Use of Herbal Medicines: A Growing Trend

Abstract

Herbal medicine has its own origin in ancient cultures. It is the knowledge, skills and practices based on theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures. It involves the medicinal use of plants to treat diseases and to improve general health and wellbeing. In fact, many pharmaceutical medications are the manmade versions of naturally occurring compounds found in plants. Recently there has been a shift in universal trend from synthetic to herbal medicine, which we can say "Return to Nature". Medicinal plants have been known for millennia and highly esteemed all over the world as the rich source of therapeutic agent for the prevention of disease and ailments. The demand for plant based medicine, health products, pharmaceuticals, food supplements, cosmetics, etc are increasing in both developing and developed countries, due to the growing recognition that the natural products are non toxic, have less side effect and easily available at affordableprices.