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| Herbs vs. DrugsA Comparison |
| The word ''drug'' originally was derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word, drogge, which meant "to dry," referring to the medicinal plants that once lined the rafters of old world apothecaries. In fact, a large percentage of modern day medicines are still derived from plants. Because of this, and because both herbs and drugs are used therapeutically, many people do not differentiate between herbs and drugs. However, there are important differences between traditional herbal medicines and laboratory-derived pharmaceuticals. |
| Let us consider the safety and effectiveness of herbs vs. pharmaceutical drugs. For the majority of herbal medicines, there are hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years worth of accumulated knowledge about how they can be used both safely and effectively. The literature abounds with knowledge of how herbs should be picked, dried and prepared. Herbal medicines have survived the test of time because of their relatively wide range of safety and effectiveness. In some cases the same combinations of herbs have been used for more than 1,000 years. Such a long history of use takes much of the guesswork out of healing and can give consumers and health professionals a large measure of confidence that the botanicals they are using have likely been used successfully by a significant portion of the world's population for a significant amount of time. |
| When research studies compare the therapeutic activity of herbs with conventional drugs, herbs are found to be safer than the comparable pharmaceutical. While pharmaceuticals have been subjected to |
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