Herbology/Herbalism Essay

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Subject: Herbology/Herbalism Essay Wed Sep 05 2007, 12:25

So the time has come for the first term Essay. Here are your instructions. You must answer all the questions I have given you for this essay to receive marks. The essay must be at least 500 words. Please state your sources and no copying and pasting.

*Explain what the word “Herb” means and how it has changed over the years.
*Name 3 different herbal medicine systems and explain how they work.
*Describe the 5 major herbal categories and give 2 examples of each.
*List at least 2 commonly used herbal medicines.
*Explain how modern drugs have been derived from plants.

Total for Essay = 250

Subject: Re: Herbology/Herbalism Essay Tue Oct 02 2007, 17:12

Sorry, I went a few words over, but this was a complex essay!

The word herb means “a plant whose stem does not produce woody, persistent tissue and generally dies back at the end of each growing season.” Herbs are plants that bear seeds and die after they flower. They have culinary, medicinal, and spiritual uses and herbal study can be dated back to the Sumerians over 5,000 years ago. The term herb originally only applied to non-woody plants, however, now it applies to any part of a plant that is used for flavoring or medicine.
There are many types of herbal medicinal systems, however, three examples are traditional Chinese medicine, Native American medicine, and Ayurvedic medicine. In the Chinese traditional medicinal system, herbs are divided into three categories: superior, or food grade; moderate, taken for a disease for a short amount of time; and inferior, toxic and short term. They attribute diseases to an imbalance between the yin and yang energies. They use the organ system that is out of balance to determine the herbal formula needed using three more herbal classifications: the main complaint is addressed by the chief herbs; deputy herbs either reinforce the chief herbs or focus their attention on other organ systems that are affected; and the servant herbs work to balance and harmonize the temperatures and tastes of all of the herbs and direct them to where they need to go. Most herbal formulas in this system contain at least 15 herbs. One example of the Native American medicinal system is the Cherokee medicinal system. This system divides herbs into three groups: foods, medicines, and toxins. Their treatment of disease involves spiritual and physiological aspects and they use seven different plants. The Ayurvedic medicinal system uses at least 30 different ingredients and very complex formulas. Many of their ingredients have gone through alchemical processing, in which they remove toxicity from heavy metals and herbs.
The five major herbal categories are aromatic, astringent, bitter, mucilaginous, and nutritive. Aromatic herbs are commonly used in the kitchen and are usually available in most supermarkets. Two examples of aromatic herbs are cilantro and basil. Astringent herbs have many uses, such as: stopping sweating, controlling essence, holding in urine, and stopping bleeding. Two examples of astringent herbs are nutmeg and lotus seed. Bitter herbs are bitter in taste and helpful to the digestive system. Two examples of bitter herbs are dandelion and chamomile. Mucilaginous herbs are soothing and cooling and most often used topically. Two examples of mucilaginous herbs are aloe vera and slippery elm. Nutritive herbs are true foods and very nutritious. Two examples are alfalfa and broccoli.
Herbs are commonly used in medicine and two examples of herbal medicines are peppermint and garlic. Peppermint tea is used to aid with digestive tract problems, including nausea and irritable bowel syndrome. Garlic has been known to lower cholesterol, slightly reduce blood pressure, and has antibacterial properties. It is practically universal among non-industrialized societies to use herbs to treat diseases and many modern drugs have derived from plants. At the end of the twentieth century in the western world, many traditions dominated the practice of herbal medicine and many pharmaceuticals currently available to western physicians have long been used as herbal remedies. These include opium, aspirin, digitalis, and quinine.

Sources: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/herb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy#Medical_alchemy
http://www.crystalinks.com/herbology.html
http://www.all-foods-natural.com/dossier/herbs.html
http://www.chinesenaturalherbs.com/bulkherbs/astringentherbs.htm
http://www.allnaturalinfo.com/bitter_herbs.htm
http://sunherb.com/a_simple_guide_to_using_herbs.htm

Subject: Re: Herbology/Herbalism Essay Fri Oct 19 2007, 23:19

So the time has come for the first term Essay. Here are your instructions. You must answer all the questions I have given you for this essay to receive marks. The essay must be at least 300 words to a max of 500. Please state your sources and no copying and pasting. Also the students who contribute more information then the questions stated below will receive an extra 5 marks.

Herb was only referred to as a non-woody plant but now is it known as a plant used in medicine, used as spice in food and a plant that has nutritional and/ or medical values. There are many herbal systems and some of them are Unani, Native American and Chinese. All of these systems do treat the body as a whole. The Chinese had originated 3,000 years ago for helping the unbalances in the body instead of curing diseases. The Unani had originated in Greece and is still used today by Middle Eastern and Asian countries. These treatments help to equalize the four elements of the body. They believe that if this equilibrium is disturbed then that is the disease and by equalizing them the disease will go away. The Native Americans have practiced this for 10,000 years. These treatments are also linked to philosophy, religion and spirituality. These treatments are supposed to balance physical, emotional, mental and spiritual components.

There are five major herbal categories and they are Aromatic, Astringent, Bitter, Mucilaginous and Nutritive. Aromatic herbs are used in places where they give off a good smell. They are pleasing to the nose. Nutritive are used for nutrient.

There are many commonly used medicines like Artichoke and Black cohosh. Artichoke is used to reduce cholesterol levels. Black cohosh is used to help out the women. With the phytoestrogens that it contains it can help out older women with their menopause. There is also Echinacea which is used to help get rid of the effects of colds.

Many drugs have been derived from plants too. They use these herbs because they do have healing powers that doctors use in their drugs that do help their patients. Along with the drugs healing power and the herb they are able to use them to fight off many diseases that would of killed them left alone.

Sources:

http://www.crystalinks.com/herbology.html

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-1681.1995.tb02925.x

Subject: Re: Herbology/Herbalism Essay Fri Oct 26 2007, 21:15

Thank you for everyone who participated. Here is your listed points.

Gryffindor
Samantha Granger 50

Hufflepuff
None

Ravenclaw
stephy 50

Slytherin
None

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