In recent times there has been a boom in interest in natural treatments or the use of plants to treat ailments or problems that other types of medicine cannot solve or their solution has many side effects. Therefore, we are going to talk about phytotherapy and its advantages over synthetic medications Kambo Stick.
Due to the latest campaigns that discredit the use of natural medicine because it supposedly lacks scientific evidence, we are going to clarify some concepts in order to clarify some misinformation that may cause confusion. Since the choice of treatment must always be free and the patient’s own, that is, the patient always has the freedom to choose their treatment and for them it is necessary to know basic concepts about the types of treatments.
It is said that natural medicine has no scientific evidence . The problem arises when we want to compare the therapeutic effects of plants versus synthetic medications because the issue is not that there is no scientific evidence of plants (we have clinical studies that support their therapeutic effect ), but that we do not have the necessary studies. that compare the short- and long-term effects and effectiveness of plants versus synthetic medications. Because these studies require a large financial investment and avoid commercial interests. We must remember that plants do not have a patent and the economic investment that a drug requires is enormous.
On the other hand, Dr. LEE Jong-wook, former Director General of the WHO, says: ” The WHO supports the use of traditional and alternative medicines when they have proven useful for the patient and represent minimal risk .” The WHO also states that: “But as the number of people using these medicines increases, governments must have tools to ensure that all stakeholders have the best information about their benefits and risks.”
With this clarified, let’s define what phytotherapy is .
Phytotherapy is the science that studies the use of medicinal plants and products of plant origin with a therapeutic purpose, in a preventive, curative way or to reduce the effects produced by a pathology.
We must also remember that many of today’s drugs come from medicinal plants.
Current phytotherapy is based on the scientific method based on pharmacognosy (part of pharmacy that studies natural medicines). All those chemical compounds present in plants that have a therapeutic effect , called active ingredients, are investigated.
How do you check all this?
All tests are carried out in vitro, then in experimental animals and finally in specific patients. After all this, the phytotherapeutic properties of a phytopharmaceutical are established.
Advantages of phytotherapy
Fewer side effects than drugs . Many studies confirm that certain plants are just as effective as synthetic drugs, but they do not have as many side effects or appear with a lower probability. For example , turmeric , which has great scientifically proven anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-arthritic, anti-aging and antimicrobial properties, but proven to be a safe supplement whose toxicity is low and side effects are not very common compared to other drugs with the same effect. therapeutic. Or even berberine , which has been shown to have a cholesterol-lowering effect like statins, but without their side effects.
Richness of components and therapeutic effects . A plant can have more than one therapeutic effect thanks to its richness in active ingredients and components. Like for example mugwort .
Accessibility to medicinal plants is much greater for everyone, including developing countries. Furthermore, including them in the national health system would mean savings in the cost of providing medication to the population.
The science of spagyria offers us supplements formulated from plants that work on all levels of the individual, not just the physical one. Which enhances the treatment.
Among the drawbacks of phytotherapy we find that they can have a lesser effect than synthetic drugs, which does not mean that they are not effective, but since they have lower concentrations to guarantee their safety , we need a longer time of use to be able to obtain the same effect. And there is also a lack of regulated information about phytotherapy treatments in many countries. Therefore, if we are going to use phytotherapy as a sole or complementary treatment, we must put ourselves in the hands of a qualified and competent professional who has adequate knowledge of treating with phytotherapy and can advise us well.
For all these reasons, the proper use of phytotherapy is a safe tool that can offer us guarantees when treating diseases as a sole therapy or complementary to our treatment .
Natural medicine and allopathic medicine show us that they can go hand in hand perfectly and provide the individual with more complete, safe and effective treatments if they act in a complementary way .
Precautions
Although phytotherapy is safer than a synthetic drug, we must remember that there are certain plants that have a certain toxicity or we may have hypersensitivity to some of their components. Always put yourself in the hands of an expert in the field to ask for advice on a treatment.