Herbs Safer Than Pharmaceutical Medicines

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Health

Pharma

Seven questions about herbal medicines from Hana, a student, who asked me whether I might consent to an interview. I did, and here are the questions and my answers.

Hello Sepp,

Here are my questions:

1. What advantages do you think herbal medicines have over traditional pharmaceutical medicines?
2. If herbs are natural, are they safe?
3. Many people say that herbal medicines are not safe because the FDA does not regulate them. How do you feel about that?
4. Would you advise someone to pursue a career in herbal medicine? Why or why not?
5. Do you know of a bad experience with herbal medicines? What happened?
6. Since sometimes herbs can be dangerous to a people, why are they not fully aware (by the government, doctor, etc)?
7. If both allopathic medicine and herbal remedies have side affects, which one do you think is better and safer?

St. John's Wort - a beautiful in-full-bloom bush growing at the back of one reader's bungalow

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Here is my view on these questions, as given to Hana this morning:

1. Herbal medicines have several advantages (from the viewpoint of patients and doctors, not necessarily from that of pharmaceutical producers): One advantage is wide availability and simple preparation. Most herbs can be prepared with means we all have access to, such as making teas, extracting with alcohol, or similar. This is a large factor in cost of treatment. Herbs are also very well researched. If we pool the knowledge from diverse traditions, we have a cure for just about every illness known to man. Last factor: Herbs have been around in nature for millennia and our bodies are - one way or another - accustomed to their presence. Pharmaceutical medicines on the other hand often introduce a completely new molecule that has never before been present, and it is difficult to predict (or find out without widespread use) what the exact effects are. So widespread use of pharmaceuticals has led to widespread death. See article: Death by Medicine.

2. No, herbs are not completely safe in the sense that you could take them without knowing and be all right. But in contrast to pharmaceutical medicines, herbs are well researched and real adverse effects are extremely rare. For comparative statistics on the safety of herbs (and supplements) as distinct from other causes of death, see the statistics prepared by Ron Law. The figures on supplements include herbal products as sold for instance in health stores.

3. The FDA regulates medicines, which are one of the most UNSAFE product categories in existence, to where they have become a major cause of concern. Herbs, on the other hand, are ultra-safe by comparison. So to say that herbs are not safe because they are not regulated by the FDA is really pure and simple propaganda. No truth in it whatsoever. There are bad problems with the FDA watching over drug saftey, see this article:

4. I would advise someone to pursue a carreer in herbal medicine in preference to a carreer in pharmaceutically based medicine because I believe that herbal medicine has a better future. First, according to the World Health Organisation, herbal (traditional) medicine is used by some 80 % of Africans and large sections of the world population as their primary form of health care. Second, pharmaceutical medicine is either going to be deeply reformed or it will die. Once awareness spreads of the amount of damage being done in the name of pharmaceutical medicine, there will be a widespread move away from it, towards more gentle and more safe forms of medical care. WHO has a strategy on Traditional Medicine, which you can find here (click on language to download)...

5. Bad experiences with herbal medicine seem to be extremely rare by comparison. I have no personal knowledge of one.

6. Sometimes herbs can be dangerous, just like cars can be dangerous, travelling in an airplane, horses, water, and all kinds of things we normally find in the environment. If I look at the real figures of statistics compiled by Ron Law referenced in number 2 above, I have to say that even though herbs can be dangerous, they are below what we consider a danger that something must be done about it. Let's start with more important dangers, such as food (more people die from eating peanuts or bad meat than from herbs) or let's look into pharmaceuticals.

7. I have no doubt that herbal remedies are infinitely safer than allopathic medicines. There is really no comparison in seriousness and number of cases of side effects.

