In recent years, Alternative Healing has skyrocketed to the forefront of the medical field, and a 2004 government survey concluded that more than one third of adult Americans use alternative medicine and healing, including the use of Herbal Medicine. While it may seem “trendy” to some, Herbal Medicine has been around for thousands of years.   In fact, many of the familiar pharmaceutical medications we use today were originally created from “natural” ingredients. Drugs like opium (from poppies), aspirin (from willow bark), digitalis (from foxglove) and quinine (from the cinchona tree.)

Herbal Medicine, simply put, is the use of botanicals (plants) either singularly or in combination to prevent and treat certain ailments and illnesses. People native to different geographical locations have used plants and plant extracts to cure specific maladies for centuries. Sometimes referred to as “folk” medicine, Herbal Medicine is generally categorized into three cultural traditions. There is the study of medicines based on Greek, Roman and medieval sources which is largely used by Western schools of thought, Ayurvedic which comes from India, and the Eastern tradition of Chinese Herbal Medicine. 

The Web is teeming with information about every imaginable topic, yet it's often hard to distinguish between legitimate information and that which is bogus. Furthermore, it's not always obvious when a website is genuinely providing information as a public service, and when there is a profit motive behind the information presented. In other words, sometimes you can trust what you read and sometimes the information is slanted in order to get you to buy something.

In most cases, this conundrum is fairly inconsequential; when it comes to your health, though, you want to make sure that the information you're getting is both correct and unbiased. This is particularly true in the realm of alternative medicine, when separating out the snake oil salespeople from the straight shooters can make a significant difference in your health and well-being.