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The herbal way

KALIFA SARAH CLYNE
Published: 
Monday, July 30, 2012
Bottles of different herbal remedies are lined off on a shelf at a herbal medicine store in Port-of-Spain.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) fact sheet on traditional medicine states that in some Asian and African countries, 80 per cent of the population depends on traditional medicine for their primary health care. It also states that herbal medicines are the most lucrative form of traditional medicine. More than 100 countries have regulations for herbal medicines. T&T is not among them. Naturopathic practitioner Dr Anna Maria Pouchet thinks that is why people tend to distrust natural products. Pouchet, who founded the Hope and Wellness Clinic and practices various forms of naturopathic medicine, agreed to speak to the T&T Guardian about herbal medicine, it’s uses, benefits and effects. “When people speak about herbalism you would think it’s witchcraft or folklore, but humans have used plants for food, oxygen, shelter and medicine for thousands of years,” said Pouchet. “We have evolved over time along with plants. Our health and well being are integrally and substantially entwined to the world we live in, especially the use of plants for food and medicine.” Pouchet said this is why the state of the environment has a profound impact on health and well being. She found it amazing that in less than 100 years the western world had evolved away from what “is inherently natural and instinctive,” such as herbs, to embrace a world she classified as “synthetic and instant.”She said herbal remedies worked in different ways.

 
“Some have a cumulative effect and work slowly over time to restore balance, while others can be used for short-term treatment and acute symptoms.” Pouchet explained. She said understanding how herbs work can be a challenge for some. “The world consists of thousands of plant species and it is a daunting task to find all the scientific evidence to understand them.” She said each plant species also has a myriad of constituents that have multiple beneficial actions on the human body. As an example she name the plant species Echinacea Purpurea. “Echinacea is known by most people as a remedy for the common cold but what most don’t realise are the additional benefits of using this herb, which include healthy growth of connective tissue, treatment of psoriasis, eczema, hives and other skin problems and even arthritis,” said Pouchet. She said, in comparison pharmaceuticals were generally man-made chemicals, some of which were patented from the active ingredients of plants.
 
 
Pouchet said these chemicals may have two or three active ingredients which work on suppressing or activating specific biochemical reactions in the body. “This is regardless of the other possible pathways which may use these active ingredients, creating a whole host of other problems. “For example, cholesterol lowering drugs such as statins have negative effects on the liver and muscular system in the body,” said Pouchet. Pouchet said though herbs were an effective and natural form of treatment that were generally safer, with fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals. Though she described herbs as inexpensive, she said every herb that was imported needed to be registered at a cost of around $700 by the Food and Drug administration. “It is also a long and drawn out process getting herbs in, even fish oils that have no side effects take a long time to be processed,” said Pouchet. She said this was hurting the population and forcing them into pharmaceutical drugs with no alternative. Pouchet said pharmaceuticals were in no way “bad.” “Pharmaceuticals have made an indelible mark in this world and will continue to play a profound role in saving lives,” she said.
 
  • Next week we will look at the health benefits of acupuncture.
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