a. Rigveda
Rigveda, the oldest
Indian religious book. It referred to herbs in Hymn 34 in Book 7 and Hymn 97 in
Book 10. It recognized that herbs have miraculous therapeutic powers. Herbs
were said to have ‘sprung up in time of old, three ages earlier than Gods’. Herbs
were feared, praised, respected, deified and worshipped. In all, Rigveda
mentioned less than 10 specific herbs. Soma plant was the most well known among
them. It was from this plant that a potent and intoxicant soma drink, very much
relished by Indra. Soma plant was worshipped as the king of medicinal plants.
No one has yet been able to botanically identify Soma plant.
b. Atharvaveda
Atharvaveda mentioned
about 100 herbs in total. Most of them are not, however, botanically
identifiable now. Many of them were used as part of rituals or to cast spells
or to un-cast spells. They were not discussed in a manner helpful for medical
practice now. The word Ayurveda was not used in Rigveda or Atharvaveda.
c. Origins of Ayurveda
Charaka was the author
of Charaka Samhita in the third century BC. He was the first Ayurvedist. He
collated and systematized the then herbal and folk medicine practices. He
provided a theoretical basis for the Indian system of medicine and named it as
Ayurveda. In all, Charakasamhita mentioned about 400 herbs. He elaborated on
how to use different combinations of herbs for different ailments.
Susruta was the author
of Susruta Samhita in the second century BC. He was an expert surgeon. He
elaborated in great detail about various surgical procedures and surgical
instruments.
Vagbhata, the author of
Ashtanga Hrudaya in the 7th century AD simplified the writings
of Charaka and Susrutha.
So, herbal medicine
played an important role in Indian health care since vedic times. Charaka,
Susrutha, and Vagbhata were the real originators of Ayurveda. They were
unrivaled physicians in the world of their times. The books written by them
continue to be the text books of Ayurveda students at under-graduate, graduate
and Ph. D.levels even today.
d. Other systems of
Indian Medicine
Siddha, Unani,
Homeopathy and Naturopathy systems of medicine were later arrivals in the
Indian scene. All these are recognized systems of medicine in the Indian health
care system now. There are recognized courses at under-graduate, graduate,
post-graduate, and Ph. D. levels in all these systems.
e. Quick Relief with
Herbal Medicines
There is a strong belief
among patients all over the world and particularly in India that herbal
medicines work very slowly. Nothing is farther from truth than this belief. If
the right herb is used for the right disease, herbal medicine works as fast as
allopathic medicine. In certain cases, herbal medicine can work much faster and
without side effects than allopathic medicine. For curing respiratory tract
diseases, gum infections, amoebic dysentery, stomach or duodenal ulcers,
urinary tract infections, skin diseases etc herbal medicine has far more
powerful antibiotic medicines than even the most recently patented allopathic
medicines.
f. Effectiveness of
Indian Medicinal Herbs
A comparative analysis
of the medicinal properties of Indian, Chinese, European, and American herbs
reveals that Indian herbs are far more powerful than herbs from any other
source in relation to a number of ailments. At the same time there are some
therapeutically very effective herbs and nutritionally powerful tonic herbs in
every country.
Indian medicinal herbs
offer effective cures for most common ailments and a number of chronic diseases
such as asthma, sinusitis, rhinitis, allergy, cluster headaches, migraine
headache, gum infections, indigestion, hyperacidity, flatulence, amoebic
dysentery, irritable bowel syndrome, inflamed bowel disease, menstrual
problems, stones in kidneys, gall bladder, urinary bladder etc. Even
cardiovascular problems can be safely and permanently cured, without surgical
procedures, within two or three months with proper diet, life style changes,
and herbal medicines.
g. Lukewarm Support from
Indian Government
In essence, India is not
yet fully exploiting its rich array of medicinal herbs to make reliable,
effective and safe medicine available to the common man. India recognizes
Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Naturopathy, and Yoga as valid systems of medicine in
its health care system. But it does not offer the same status and financial
resources to these systems as it does for the allopathic medicine. But it has a
medicinal and aromatic plants board in every state to promote the collection
and cultivation of herbs for purposes of export and to save plant species from
extinction. The governments at different levels essentially shift the burden of
finding herb buyers on to the farmers. When India itself does not use its herbs
on a large scale and does not conduct ample in depth clinical research on them
to publicize their medicinal properties, it cannot expect other countries to
buy its herbs on par with Chinese herbs.
h. Popularity of Indian
Systems of Medicine
Urbanized and educated
classes still prefer allopathic medicine and try alternative Indian systems of
medicine only as a last resort. Sales of medicines of these systems have been
increasing significantly and substantially over the past decade. They are still
not on par with allopathic medicine in popularity, prestige, status, and
financial resources. The situation has been changing significantly over the
past two decades. Sales of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani, and homeopathic medicines
have been increasing significantly and substantially over the past two decades.
i. Export of Herbs from
China and India
At present annual
earnings from export of herbs amount to rupees twenty thousand crores from
China and only three thousand crores from India. While exports are growing very
fast from China, they are increasing very slowly from India.
j. No Comparative
Evaluation of Effectiveness
There are
therapeutically effective medicinal herbs on every continent and almost in
every country in relation to most of the common ailments. For reasons of easy
availability, low cost, supply of fresh materials, and patriotic sentiments,
herbalists often prefer to treat patients with locally available herbs. They
look for exotic herbs only when locally available herbs are not therapeutically
effective or not as effective as herbs from foreign sources. There has been no
comparative evaluation of the therapeutic effectiveness of herbs from different
countries in relation to any given ailment. Hopefully this will happen in
future as herbalists become familiar with hers from different sources.
