Traditional knowledge and biomedicine are two ways of understanding thecomplexity of herbal medicines used

in clinical practice. Biomedicine is clinical-decisionmaking that generates medical knowledge by using current
evidence when treating or caring for patients. Traditional knowledge is the indigenous knowledge developed
over hundreds of years through direct contact with the environment. Individuals withtraditional knowledge have a
vast understanding of how plants and animals affectpeople (Evans 2008:2098-2106). Because of this
knowledge much of the worlds population uses herbal medicine globally as their primary health care choice
(Winston2012).There are various types of traditional knowledge-based alternative systems of healing that use
herbal medicines to treat illness and disease. Some examples include Ayurveda (India),
Chinese medicine, Native American medicine, Tibetan medicine,Unani-tibb (Greco-Arabic) and
Kampo (Japan). These alternative systems of healinghave a long history of usefulness, safety, and effectiveness
that has now beenconfirmed through modern research (Winston 2012). I chose to focus on Chinese
herbalmedicine and Native American medicine in my research because they are both used inthe United States
and their beliefs and practices differ from the culturally definedWestern medicine model of healing (Winston and
Maimes 2007).
Currently, herbal medicine is growing in popularity in the United States, and thenumber of visits to complementary
and alternative medicine providers outnumbers thenumber of visits to primary care physicians (Bussmann
2010:1-10). Herbal remedies arenot classified as prescription drugs, but as dietary substances (Bent 2008:854859).Unlike prescription drugs, dietary supplements do not have to claim to diagnose, cure,treat, or prevent
illness, and can be sold in markets without testing or proven safety andefficacy (Bent 2008:854-859). Moreover,
beca
use an herb is deemed natural
does notmean it is safe to ingest. Herbal medicines are effective with the correct dosage, butsome can have
dangerous or even deadly side effects if used incorrectly (personalcommunication, Robert Linde, April 10, 2013).