Herbalism

Black cohosh is a a lovely green plant with white flowers that is common to the United States. It also goes by various other names such as “snake root” and “fairy candle”. Though some herbs have beneficial properties throughout the entire plant, only the root of this one should be consumed. Black cohosh is generally used by women, but some say that it can help men with prostate cancer too. Because it affects estrogen levels, men should be very careful if they take it. It could significantly…

What is Chinese Skullcap? Chinese skullcap root is a medicinal root that has been used in China for hundreds of generations. In traditional Chinese herbal medicine, the roots, what they believed to be the most powerful part of the plant, was dried and powdered. They would drink the powder in hot water or use it in prepared foods. Now, the most popular use for skullcap is in combating nervous disorders, such as anxiety, stress, or hysteria. Research has found that the high levels of antioxidants…

My response: As a catholic, my family goes to church every Sunday. After you are born, it is typical to get baptized. Around first grade, it is common to get First Communion. In high school I was confirmed and was finally considered a full member of the catholic community. In the future I’m going to get married in a catholic church by a priest. It’s common for the bride to wear a white dress and the groom will wear a suit. Are there any family rituals and customs? If so, describe what they are.…

Forests are essential places for therapeutic plants to develop. In the long run these can be utilized as a part of medicinal research. Forest degradation has enormously reduced the accessibility of therapeutic plant species in the Brazilian Amazon. As of today, 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest materials, yet just 1% of plants of the Amazon have so far been tried. Currently, over 120 drugs come from plant-derived sources. Of the 3000 plants identified by the US National…

Folk Medicine and the Impact on Modern Medicine Recently, studies of folklore continue being an interesting topic for many scholars. Examples of Folklore include songs, art, stories, myths and medicine. Medicine being one of the most important, since the importance of keeping a cultural based is essential to many Native Americans, who continue being impacted with today’s medical era. Today, modern medicine has been the hope for many ill patients. People have more access to different types of…

I choose to describe natural products as natural products seem to be the new sweep of the nation. As people are becoming more aware of their health, the trend to go natural has increased in the last decade or so. As the trend for the nation to be more healthy so did the desire to do it more naturally did as well. People began to seek the more traditional ways of being healthy. Before manufactured drugs came into widespread use, herbal medicines played an important role in human health. A…

Costus speciosus (J.König)sm is a widely used medicinal plant in Ayurvedic medicine. Scientific literature prove about various therapeutic properties of its rhizome and leaves. The effectiveness of Costus speciosus (J.König)sm leaf aqueous extract on reversing insulin resistance was studied and data were published previously. This study was designed to evaluate the dose-response relationship of Costus speciosus (J.König)sm leaf aqueous extract. Insulin resistance induced rats were treated with…

Many people use herbal remedies as an alternative to medicine because they believe this route provides a “natural” way for healing and treatment of illness. Ashwagandha, a plant that grows year round in India, is an herb used for its therapeutic properties. In the language, Sanskrit, ashwagandha means “the smell of a horse.” One theory on how this evergreen shrub was given its name is because of the strong odor of the root of the plant. Another theory suggests the name was acquired for the…

1 Introduction Berberine (BBR), an isoquinoline alkaloid (Fig. 1), is isolated from many medicinal herbs, such as Coptidis rhizome (Coptis chinensis Franch.) and Cortex phellodendri (Phellodendron chinense C.K.Schneid.) (1). BBR has been used to treat microbial infection, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal (GI) diseases due to its antibacterial, antidiarrheal and strong antidotal properties (2, 3). In recent years, much focus has been put on its other potential bioactivities, such as…

From ancient times till date, essential oils are in use to treat humans in a very natural way. Anxiety, aches, pains, acne, skin diseases and allergies can be well taken care of with the help of different essential oils. Essential oils that are used for allergies are basically highly concentrated non-water soluble chemicals that are obtained from nature. With the passing of time, the new generation has lost some of the wisdom of our previous generation about the ability to cure illness with the…