A recent trip to the local pharmacy reminded me of the gargantuan variety of drugs available to help us survive our human experience. What is striking is that many, if not the majority of these substances have their roots (no pun intended) in herbs. I have heard that anywhere from 50% to 75% of drugs come from herbals. The main advantage to herbals is that we (plants and humans) have coevolved together on this planet so many of the chemical nuances required to heal are already there.
Drugs from these natural herbal substances are not limited to the over the counter variety. Examples include digitalis (from foxglove) and taxol (from the Pacific yew tree). In fact there are a number of cancer drugs that have come from herbs.
According to Dr. Mary Tagliaferri, a breast-cancer survivor and acupuncturist "Sixty-two percent of chemotherapy drugs come from natural products, and plants have been the basis of almost every new class of medication," she says. "It makes sense that these plants can act as anticancer agents."
Some researchers are focusing on herbs used in traditional Chinese Medicine. Dr. Thomas Efferth of the DKFZ is one of them. He along with colleagues performed a systematic compound search including 76 Chinese medicinal plants. These plants are believed to be effective against malignant tumors.
Extracts from 18 of the plants were found to substantially suppress the growth of a cancer cells is a culture dish. "With this success rate of about 24 percent, we are way above the results that could be expected from searching through large chemical substance libraries," Thomas Efferth explains.
The future is bright for the use of natural herbal substances.
References:
Time Magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1671684,00.html
Thomas Efferth, Stefan Kahl, Kerstin Paulus, Michael Adams, Rolf Rauh, Herbert Boechzelt, Xiaojiang Hao, Bernd Kaina and Rudolf Bauer: Phytochemistry and Pharmacogenomics of Natural products derived from traditional Chinese medica with activity against tumor cells. Molecular Cancer Therapy 7 (1) 2008, page 152
For more information on alternative medicine, natural healing and wellness as well as free podcast downloads visit my site:
www.informationalhealing.com 
Drugs from these natural herbal substances are not limited to the over the counter variety. Examples include digitalis (from foxglove) and taxol (from the Pacific yew tree). In fact there are a number of cancer drugs that have come from herbs.
According to Dr. Mary Tagliaferri, a breast-cancer survivor and acupuncturist "Sixty-two percent of chemotherapy drugs come from natural products, and plants have been the basis of almost every new class of medication," she says. "It makes sense that these plants can act as anticancer agents."
Some researchers are focusing on herbs used in traditional Chinese Medicine. Dr. Thomas Efferth of the DKFZ is one of them. He along with colleagues performed a systematic compound search including 76 Chinese medicinal plants. These plants are believed to be effective against malignant tumors.
Extracts from 18 of the plants were found to substantially suppress the growth of a cancer cells is a culture dish. "With this success rate of about 24 percent, we are way above the results that could be expected from searching through large chemical substance libraries," Thomas Efferth explains.
The future is bright for the use of natural herbal substances.
References:
Time Magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1671684,00.html
Thomas Efferth, Stefan Kahl, Kerstin Paulus, Michael Adams, Rolf Rauh, Herbert Boechzelt, Xiaojiang Hao, Bernd Kaina and Rudolf Bauer: Phytochemistry and Pharmacogenomics of Natural products derived from traditional Chinese medica with activity against tumor cells. Molecular Cancer Therapy 7 (1) 2008, page 152
For more information on alternative medicine, natural healing and wellness as well as free podcast downloads visit my site:
www.informationalhealing.com