Systems of Traditional Herbal Medicine
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Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Unani Medicine
Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine
Native North American Herbal Medicine
Traditional Western Herbal Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) originated in China at least 3,000 years ago. Although archeological evidence of medicinal herbs and acupuncture needles dates back to about 5,000 BCE, the earliest known herbal formularies date back to the Qin and Han Dynasties (3rd Century BCE to 3rd Century CE).TCM diagnosis looks for "patterns of disharmony" or imbalances rather than treating specific diseases. TCM treatments for restoring balance and harmony usually involve the prescribing of herbal tea decoctions, acupuncture, specific diet counseling, massage, and other therapies including cupping, moxibustion, exercise (tai chi and qi gong) and meditation.
TCM herbal formulas are organized according to a complex hierarchy including Chief, Deputy, Assistant and Envoy herbs: Chief: Herbs directed against the main pattern of disharmony; Deputy: Herbs with two functions: (1) aid the Chief herb(s) in treating the principle pattern, and (2) serve as a main herb directed against a coexisting pattern; Assistant: Herbs with three functions: (1) reinforce the effect of the Chief and Deputy herbs, and (2) mitigate side effects of the Chief or Deputy herbs, or (3) have an effect that is opposite that of the Chief herb; Envoy: Herbs with two functions: (1) focus the actions of the formula on a certain channel or area of the body, and (2) harmonize and integrate the actions of the other herbs.
For more information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, visit the website of the Council of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Associations (CAOMA) or the California State Oriental Medicine Association (CSOMA).
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Traditional Unani Medicine
Traditional Unani Medicine originated in ancient Greece around 400 BCE. Hippocrates, also known as the founder of allopathic medicine, is considered to be the first Unani physician. Traditional Unani Medicine is practiced today in many Middle Eastern and Asian countries including India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.In Traditional Unani Medicine, health is defined as a state of the "Body" (made up of the four elements: earth, air, water and fire) in which there is equilibrium in the four "Humours" (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile) and the functions of the Body are normal in accordance to its own "Temperament" (cold, hot, wet, dry) and the environment. When the equilibrium of the Humours is disturbed and functions of the body are abnormal, that state is called Disease.
Unani treatments for restoring equilibrium and normal body functions involve the prescribing of herbal and mineral medicines, specific diets as well as exercise, massage and Turkish baths, among other therapies.
For more information on Traditional Unani Medicine, visit the website of the Government of India Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH).
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Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine
Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine originated in India around 5000 BCE with the publications of "Rigveda" and "Atharvaveda" (two ancient books on Indian knowledge, wisdom, culture and science) that contain hymns on diseases and their herbal treatments. The first comprehensive textbooks on Ayurvedic Medicine, the "Charaka Samhita" and 'Sushruta Samhita' were later published around 1000 BCE.The term Ayurveda means "Science of Life", a medical science wherein health is achieved through a blending of physical, mental, social, moral and spiritual welfare. In Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine, health or sickness depend on the presence or absence of a balanced state of the total body matrix including the balance between body, mind and spirit. Ayurvedic treatments for restoring the balance of disturbed body-mind matrix usually involve the prescribing of herbal medicines, specific diet and physical activity routines, among other therapies including massage and various purification treatments.
For more information on Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine, visit the website of the Government of India Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH).
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Native North American Herbal Medicine
Traditional Native American Medicine, also known in Canada as Aboriginal Traditional Medicine, is a general term for the systems of healing used by all Native American nations or tribes that have been practiced in some cases for at least 10,000 years.While there are general similarities, there may also be significant differences between the practices or herbal medicines of different tribes; for example between Traditional Cherokee Medicine and Traditional Hopi Medicine. Similar to other ancient healing systems like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Native American Medicine is holistically linked to philosophy, religion and spirituality and treatments aim to balance the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual components of a person.
Most systems of Native American medicine involve a tribal healer, also known as a medicine man or medicine woman, and may also involve the patient's family or entire community. Treatments include prescribing medicinal herbal preparations, ritual purification (e.g. sweat lodge sacred ceremonies) or purging, traditional smudge or burning of certain herbs, as well as chanting and prayers.
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Traditional Western Herbal Medicine
Western Traditional Herbal Medicine has a long history, with the roots of its practice found in the writings of the Greek physicians, such as Hippocrates and Dioscorides, as well as later in the works of the Romans, such as Galen. Like other systems of THM, the use of medicinal plants in the treatment and prevention of disease, as well as in the maintenance of health, is fundamental to the practice of Western THM. Another definition of Western THM could be the use of medicinal herbs in the context of a Western understanding of health and disease.The formalized systems of Western THM have two elements that have merged to form our modern understanding. The first element comes from the oral tradition of folk herbalism. Innumerable generations of insights, passed on from herbalist to herbalist, have accumulated into a significant body of medicinal knowledge. For example, the use of Foxglove in treating heart failure was developed from the observation of successful treatments of dropsy by a village wise-woman in the 18th century.
Secondly, there is clinically-based science of herbal medicine. This essentially means that the methods and practices of our scientific approach to medicine have been applied to the study of herbal medicine. In this way, the practice of herbal medicine has contributed to the knowledge of conventional modern medicine.
The term "Western" THM encompasses a number of similar, but unique and separate systems of herbal medicine. In Europe, for example, each country has evolved its own form of THM, largely because of language and social differences. Western THM embraces the approaches of European herbalists, as well as those in North America, Australia and New Zealand.
There are a number of recognized professional organizations of medical herbalists in Western countries around the world, such as: The National Institute of Medical Herbalists in the UK; The American Herbalist Guild in the US; The National Herbalists Association of Australia; The New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists, and in Canada, The Ontario Herbalists Association.
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