Kind regards
Sepp

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Here is another discussion of the relative advantage of herbs over pharmaceutical medicine. It started with a request for an interview by a student:

Dear Mr. Hasslberger

My name is Shawnique Warren I am a student at the University of the West Indies, Mona in Jamaica. I am currently doing a research titled ' Does the advantages of herbal medicine outweigh those of modern medicine'.
I found your web page while doing my research and found it to be a valuable and reliable source. It is required of this research that an interview be done with an expert in the field and I chose you Mr. Hasslberger.
I know you may be quite busy but i am kindly asking you to please submit to a short interview of ten (10) questions. If you could please send responses to the sender email address shawnique_warren@yahoo.com it will be greatly appreciated as it will help me immensely in my research. Awaiting your reply and thanking you in advance.

and another message:

Dear Mr. Hasslberger
My research began where I wanted to find out why there was a sudden increase in the advertisements of herbal medicine in local Jamaican newspaper. This intrigued me and when I was required to do a project in a foundation course which is based on writing researches in your discipline( i do biochemistry) I chose the topic. I had problems with the research and had to modify my topic to the one mentioned in my previous letter.
I have so far found information on detrimental effects of various pharmaceutical drugs which have even led to death, the many advantages that herbal medicine (when used properly) provides such as less side effects (in most cases none at all) since what is referred to as the 'silver bullet' approach is not used as in pharmaceutical drugs where they isolate the active ingredient and produce there wonder drugs , more convenient (can be obtained on shelves without prescriptions (although this could be argued to be a negative), and is more cost effective ( relatively cheaper than pharmaceutical drugs). It was also asked by the researcher whether a herbal medicine industry would do well for the economy of developing countries. Overall from these ideas it was seen that herbal medicine proves to be more advantageous than pharmaceutical drugs and so the researcher wondered why we were so dependent on pharmaceutical drugs, here i found where their were issues in production when it comes to testing the safety, efficacy and appropriateness of the drug where unlike pharmaceutical drugs they were capable of testing whether specific substances could affect other metabolic actions, cells, tissues and organs of which they are not intended to affect. 
I know it is pretty scanty but this is what I have so far as finding reliable sources are a hard task since I mostly meet up on advertisements and herbal products website which would be bias.
I found your article titled 'herbs safer than pharmaceutical medicines' dated march 25 2005. which provided some advantages which corresponded to information I found on other websites and a book called herbal medicine written by R.F Weiss. Also I saw where in answering those question you could find reliable data to back up your points and this is why I chose you for my interview.

Here is my answer to Shawnique's questions:

Dear Shawnique,

here is what I can help you with:

Some books:

The Green Pharmacy : The Ultimate Compendium Of Natural Remedies From The World's Foremost Authority On Healing Herbs
ISBN 0312966482

The Healing Power of Herbs : The Enlightened Person's Guide to the Wonders of Medicinal Plants
ISBN 1559587008

The Herbal Drugstore: The Best Natural Alternatives to Over-The-Counter and Prescription Medicines
ISBN 0451205103

Your questions:

(1) For how long have you been researching and working in this field?

My work in the field of natural health goes back more than 20 years - to the early 1980's.

(2) What is your occupation?

Self employed. I am owner of a company that imports natural health supplements, mostly nutritional such as vitamins etc.

(3) What are the major advantages which herbal medicine hold over modern medicine.

The major advantage of herbal medicines over modern medicine is the substantial absence of serious side effects of herbs compared with pharmaceutical medicines.

Herbs have been around for a long time and have traditionally been used in cooking as well as in the healing arts. Their effects are well understood and their toxicity is easily controlled by adjusting dosage.

Pharmaceutical medicines are either copies of a herbal "active ingredient" or are completely new molecules that do not occur in nature. The problem with copies is that pharmaceuticals that are identical to a herb cannot be patented, so pharmaceutical manufacturers strive to make a slightly different version of the molecule to evade inevitable competition. The tweaking of herbal molecules and the invention of ex novo drugs lead to patentability, but they also lead to problems of compatibility with the human organism. Unforseen side effects often appear after a drug has been on the market for years and is taken by many. Drug testing does not find these effects as the number of patients in trials is not generally high enough. Also, trials are controlled by the company that wants the medicine approved, they are slanted to find efficacy and safety, not side effects.

(4) Are there any significant advantages that modern