Western Herbal Medicine (Traditional) Herbal medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicine known.  According to the World Health Organisation, they estimate that 80% of people worldwide rely on herbal medicines for some part of their primary health care.  Herbal medicine constitutes the main component of traditional medicine.  It refers to using a plant's seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, flowers or the whole plant for medicinal purposes.  Plants have been used throughout history for healing and nourishment; to promote health, improve vitality, stamina and physical and mental performance; it can also prevent and treat disease.  Herbal Medicine can treat a wide variety of conditions and can be either a primary treatment or in conjunction with conventional medicine or other treatments.    Herbal medicine has been used for thousands of years, safely and effectively. People of all ages, from newborns to the elderly can benefit from Herbal Medicine. Those who are already receiving treatment from their doctor (and pregnant) can also benefit and be confident that they will be given a tailor made prescription with herbs that will not interact adversely with their treatment or medication.  Herbal Medicine treats the person not just the disease.  Medical Herbalists practitioners use herbal remedies as well as assessment of diet and lifestyle.  They are trained to look beyond and beneath the obvious, to find the root cause of a problem, helping the body to correct imbalances and heal itself.

Western Herbalists practise herbal medicine in the European tradition using plants mainly from the native materia medica and from other traditions such as Ayurvedic Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine.  So they benefit from the combination of Western and Eastern traditions, plants and wisdom as well as modern scientific research.
At present, the use of medicinal plants for health benefits is increasing becoming more mainstream with advances in clinical research which shows the value of herbal medicine in the treatment and prevention of disease; as well as improvements in analysis and quality control.  Traditional use of medicines is recognized as a way to learn about potential future medicines.  Indeed, many herbal remedies used traditionally have become modern medicines through drug development.

In Britain, the National institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) was found in 1864. In Ireland, The Irish Institute of Medical Herbalist (IIMH) was formally incorporated in 1990. Currently, the criteria for membership of NIMH and IIMH, is a BSc (Hons) in Herbal Medicine which includes examinations in medical and herbal studies as well as supervised clinical practice.  Medical Herbalists are trained in all the medical sciences, botany, analytical techniques and work in what looks like conventional general medical practices.  

ABOUT FIONA GANNON
Fiona Gannon; BSc (Hons) Herbal Medicine, MNIMH, MIMHO, PG Certificate Counselling and Psychotherapy, COSCA certified