About Herbal Medicine
What does herbal medicine commonly support?
Herbal, nutritional and lifestyle medicine can be used in a supportive way for many health concerns. The tiles below illustrate concerns commonly seen in a herbal medicine clinic.
Below you can read more about why you might choose a personalised and holistic consultation, a historical and biomedical perspective of herbal medicine, and how my approach draws from a combination of traditional and ethnobotanical sources, alongside awareness of emerging research.
Safety considerations
There are instances where using herbs as sole treatment for a health condition won’t be appropriate or safe. If you’re unsure do get in touch and we can discuss your personal circumstances.
Why choose a holistic health consultation and herbal medicine?
It involves comprehensive and in depth health conversations, considering you as a whole person and the myriad of factors that can contribute to health.
It is person centred in approach, the client needs and preferences are important, and they are an active partner in improving their health.
Treatment is integrative and preventative in approach and considers complexity. It looks to treat imbalances by acting on multiple body systems and physiological processes, not just one.
Plants contain an array of active constituents which act on human cells and their complex biological networks to restore equilibrium and support functioning.
It is mindful of how daily rituals such as diet and lifestyle can impact health, and so form part of treatment and prevention.
Options can be selected to work safely alongside conventional treatments, and may help to improve overall outcomes.
It forms part of a holistic philosophy to care reflecting the diversity of people and their health.
Our forgotten medicine
Herbal medicine feels forgotten as a medicine. In many societies it has been superseded by pharmaceuticals and so no longer a common choice. But it is also one of our original medicines, having been used since Homo sapiens emerged and throughout our evolutionary history. It is likely early humans were able to select medicinal plants for use.
Observational studies of apes have highlighted their abilities in self-medicating, and they have been seen to select plants that are in human use for similar symptoms of illness. This can be seen as an example of our symbiosis with plants for healing. Modern pharmaceuticals and the advances in surgery have been revolutionary and life saving. Often working alongside these new advances and incorporating traditional healthcare wisdom offers an enhanced outcome for patients.
Biomedical understanding
Medicinal plants contain an array of secondary metabolites which tend to be the ones that have action as medicine. These secondary metabolites are thought to be produced as part of protective and regulatory responses to environmental stressors, herbivores or pathogenic attack. Whilst primary metabolites are those which participate in a plants essential growth and form the carbohydrate, proteins or fats we are more familiar with. Many plant constituents, and particularly secondary metabolites, are not yet well documented by science, though the Periodic Table of Food Initiative is beginning to document full biomolecular compositions of some plants.
Plant constituents have a range of specific biological actions in the body, often interacting with cells, membranes, proteins and receptors to create a signal or response, and even affecting gene expression when studied. The existence of these mechanisms is a great example of human-plant symbiosis in our evolution. Sometimes there are key constituents within a plant to which certain actions can be attributed. But if we look at the whole plant rather than isolating its parts, we see many, many constituents working together in synergy. Often this has a harmonising effect, meaning healing mechanisms are gently stimulated with fewer side effects.
My approach
My approach combines understanding of the historical, traditional and ethnobotanical uses of plants, combined with a research aware perspective. Though plants may be used to support a particular health condition, they cannot be well likened to conventional medication, and they tend to have a broader and slower mechanism of action.
In treatment, a person’s constitution or disposition, and all areas of the body are considered in an interconnected way. One thing can affect another, or there might be patterns or interrelated symptoms that are important for you.
Herbal medicine prescriptions are formulated for the individual, meaning that even when people share a condition, they don’t receive the same prescription. An individual formula usually contains several plants chosen to work in synergy and support your own healing mechanisms.
A prescription is created based on listening to your health concerns, understanding your preferences and focus, and the forms of medicine that will suit you best.
Herbal medicine can play an important role alongside conventional care and your herbal and nutritional support can be designed to work safely alongside any other medication you may be on.
