Botanical Medicine
Botanical medicine utilizes diverse plant substances
from around the world for their powerful healing and nutritional values. People
have long used thousands of indigenous plants for treatment of various ailments
and every year the body of research supporting their effectiveness increases.
The flowers,
roots, leaves or oils of a plant may be used in the remedy. Therapy
may take the form of teas, tinctures, ointments, essential oils, poultices and capsules.
Natural does not always mean safe - As with nutritional supplements,
some
herbal remedies have the potential to cause adverse drug interactions
when used
in combination with various prescription and over-the-counter
pharmaceuticals. Additionally, some botanicals are themselves
potentially toxic and therefore the duration of use and dose needs to be
monitored. Your
ND will carefully review your current health situation before
recommending a
specific botanical remedy or combination.
Naturopathic doctors have extensive training in conventional
pharmacology and herb-drug interactions, dosing, potential side-effects, and
compounding formulations.
