About Herbal Medicines

Herbal Medicines and Phytotherapy

Herbal medicines are also referred to as herbal remedies, herbal products, herbal medicinal products, phytomedicines, phytotherapeutic agents and phytopharmaceuticals. The use of herbal medicines in an evidence- or science–based approach for the treatment and prevention of disease is known as (rational) phytotherapy. This approach to the use of herbal medicines contrasts with traditional medical herbalism in the UK, which uses herbal medicines in a holistic manner and mainly on the basis of their empirical and traditional uses. Plants have been used medicinally for thousands of years by cultures all over the world. According to the World Health Organization, 80% of the world’s population uses plant-based remedies as their primary form of healthcare;⁽¹²⁾ in some countries, herbal medicines are still a central part of the medical system, such as Ayurvedic medicine in India and traditional Chinese medicine. Herbal medicine has a long history and tradition in Europe.

Although these two approaches – traditional/holistic and rational/evidence–based – are entirely different, in some instances they use the same terminology. For example, traditional herbalism is also described as ‘phytotherapy’ and refers to preparations of plant material as ‘herbal medicines’.

Furthermore, herbal medicines and homeopathic remedies are often mistaken by the layperson to be similar. However, homeopathy is based on the principle of ‘like should be treated by like’, and involves the administration of minute doses of remedies that, in larger doses, produce symptoms in a healthy person mimicking those expressed by people who are ill. Many, but not all, homeopathic remedies originate from plants. By contrast, herbal medicine (phyto therapy) involves the use of dried plant material or extracts of plant parts in therapeutic doses to treat the symptoms exhibited. In this respect, it is similar to conventional medicine.