Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa) has been used as a dermatological aid by the Blackfoot and has essential oils such as thymol and carvacrol which underly its antimocrobial and anti-inflamatory actions, as well as polyphenols that contribute to antioxidant activities
Western Herbal Medicine, A synthesis
Western Herbal Medicine (WHM), much like Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and others is a distinct scientific tradition and therapeutic approach. It has a long history and many different types of science, and several scientific disciplines that led to its formation and continue to inform it today.
People and Plants
One of the disciplines that helped form WHM is ethnobotany — the study of the millennia long interplay between people and plants — while another major influence is phytotherapy, a contemporary area of research and practice that refers to the the form of herbal medicine that is the most heavily associated with conventional or Western, science.
Interacting and overlapping with WHM, and pivotal to its formation, there is a practice some refer to as Traditional Western Herbalism. This describes the folk-based European and North American herbal medical practices such as the historical practices of the English herbal movement, and the N. American Eclectic and Physiomedical traditions. All of these came together to comprise what today is called Western Herbal Medicine (WHM).
Kinnikinnick, also known as Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) has a long tradition of ceremonial, culinary and medicinal use among many N. American indigenous tribes, and is an effective antiseptic with an affinity for the urinary tract
A little bit deeper dive
Ethnobotany
Ethnobotany is the interdisciplinary study how indigenous cultures use and relate to plants — including how they are identified, harvested, and prepared. This may involve medicinal usage as well as nutritional, religious, and material uses like building and cordage.
Phytotherapy
Also called medical herbalism, phytotherapy refers to the use of whole-plant preparations, and in some case standardized extracts or even isolated phytochemicals in a therapeutic context. This is the most modern form of herbal medicine that is informed by — and some would argue biased toward — contemporary medical sciences and perspectives.
History of WHM
Many look at the genesis of WHM in Greek times with practitioners like Galen and Dioscoredes, having then taken further shape and refinement by Arabic practitioners such as Avicenna, within a tradition known as Unanni (Greek-Arabic) medicine.
In the 19th century in the US, an herbal flowering and synthesis occurred where indigenous uses of plants became blended with this historical practice and with western science by the herbalist practitioners of the day — the Thomsonian, Physiomedicalist, and later Eclectic Medical practitioners.
WHM Today
All these traditions intersect in the practice of WHM, and impact how Clinical Herbalists or Medical Herbalists today practice our therapeutic craft. Some Clinical or Medical herbalists have met qualifications and have become Registered Herbalists — known as RH(AHG) — through the American Herbalists Guild which serves as a professional organization for Western Herbal Medicine practitioners. At Wild Rose, we aim to honour all scientific traditions, while placing great appreciation on the knowledge learned from indigenous people's of this land.
Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium) A common, if uncommonly useful, plant native to the Pacific Northwest which is widely used to prevent and treat infections on the skin while also aiding digestion, liver function and supporting blood sugar regulation
Making Excellent Medicine
Whether informed by novel-to-us Native American medicinal uses of a plant we found in old texts or recent conversations with Native comrades, and then scouring the most recent peer-reviewed article in a scientific journal, best practice in Western Herbal Medicine means doing your homework, triangulating the data from these different forms of science and evidence, and making the most informed decisions on our formulations and products.
Selected Bibliography
Barnes, J., Anderson, L. A., & Phillipson, J. D. (2007). *Herbal medicines* (3rd ed.). Pharmaceutical Press.
Bennett, B. C., & Prance, G. T. (2000). Introduced plants in the indigenous pharmacopoeia of northern South America. *Economic Botany, 54*(1), 90–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02866603
Bone, K., & Mills, S. (2013). *Principles and practice of phytotherapy: Modern herbal medicine* (2nd ed.). Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier.
Etkin, N. L., & Elisabetsky, E. (2005). Seeking a transdisciplinary and culturally germane science: The future of ethnopharmacology. *Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 100*(1–2), 23–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2005.06.001
Heinrich, M., & Jäger, A. K. (2015). *Ethnopharmacology*. Wiley-Blackwell.
Heinrich, M., Barnes, J., Gibbons, S., & Williamson, E. (2018). *Fundamentals of pharmacognosy and phytotherapy* (3rd ed.). Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier.
Hoffmann, D. (2003). *Medical herbalism: The science and practice of herbal medicine*. Healing Arts Press.
Moerman, D. E. (1998). *Native American ethnobotany*. Timber Press.
Phillips, O., & Gentry, A. H. (1993). The useful plants of Tambopata, Peru: I. Statistical hypotheses tests with a new quantitative technique. *Economic Botany, 47*(1), 15–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862203
Saslis-Lagoudakis, C. H., Hawkins, J. A., Greenhill, S. J., et al. (2014). The evolution of traditional knowledge: Environment shapes medicinal plant use in 14 indigenous societies. *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111*(11), 4003–4008. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318377111
Tilburt, J. C., & Kaptchuk, T. J. (2008). Herbal medicine research and global health: An ethical analysis. *Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 86*(8), 594–599. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.07.042820
Unschuld, P. U. (1986). *Medicine in China: A history of pharmaceutics*. University of California Press.
Waldstein, A., & Adams, C. (2006). The interface between medical anthropology and medical herbalism: Towards a new understanding of phytotherapy. *Journal of Herbal Medicine, 1*(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hermed.2006.09.001
World Health Organization. (2013). *WHO traditional medicine strategy 2014–2023*. World Health Organization.
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