Herbal vs.

Conventional
Which is the best for you?
Sarah Crider Professor Campbell English 1102 03/12/14

Introduction
The topic I am researching into is: what is the best form of medication. What is best for an individual for effective and safe healing methods. If herbal or conventional medications work the best. Herbal medicine means using herbs and natural things to cure and treat people. Conventional medicine means using synthesized, chemical based drugs for curing.

Terms to know: Herbalists- are health practitioners who engage in extemporaneous compounding of herbs for therapeutic purposes for individuals under their care (Evans) Western- refers to North American This issue is important to anyone who has a potential of going to the doctors, getting sick, is a doctor, herbalist, and everyone in between.

ABC of Complementary Medicine: Herbal Medicine Zollman & Vickers

Chinese herbalism is based off of yin (cooling) and yang (stimulating) to complete the Qi energy. Modern western herbalism based off of effects of herbs Fact: aspirin comes from willow bark and morphine comes from opium poppy

 Herbal remedies were restricted to health food shops, now in many conventional pharmacies Three main differences between conventional and herbal
1. herbalists use whole plants (no isolating the active ingredient) because synergy
There is a buffer when the whole herb is used Can causes unequal strengths of remedies but very minor

2. Herbalist use many herbs mixed together

To this to reduce adverse effects Conventional practice avoid poly-pharmacy when possible

 3. Use different diagnosis principles than conventional

Herbal practice is very patient specific

Take excessive medical histories Perform physical exams Herbal combinations given is different for every patient Herbalist sometimes encourages to improve diet, exercise, and emotional issues in life 2-4 weeks there is a follow up exam and make changes to herbs/doses/ and regimens as necessary

 Used to treat a range of things

Acute conditions to chronic conditions Typically want to treat the underlying cause Treat to symptoms as well, ex: also give patient sleep aid that suffers from chronic pain

In laboratory settings plan extracts have been shown to have a variety of pharmacological effects Experiment proved that St. Johns Wort was the most effective with the least side effects of the placebo and leading antidepressant drug

 Still little evidence of effectiveness of using principles such as combining herbs and unconventional diagnosis
Especially in clinical setting

Safety
Most cases of bad incidents are from self prescribed treatments Risk of contaminated herbs coming from places outside Europe and Northern American The National Institute of Medicinal Herbalists and the University of Exeter have begun to operate under the Yellow card system
Collect and collate adverse events reported by herbalists

Evaluation
It is a peer reviewed article making it very credible The publisher was the British Medical Journal adding credibility. It was published in 1999 decreasing its relativity. Authors presented information very intellectually and they were knowledgeable. The article was convincing because of the experiments and facts it contained.

Relativity
This article pertains to the topic because it gave information about experiments proving herbal remedies that work It showed the differences between Chinese herbal and Western herbal The audience for the article was intended for professionals and the common folk which my audience is for the general public wanting to be enlighten on the topic.

Raised questions from article

Things that DIDNT work from herbal remedies? What is the success rate really is today? What is the best thing to treat with herbal? What are the side effects of herbal medicines?

I will look into affective rates and side effects. I will also do more research to find specific examples of common herbal medicines to help make a side to EIP project.

Changing the knowledge base in Western herbal medicine By Susan Evans

Massive increase in public acceptance of herbal medicine was documented in Australia
Due to herbal community computer and collaborating

Herbalists are defined as health practitioners who engage in extemporaneous compounding of herbs for therapeutic purposes for individuals under their care

 More support for herbal medicine happened around 1970-1980s

The UK herbal leaders played major role
Made it clear herbal medicine needed to be scientific herbal medicine to gain acceptance from public

This caused a split in herbalists

Traditional and Scientific

Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) a way to evaluate and generate biomedical knowledge and link research to clinical application EBM ranks evidence to use in their knowledge base

 EBM have a ranking system, randomized trials are the most valuable information Negative views because EBM treats individual not condition Very expensive because the most valued form to get information is a full blown research trial Money must come from manufactures EBM focus is on measureable clinical results EBM ranking method is now standard for judging the efficacy of biomedical treatments

 Traditional Knowledge (TK) refers to knowledge developed by indigenous and traditional cultures with regard to their environments Gain attention from Rio Earth Summit in 1992
Gatherings aim was to better the public with contribution of indigenous peoples ecological experience

TK gained knowledge from observations unlike EBM that use trials TK also gained knowledge from their spiritual beings in their locations

 TK share knowledge through speech while EBM does through journals EBM encourages clinical accountability and address risks TK address for inclusion of cultural associations and environmental considerations

Evaluation
Peer reviewed journal makes it a credible source Published by Social Science & Medicine, which only publishes scholarly articles Published in 2008 making it relevant Author was very intelligent and knew material well; however, article was difficult to understand. Topics were thoroughly argued and discussed from nonbiased position

Relativity
Source shed light on the fact there are different ideologies to herbal medicine The information may not be vital to use in EIP project but the better foundation of understanding on topic will always help The audience was intended for a scholarly level, so information will be watered down if/when used in my EIP draft since I will want nonscholarly audience to understand as well

Conclusion
Article made questions arise about how many herbal sectors are there? What is the best approach to herbal medicine? I will look into different herbal sectors since reading this article. I will also look more into EBM and TK style of herbal medicines. Another point to look into is the money issues of research the article mentioned.

Over all conclusion

My research is very herbal based. It is just the pros and cons of herbal remedies. I need to really start looking into conventional medicines: the rates, successes and failures. I need to work on making information presented in an easy to understand manner to appeal to the general public. I need to find photos that will support my topic for my knowledge and future refrerence.

Works Cited
Zollman, Catherine, and Andrew Vickers. "ABC of Complementary Medicine: Herbal Medicine." British Medical Journal. 319. (1999): n. page. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Evans, Susan. "Changing the knowledge base in Western herbal medicine." Social Science & Medicine. 67.12 (2008): n. page. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.