"There are an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 plants on the earth today (the number varies depending on whether subspecies are included). Only about 5,000 of these have been extensively studied for their medicinal applications – this illustrates the need for modern medicine and science to turn its attention to the plant world once again to find new cures." - N Farnsworth PhD,Professor of Pharmacology, Uni of Illinois
The word herb as used in herbal medicine, means a plant or plant part that is used to make medicines, food flavours, or aromatic oils. A herb can be a leaf, a flower, a stem, a seed, a root, a fruit, bark, or any other plant part used for its medicinal, food flavouring or fragrant property.
Herbal medicine is the most ancient form of health care known to humankind, and in recent Times a Herbal Renaissance has occurred with widespread interest in herbs and their healing qualities. This Renaissance has been fuelled by extensive scientific research into plants, verifying the ancient uses of many plants, and introducing into western herbalism many plants from other cultures, such as India, China and South America.
The World Health Organisation notes that of 119 plant-derived pharmaceutical medicines, about 74% were used in modern medicine in ways that correlated directly with their traditional uses as plant medicines by native cultures. The scope of herbal medicine ranges from mild acting plant medicines such as chamomile and peppermint, to very potent ones such as foxglove (from which the drug digitalis is derived). In between these two poles lies a wide spectrum of plant medicine with significant medicinal application.
Working with herbs, whether it be wildcrafting, manufacturing, prescribing and dispensing is an incredibly exciting, challenging and rewarding career path. Herbal medicine can be learnt as part of either the Advanced Diploma of Western Herbal Medicine or the Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy stream.
2012 Enrolment Day
