for lethargy, mental dullness, weak memory, and depression, but warned of the danger of overdose.