Karen writes:
First I have to say that as a student of herbalism, I really do like herbs. But they are being misused right and left these days. The way herbs are being marketed as "this herbs is good for that problem", is usually contrary to the principles of real medical herbalism. We have to remember that the herb industry and medical herbalism are like night from day, and that what we hear about the benefits of using particular herbs are usually coming from industry.

For chronic conditions, medical herbalism rarely uses one herb alone, but uses formulas that are balanced in certain ways, and are tailored to the individual's specific condtion. In other words, one person's UC for example will be treated differently from another's, even though they have the same conventional medicine diagnosis. So it becomes more of a skill and and art to match herbal formulas to a particular person's needs.

That's a long-winded way of saying that it's best not to use herbs on your own for chronic conditions. For first-aid-type situations, drinking some peppermint tea and such, that's fine. But I would consult a medical herbalist for everything else. Even naturopathic-type doctors who like to use herbs in their practice, at least here in the U.S., usually don't know the fine art of herbal formulation, and tend to get their info from industry. So I'd go to someone who's trained in traditional herbal medicine, if you want to use herbs.

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