Botanical Medicine at Seattle Naturopathic Center
Plants have been used as medicine for ages. In fact, 25% of all pharmaceutical medications are based on the active constituents in plants. Many pharmaceuticals attempt to imitate plant actions in a chemically altered (therefore patentable) form. For example, aspirin comes from chemically altering the compound salicin found in Willow bark. Many plant substances are powerful medicines that are safe and effective when used properly. Botanical medicines are not benign and should be administered by trained professionals such as Naturopathic physicians, educated on the potential side effects of botanical medicines combined with pharmaceutical prescriptions.