Search our Site. All cultures have long folk medicine traditions that include the use of plants and plant products. Even in ancient cultures, people methodically collected information on herbs and developed well-defined herbal pharmacopoeias. Indeed, well into the twentieth century, much of the pharmacopoeia of scientific medicine was derived from the herbal lore of native peoples.
Many drugs commonly used today are of herbal origin.
Indeed, about one-quarter of the prescription drugs dispensed by community pharmacies in the United States contain at least one active ingredient derived from plant material. Herbal medicine is a major component in all indigenous peoples traditional medicine and a common element in Ayurvedic, homeopathic, naturopathic, traditional oriental, and Native American Indian medicine. Although, the discovery of useful therapeutics from plants has changed the face of medicine and the course of civilization, many people, especially some in the Federal Government, evaluate herbal remedies as though they were either worthless or dangerous. Today in the United States, herbal products can be marketed only as food supplements. An herb manufacturer or distributor can make no specific health claims without FDA approval.