“Holistic Medicines”

 Herbal medicines are at the center of debate in communities derived around health care. This is interesting to me because even after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I knew nothing about holistic medicines. I switched from three different medicines just to be introduced to agony from the side effects. After an endless search for the right medicine that would suit my needs, it took for me to do research on my own to find out that there are natural treatments for almost any health deficiency. You would think doctors should mention natural treatment routes before pharmaceutical options as they have less side effects. I find it interesting that these herbal medicines are not widely assessed in today’s health care field. I will be examining the holistic health care community in hopes to get an understanding of the challenges faced with using herbal medicines. The holistic health care community involves those who are aware of the health benefits plants possess. This community will help me investigate a question I developed: What are the challenges faced with using holistic medicines in the health care field?

            Holistic medicines, herbal remedies, natural remedies, alternative medicines, or however referenced, their preparations have been widely used for the thousands of years in developing and developed countries. Herbal medicine has roots in diverse cultures all around the world, from the Greeks, to the Celts, the Romans to the Arabs, and the Chinese to the Indians. Every culture and every medicinal system, has used herbs for therapeutic purposes. There are thousands of herbs with thousands of different uses, many of which are used in conventional medicine as well as for natural remedies (D. Kindersley, 2000). Understanding that the pharmaceutical industry is the larger society compared to the holistic medicine today, I explored this particular treatment through the lens of a specific community to get a firm understanding on how herbal medicines work. This research led me to a journal titled A review of the health benefit potentials of herbal plant infusions and their mechanism of actions. “Dependent on the type of plants, one part including (flowers, leaves, branch or roots) or whole sectors (aerial parts or roots) could be accomplished in treatment of acute and chronic diseases” (V. Farzaneh, 2014). Knowing that plants could be medically used, I found that various areas of plants are used in the treatments. Different parts of some plants withhold different medicinal properties. This treatment separates the Holistic Health Care Community from the pharmaceutical industry because the main goal of this community is specifically to treat illnesses with any part of plants that hold healing properties.

            The good, the bad, and the ugly. Throughout my research I had to maintain an open mind to distinguish the affordances and limitations of herbal medicine.” Herbal remedies are easy to take, and many herbs can be grown at home, so they are often more convenient for minor conditions.” It is important to note that herbal remedies cannot replace conventional treatments in many cases, and that not all herbs are safe for human ingestion”(D. Kindersley, 2000). This is basically saying, what may work for one person does not always necessarily work for the others and could cause people to have some consequences. Due to the negative side effects that could possibly happen from allergic reactions and raw materials labels usually suggest consumers to check with their doctors first before trying some herbal medications. I also found cultural expectations affect the productivity of holistic medicines. The Chinese/Asian and the western herbal medicine had one main objective which was to heal people but the treatments are performed totally different. “In Western tradition, given herbs and combinations of herbs are used to treat specific illnesses and ailments, rather than the body or spirit as a whole.” The western traditions are not used as much as they used to be but the Chinese traditions are still highly effective. Another way cultural expectations can affect the productivity is because the knowledge on holistic medicines is not as wide spread as normal orthodox medicines. “Doctors are generally aware of what complementary medicine has to offer; in fact, they are better educated than most people about both orthodox and alternative medicine options. However, they are unable to suggest any natural health therapies to patients due to their employment contract. Regulations by health insurance companies prohibit doctors from suggesting natural non-drug treatments as a condition of their employment, backed up by Medical Board Regulations”( L. Zerbe). I thought doctors should recommend the best treatment option for you, therefore the fact that doctors can’t notify a patient of a natural treatment even if it is better it can be seen as a limitation of the information on holistic medicine that could potentially be spread. There are positive and negative results to these types of the treatments due to the uncertainty of  how they will work. Outlining the positive and negative outcomes of herbal medicine within the herbal health care community merely shows the distinctive attributes it withholds compared to today’s traditional health care field.

            Anyone in relation to the holistic health care community from consumers to health care providers to aspiring herbal health care professionals all play a vital role in the use of herbal medicines. On the consumers side Herbal medicines have the power to change an individual’s whole value of life. Through research I found that holistic medicines are notorious for being more productive at curing certain conditions in comparison to other forms of medication. “One of the greatest benefit associated with herbal medicine is the nonexistence of side effects“(S. Tian). Holistic medicines do not contain chemically mixed products which reduces the amount of adverse effects when it comes to the side effects, these benefits can change a patients entire perspective on living with certain diseases. 

            Aspiring herbal health care providers are beneficial to the search as to: What are the challenges faced with using herbal medicines in the health care field. Speaking with Alphonso Toliver helped me to gain a deeper look on herbal medicines from a different perspective. Toliver is a graduate student at Florida State University and he explores the depths of biological science major aspiring to be a holistic health practitioner. ”Herbal medicines have the potential to expand but somethings are limiting its abilities. Such as they are ineffective against serious ailments, they cannot cure a broken hand, nor is it able to deal with heart attack related issues as effectively as a conventional doctor”(A. Toliver). Basically, this points out an inefficiency of herbal medicines because it can’t deal with harsh injuries. When faced with a personal question what was your first encounter with herbal plants, Toliver answered “believe it or not marijuana was my first encounter on this knowledge it contains extreme anti-inflammatory properties, but don’t think they can be assessed through smoking, combustion takes away all the.”(A. Toliver) This was interesting to me because I wouldn’t a substance that holds such properties would be deemed illegal.