The Herbal Medicine

There were no medical doctors or corner drugstores in the ancient world, but people got sick. And when people got sick, they wanted to get well, just like we do today. Today, when we aren't feeling well, we make an appointment with our family doctor, and when he sees us, he usually prescribes a prescription drug that is supposed to make us feel better.

Sometimes the prescription drug does make us feel better, but sometimes it doesn't "work." So we make another appointment, see him again, and the doctor prescribes a different prescription medication. We might make several appointments and see him several times, and he might prescribe several different medications before he hits on the one that will solve our problem. He is making educated guesses sometimes based upon medical tests, but they are guesses nevertheless. If they weren't, he'd always get it right the first time.

That trial-and-error method is the same one that was used to build the store of knowledge that makes up herbal medicine today. The "tests" weren't as sophisticated as the tests that doctors use today, and the "prescriptions" weren't filled at the corner drugstore. The medications that were used to make people feel better were found out in the fields and forests — plants and herbs.

Over the centuries knowledge was passed down from generation to generation. It was found that "tea" made from the leaves or roots of one plant would "cure" a stomach ache and the chewing the leaves or roots from other plants would ease pain. Poultices made from certain plants reduced swelling. In short, the stems, leaves, roots, and flowers from certain plants were discovered to cure human ills. Today we call that body of information "herbal
medicine."

Most of the wonder drugs that are prescribed by medical doctors today are synthetic versions of herbal medications that have been in use for centuries.