Herbal medicine is the use of plant extracts to treat disease and promote well being. The earliest from of medicine known to mankind, herbal medicine is still used by over 80% of the world’s population, and until 50 years ago, some two-thirds of all medicinal drugs were based on herbs. Now-a-days, the active therapeutic ingredients of many plants have been identified, and pharmaceutical companies have synthesized copies and patented new drugs to be used in orthodox medicine.
Herbalists will prescribe herbal medicines and herbal dietary health supplements to help boost the efficiency of a body system rather than to combat a particular symptom or illness. There are herbal preparations to promote the health of the immune, nervous, circulatory, digestive, skeletal, muscular and hormonal systems, as well as the skin and hair and other body parts.