Michele Collins, RH (AHG), MPH and Andres Vergara, L.Ac., M.Ac.
Herbs and plants are an amazing natural resource, the health and abundance of which is crucial to the practice of herbal medicine. As herbalists, one of the things we both love about what we do is working directly with plants, whether it is putting herbs together in a formula or even more importantly, learning about and from them in their natural habitat through one-on-one contact and observation. On the March 5th episode of Holistic Healing with Herbs and Chinese Medicine, we interview Susan Leopold, the executive director of United Plant Savers, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat. We talk with Susan about the work United Plant Savers does to monitor and protect native plants like American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius pictured above), Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), and Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga Racemosa) to ensure that these plants continue to propagate in the wild.
Being herbalists, we are concerned with the preservation of medicinal herb species because we are well acquainted with the vast healing properties for not only the herbs used in the Chinese materia medica, but for herbs used all over the planet. There is a steadily increasing amount of research confirming the medicinal power of herbs, however, there is a vast amount of knowledge plants have yet to reveal to us. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “as many as 80% of the world’s population depends on traditional medicine for their primary health care needs.” (from Guidelines on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants, authored by WHO, The World Conservation Union, and Worldwide Fund for Nature). The greater part of traditional therapy involves the use of plant extracts or their active principles. The preliminary results of a study on behalf of WHO has shown that the number of individuals using medicinal plants is large and on the increase, even among young people. It is not just in developing countries that medicinal plants are important. In the USA, for example, 25% of all prescriptions from community pharmacies between1959 and 1980 contained materials from higher plants.
However despite an increasing interest in plants there are also increasing and severe threats to the habitats and knowledge of medicinal plants. Traditional cultures that hold much plant knowledge throughout the world are increasingly on the brink of destruction, as are these plants’ unique habitats. It is increasingly important to find ways to support ecological systems that house these plants in a sustainable manner. Much traditional wisdom concerning plants remains underutilized. Medicinal plants are facing extinction all over the world and there is little to no effort to preserve them, as well as little effort to document their properties. It is important to find ways to preserve plant knowledge, as well as plant habitats. In this regard, the great demand for medicinal plants in China as well as the millenia old written record stands out as an exception.
The long history of herbs, medicinal minerals, and animal parts in China has been both a blessing and a curse. Demand for exotic animal parts like the rhino horn has been devastating to the wild population, however this medicinal has now been replaced by the farmed water buffalo horn showing one potential way to preserve medicinal plants and animal species. This is large scale farming. This is also a potential way to preserve forests and rain forests, as there are many medicinal plants that require shade. A strong immune modulator is the rain forest mushroom agaricus. As demand is rapidly growing in Japan and East Asia, there is increasing incentive to cultivate this mushroom which is now farmed in the southern rain forests of China. Such intentional cultivation could be a way to preserve other rain forests like the Amazonian rainforest from which agaricus originally hails. Herbs like this which can be used in both the preservation of natural habitats and in the betterment of the health of human kind stand to provide great benefits in that they can be both profitable and sustainable. In the United States herbs like American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), Golden seal (Hydrastis canadensis), Beth root (Trilium Erectum), Ramps (Allium Tricoccum), Black Cohosh (Cimcifuga racemosa), Blood Root (Sanguinaria Canadensis), Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum Thalictroides), False Unicorn root (Chamaelirium Luteum), Wild Ginger (Asarum Canadense), Galax (Galax Urceolata), May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum), Pink Root (Spigelia Marilandica), Spikenard (Aralia Racemosa) are all forest botanicals with medicinal uses that could be used to preserve natural habitats.
Correct identification and knowledge of the medicinal uses of all plants in a given country is essential. This is why the WHO document Guidelines on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants recommends botanical surveys be done in every country and that every country have “an adequate national herbarium with a botanical library, so that plant material can be adequately identified and stored within the country; and a cadre of well-trained botanists able to identify plants, who can staff the herbarium and other botanical institutes and departments.”
The Example of American Ginseng
Americn Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is an excellent example of a woodland herb that has great health benefits. There was a recent study conducted by the Mayo Clinic on american ginseng presented at an annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. This study included 340 people who were either currently undergoing cancer treatments, or who had just completed cancer treatments. Every day for 2 months, each person was given either a placebo pill or a pill that contained 2,000 milligrams of American ginseng root. The study authors found that cancer patients who took high doses of American ginseng over this two-month period experienced less fatigue than people who were given a placebo. The University of Maryland Medical Center pointed out that research has shown other beneficial effects of American ginseng. This herb has been found to decrease levels of blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes. Also, in a lab study, it was found to stop colorectal cancer cell growth. Ginseng also seems to decrease cold duration and boost the immune system. As with amy complex health condition, it is always best to consult with someone trained in Chinese medicine as it is not always appropriate for all individuals to take american ginseng. Click here for an article from the Huffington Post for more information about the health benefits of American Ginseng.
For any plant lovers and consumers of herbal medicine alike, it is important that we understand our individual and collective roles in ensuring that these plants are not used to extinction, but are protected for future generations. Only with a combination education and conservation can both our habitats and the vast medicinal knowledge within them be preserved.
