MEDICINE’S HERBAL ROOTS
By Debbie Markel, CH, CNHP
Up until the 20th century, herbal medicine was the world’s primary form of medical care. It also forms the basis for many prescription and over-the-counter medicines of today. Since herbal medicine is my passion, I wanted to share some of its colorful history, particularly as it relates to us in the southeastern United States.
Evidence of medicine goes back some 60,000 years to a burial site of a Neanderthal man uncovered in 1960. According to Barbara Griggs in her book, Green Pharmacy: The History and Evolution of Western Herbal Medicine, scientists found ordinary human bones in a cave in northern Iraq. An analysis of the soil around the bones revealed very large quantities of plant pollen that couldn’t have just accidentally appeared at the burial site. Someone in his community had gathered eight species of plants to surround the dead man. Seven of these are medicinal plants still used throughout the herbal world.
America’s “modern” medical history began with the Native Americans who had lived in harmony with nature for centuries. Griggs’ book states that American Indians believed all sickness began with digestion, so purging and cleansing was always done before herbs were given. After fasting, the sick person would eat a light diet of gruel made from grain and roots until recovery occurred. Native Americans also used a primitive form of herbal sauna to sweat out illnesses or to cleanse the body. It’s interesting to note that different tribes throughout North America used some of the same herbs for different diseases, all successfully. Tobacco (a relative of today’s smoking or chewing tobacco), was used by Native Americans for various rituals. Chewed and applied to the skin, it would ease the pain of bee stings, and ironically, it was used to treat lung disorders by loosening phlegm. Tobacco was discovered by colonists in Virginia who sent it to England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. According to Griggs, it was sold there as a useful medicinal plant. The traders were convinced that smoking tobacco was what preserved Indians from the common diseases that plagued the Europeans, so it was marketed as a wonder drug that could cure coughs, stomach aches and a host of other ailments. That’s how tobacco became Virginia’s largest cash crop for centuries.
Colonial housewives brought many healing plants with them from England to America, many of which are found growing right here in Powhatan – mullein, plantain and pennyroyal, to name just a few. Some Colonial era doctors, up through the late 19th century, believed that disease was caused by an imbalance in bodily fluids. To treat an illness, they either added fluids or drained them away. A doctor's little black bag contained herbs and items designed to purge, sweat and bleed infected fluids from the body. They had emetics and diuretics, scalpels and leeches. Burning hot poultices were used to intentionally create infections on scalded skin. In his article “The American System of Medicine” published at www.planetherbs.com, David Winston, a Cherokee herbal healer, reports that the use of bleeding, mercury, arsenic, opium, emetics, and purgatives weakened patients almost as much as the diseases of the day and many died from the treatments. If left alone, many of the diseases may have run their course on their own. At the time, a lot of colonists held doctors in low esteem. William Byrd, a Virginia governor, wrote in 1706 about doctors, “…they… know nothing above very common Remedys (sic)… They are not acquainted enough with Plants or the other parts of Natural History, to do any Service to the World.” He, incidentally, had the most extensive medical library in Virginia, studied medicinal herbs extensively, and drank wild ginseng tea long before it became a popular tonic. Another common belief among the early settlers was that the more distasteful or obnoxious a concoction was the more effective it would be. The principle ailments of the citizens at that time included a variety of stomach troubles, which isn’t surprising considering the lack of hygiene and rudimentary food preservation techniques of the time.
By the time the Civil War began, patent formulas were being sold. Most of them were herbal remedies sold as cure-alls and tonics. Antiseptics were also being widely used. Unfortunately, when the South was cut off from most trade, Confederate doctors had to rely on local herbs with a little whiskey and quinine thrown in to help heal their patients. Civil War wives also returned to their roots by using the herbal remedies their grandmothers used. They weren’t able to use the newest medicines until after the war when reconstruction began.
Doctors and patent medicines still didn’t catch on extensively in America until the early 20th century when technology exploded. Vaccinations became widespread, penicillin and insulin were discovered, and aspirin became a household staple. Safer surgical procedures were implemented and better nutrition and hygiene were taught as preventive measures. Even with modern medicine being mainstreamed, the World Health Organization estimates that 4 billion people (80 percent of the world’s population) still use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care.
Some of the medicines we use today that are derived from herbs are: aspirin from the bark of the white willow tree; codeine from opium poppies; digitalis from foxglove; the tranquilizer resperene from snakeroot; and taxol, a cancer drug from the Pacific yew tree.
As you can see, herbs have been the foundation for many modern discoveries and cures. Many more are being studied by scientists today. With millions of plants growing around the world, the possibilities for using herbs in curing disease are endless.