Using One Herb vs. A Formula

The Western Medical Scientific Model of Healing
In the mid 19th century Louis Pasteur discovered that most infectious diseases are caused by germs. This was known as the "germ theory of disease" and became the foundation for the science of microbiology, and a cornerstone of modern medicine. This in turn spawned the creation of pharmaceutical companies, now one of the largest industries on earth. Even though Pasteur eventually declared that germs were only one of the factors causing disease, scientists latched on to his original appealing idea of a single cause. Pasteur?s discovery came at a time when many of the ancient secrets of nature appeared to be yielding under the scrutiny of rational thinking and the scientific method. In the "Man vs. Nature" battle, man was confident that he was gaining ground and many scientists declared, "that it was only a matter of time when all diseases will be conquered by medical science". A statement that turned out not to be particularly prophetic.

That a microbe is the single cause for disease is a very seductive concept; for it means that one only has to find the right substance to kill it and a return to health is guaranteed. Indeed, with improved hygiene methods and the (accidental) discovery of penicillin, now that theory seemed to be vindicated. For example, during the Second World War, penicillin produced almost miraculous curative effects and consequently countless lives were saved. One dramatic example was the huge reduction in the death rate from infectious wounds.

In the 1950?s and 60?s, government and private money began to pour into universities and drug companies to encourage research to find cures for disease. The logic that supports the funding for this research is based on 1. Discover which bacteria or virus is present with the symptoms of a known disease (and is not present with those symptoms). 2. Find out how it can be destroyed. 3. A (patented) drug cure should not be far behind. Undoubtedly, drug companies can claim some real success in this battle against disease. Ironically, we are now discovering that nature may be taking back the edge we thought we had secured. Now, many bacteria have begun to develop resistances that render many antibiotics ineffective. Once again, bacteria threatens humanity with the possibility of deadly epidemics.

The Drug Effect

We have all grown up with the concept, firmly ingrained in us, that there is a single entity causing an infectious or other disease and a drug can be found to treat it. Unfortunately, in recent years, this idea has been transferred over to herbs and supplements. One of the reasons is that many drugs have been derived from herbs. Once the active component of an herb was identified it could be patented, manufactured and sold. That an herb may contain other valuable substances and that those substances may actually be essential to its healing abilities was not considered very deeply, if at all.

Manufacturing and selling pharmaceutical drugs is a multi-billion dollar industry. They are committed to finding and patenting a single substance to control or destroy a particular disease.

The FDA gives a license to the drug companies to protect their product. They in turn need to meet certain guidelines for safety and effectiveness. All the data for this relies on demonstrating the actions of a single substance, never a combination of substances. One reason was that according to the scientific method, how could one properly identify what ingredient is causing the cure (or non-cure) if it is not singled out for clinical testing.

For a pharmaceutical company to test a complex herbal formula using double blind clinical testing would be out of the question. There would be no "one substance" to patent. This does not encourage research into less expensive alternative ways to cure diseases using herbs.

The Single Herb Syndrome

It is understandable with the increasing popularity of alternative medicine, along with the western model of disease, that the emphasis would be on trying to find a single herb to treat a particular disease. It is also understandable that people not trained properly in herbal medicine would try to market an herb by oversimplifying and often overstating its healing abilities.

Practitioners trained in Chinese herbal medicine, almost never think of using one herb on its own to treat an illness. Rather, one is trained to combine different herbs in a formula in order to enhance a particular action or balance potential side effects. Using the whole herb allows the practitioner to take advantage of other yet undiscovered benefits of that herb due to its natural structure. A well-constructed formula takes into consideration ways to treat the symptoms while optimizing the synergy of the herbs in that formula. A formula designed in that way should be easily assimilated and have mild or no side effects and not the cumulative toxic side effects as commonly seen with some drugs.

Even though medicinal actions of an herb can be analyzed and described as having particular qualities, it does not necessarily follow that it is correct to use it on its own. There are some exceptions such as Gingko and St Johns Wort. However, even they would be much more effective when combined with the appropriate herbs in a balanced formula. Ginseng, for example is commonly sold as an herb to take alone to increase physical vitality. However, a practitioner trained in using Chinese herbs rarely gives a patient ginseng alone. It needs other herbs to balance and enhance its medicinal effects.

Recently, there has been an aggressive campaign to discredit herbs. Certain herbs have been singled out as potentially dangerous, even life threatening. If you look closely at these accusations, inevitably, you will find that the herb had been taken in excessive doses or for an over-extended period of time. The uproar is over an herb being used in a manner that a trained herbalist would never do (i.e. MaHuang as a stimulant). What stands out about these few isolated cases are that it often involves the use of a single herb, not that herb used in a formula. A well-trained herbalist thinks in terms of combinations of herbs.

Some see the danger in people choosing herbs to treat themselves. However, there are responsible ways to give guidelines for their use. Even over the counter drugs can be dangerous when taken in excess or combined wrongly. In fact a lot more people suffer side effects from the problems associated with these easily available self-help drugs than with herbs.

To summarize, single herbs are rarely prescribed by an experienced herbalist. Formulas containing multiple herbs are much more effective and less likely to cause side effects.
Kenneth Morris L.Ac. , Dipl. Ac.

Other Articles or Facts of Interest

Supergerm alert - How to avoid antibiotic misuse and overuse.
The long simmering problem of antibiotic resistance seems to be nearing the boiling point. More than two thirds of the bacterial infections acquired in U.S. hospitals and about half of the common bacterial infections in outpatients do not respond to at least one of the antibiotics that used to work. For the first time, there are now five types of bacteria with strains resistant to all available antibiotics.

Many factors contribute to the looming crisis, including the use of antibiotics in animals and agricultural products, and possibly the use of antibacterial cleaners. But the biggest cause and one that patients can help control is probably the medical misuse of antibiotics. Researchers estimate that nearly half of the antibiotic prescriptions written outside of hospitals are inappropriate. In an unprecedented attempt to turn the tide, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently proposed putting labels on antibiotics urging doctors to use them only when a bacterial infection is proved or highly likely. And several medical groups are recommending greater restrictions on the preventive use of antibiotics before surgery and for patients with certain heart problems.

On the individual level, antibiotic resistance can cause significant danger and suffering. Hollie Mullin, of Olathe, Kansas, started receiving repeated dosages of antibiotics when she was just 3 weeks old to treat what her parents thought were recurrent ear infections. Her mother says the doctors weren't sure Hollie really had all those infections and the infectious disease specialist Hollie eventually saw says he doubts it but the parents wanted treatment and the doctors complied. That repeated, questionable use of antibiotics apparently allowed at least one strain of bacteria normally living in Holly?s ear to adapt and develop resistance to those drugs and possibly to other, related drugs as well. When she did develop a clear cut bacterial infection a few months later, oral antibiotics didn't work. It took two weeks of an intravenous drug reserved for the most stubborn cases to subdue the infection. Even more important, those newly resistant germs may well have spread into the community, where they could infect other people.

But even when antibiotics are required, choosing the wrong drugs may still produce resistance and choosing the right ones isn't easy. For example, marketers highlight the ability of many antibiotics to attack a broad range of bacteria. There?s a potential (CDC) recently concluded that other antibiotics fight ear infections better than arithromycin, and omitted the drug from its new guidelines for treating the problem.

"We're disappointed by those recommendations," says William Erhardt, M.D., worldwide medical director of Pfizer's anti-infective group. "But we stand by our drug', Erhardt cites studies that the FDA reviewed when it approved the drug for ear infections in 1995. But those studies evaluated symptoms, while the CDC considered studies of bacterial killing, a far more rigorous and reliable measure of drug efficacy.