Natural Medicine vs. Pharmaceutical Drugs: Which is Better?

Natural medicine is commonly used to treat illnesses for the past centuries
when bio-engineered or pharmaceutical drugs have yet to establish their significance in
the medical field. After a medical revolution through the help of meticulous study,
research, and experiment, pharmaceutical drugs became popular as it cures diseases
almost instantly. Both have pros and cons, however, which is better to use?

According to Welz et al. (2018), they found that treating illnesses were the most
frequently discussed aim for using herbal medicine over all age groups. Discussions on
herbal medicine were associated with either mild/moderate diseases or using herbal
medicine as a starting treatment before applying for conventional medicine. In this
context, participants emphasized the limits of herbal medicine for severe illnesses.
Though natural medicine comes with numerous health benefits as they contain fewer
chemicals, however, there is an erroneous concept about “organic” and “natural” are
deemed to be safer and effective compared to pharmaceuticals. Herbal medicine isn’t
always natural to human physiology. Stepping aside affordability, natural healing, and
cost-effectiveness, its slow process, toxicity, and unknown chemical that may clash
against other drugs can lead to grave dangers, worst death. To avoid such risks, consult
experts for prescribed medicine, and this is where pharmaceutical drugs take over.

Many criticized pharmaceutical drugs as they contain lots of chemicals and is

expensive; they’re hard to obtain and if misused, it leads to hazardous effects that you
might regret in a lifetime. In the table shown in 2010: Statistics on Causes of Death in
the U.S., it stated that there was 38, 329 total number of deaths instigated by drug
overdose alone. Which is why we need to be careful and heed doctors’ advice on what
kinds of drugs should we take and when to use them. Despite these cons,
pharmaceutical drugs had saved millions of people from illnesses and diseases,
especially severe ones. It does not only work faster to cure maladies but also have the
capability to increase mortality rates. It makes people live easier in dealing ailments as it
became an essential function in our everyday lives.

In conclusion, pharmaceuticals weight more worth than natural medicine. Though

the latter may be the best to use in maintaining health, it is not intended in curing
diseases compared to the former. For pharmaceuticals are designed to prevent,
diagnose, or cure a disorder— in layman terms, we proudly call it the real medicine.

By Honey Jamero