Physician Avicenna writes the Canon of Medicine.
	Nicholas Culpepper writes his famous herbal:
	During the 1900s Medical herbals used extensively during World War 1 as drugs are in short supply.
	The BHMA produce the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.
	We at Natural World Herbal Remedies
	Hippocrates
	Unani medicine and Ayurveda (life)
	“Ayurveda” medicine means “the science of life”
	Differences between Ayurveda and Unani Medicine

Here is a shortened History of Herbal medicine, its usage through the ages up to modern day and what we at Natural World Herbal Remedies are offering you.

The first written record of herbal medicines, the Pen Ts’ao by Shen Nung was in 2800BC

The first Greek herbal written record: “Hippocrates develops principles of diet, exercise and happiness as the cornerstones of health” was in C400BC

The first illustrated herbal medicine produced in Greece C100BC

The Roman Empire spreads herbal medicine and commerce of plants around the Empire in C50AD

Herbal practitioner, Galen, creates a system for classifying illnesses and remedies in C200AD

Hippocrates’ principles followed in Britain by Myddfia practitioners throughout Saxon times in C500AD

Monks now pioneer herbal medicine with infirmaries and physic gardens at every monastery in C800AD

In the 1100s the Arab world became a major influence on medicine and healing practices.

Physician Avicenna writes the Canon of Medicine.

During the 1500sAD Henry VII promoted herbal medicine in the face of the growing number of untrained apothecaries and other ‘medical practitioners’ flourish in London.

Various Acts of Parliament passed to introduce some regulation of medical practices including protection for ‘simple herbalists’ to practice without fear of prosecution.

1600sAD Society sees the first two-tier health system emerge- herbs for the poor and exotics (plants, animal or mineral extracts) or’ drugs’ for the rich.

Nicholas Culpepper writes his famous herbal:

The English Physician, explaining in simple terms the practice of herbal medicine.

1700s Preacher Charles Wesley advocates a sensible diet, good hygiene and herbal medicine as keys to a healthy life.

In the 1800s Herbal medicines begin to be eclipsed by mineral-drug based treatments. With powerful drugs such as calomel (mercury) and laudanum available over the counter serious side effects begin to be documented.

Albert Coffin pioneers low-cost herbal remedies using plants from his native America as well as European ones helping hundreds of working class people at his north of England practice.

Burgeoning pharmaceuticals industry makes herbal medicine seem outdated. National Association of Medical Herbalists founded to defend the practice. Later to become the National Institute of Medical Herbalists.

During the 1900s Medical herbals used extensively during World War 1 as drugs are in short supply.

Post war period sees enormous expansion in the international pharmaceutical industry and the discovery of penicillin.

A handful of dedicated herbalists keep the tradition alive.

A Modern Herbal by Hilda Leyel is published.

Pharmacy & medicines Act 1941 withdraws herbal practitioner’s rights to supply patients with medicines. Public outcry ensures the act is never enforced.

After much campaigning by the NIMH, the Medicines Act in 1968 reinstates practitioner’s rights and the British Herbal Medicine Association is founded.

The BHMA produce the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.

Revised edition is published in 1990. Public concern starts to grow over the side effects of the ‘wonder drugs’ of the 1950s and their impact on the environment.

In 2000 EU legislation advocates all herbal medicines should be subject to compulsory clinical testing comparable to that undertaken for conventional drugs. Thus all herbal medicines would be licensed.

UK Government is currently considering the possible impact and public perception of this legislation.


We at Natural World Herbal Remedies will work towards this legislation.
Although herbal medicine has existed since the dawn of time, our knowledge of how plants actually affect human physiology remains largely unexplored, but the lives of human beings and plants have been inextricably woven together since the beginning of time, every aspect of being is dependent on plants, plants have provided us with shelter, food fuel and countless other necessities of life not forgetting the oxygen—our most precious resource.

Herb refers to a plant used for medicinal purposes, and are thought to have three major advantages: lower cost, fewer side-effects and medicinal effects which tend to normalize physiological function. When used most effectively, the mechanism of action of a herb will often correct the underlying cause of a disorder, and 80% of the world population relies on these herbal medicines for their primary health care needs.

In the Western World herbal medicine has seen a renaissance in recent years, due to the over prescribing Pharmaceutical drugs (antibiotics etc.) and being proved not be the magic bullets we had hoped for. In the midst of this herbal renaissance it has been estimated that 70% of all medical doctors in France and Germany regularly prescribe herbal preparations.

Mankind has reaped enormous benefits from the plants on this an estimated 250,000 species of which only 5,000 plants have been studied scientifically, yet more could be done because of their potential as food and medicine, they have enjoyed a special relationship with humans throughout the ages. To our ancestor’s, knowledge of herbs meant survival.
Now to the East, which has played a very important part in herbal remedies, physicians wrote Tomes (large book) on herbal remedies, some prized to this day as authoritative medical sources. Later, the Greeks and Romans cultivated herbs for medicinal, as well as culinary uses.