Is there adequate evidence for plant medicines?
Some medical doctors fear that botanical drugs lack convincing evidence, citing fears of drug-herb interactions, poor quality of plants and potentially harmful side effects, although a growing number of doctors are eager to integrate botanical medicines into their patient healthcare plans. In Europe, clinical research into herbal medicines has been established for decades, particularly in Germany, where phytotherapy is an accepted part of medical practice (Rotblatt and Zimmett, 2000).
Although a plant is natural it does not always mean that it is safe. That is why degree-educated medical herbalists in clinical practice adhere to providing herbs from excellent and reputable suppliers that can approve a high level of assurance that the products supplied, via scientific validation methods, meet strict standards in safety, quality, and efficacy. Current scientific paradigms of randomised clinical trials (RCTs) where isolated constituents are tested for pharmacological efficacy do not work from an herbalist’s perspective where the whole herb is used for better clinical results, although research into isolated plant chemicals is of great importance having given rise to many of the world’s most useful drugs such as morphine, aspirin, and digitalis.