Herbal Medicines- A Revolutionary Change to Equate Tradition to Science

The trend towards the herbal medicines in recent year is well established and widely accepted as safe and effective. Many drugs commonly used today in the developing countries are of herbal origin and many of all the modern prescription drugs contain at least one active ingredient derived from plant material, either obtained from plant extracts or derived from natural plant compounds. Herbal medicines are also known as Botanical medicines or Phytomedicines. They are prepared by using mainly herbs or plants, plant parts and plant products with minimal or no industrial processing or chemical manipulations and are used for medical and therapeutic purposes. Herbal medicines are recognized as "the people's medicines" because of their easy accessibility, safety, and the ease with which they can be prepared. Use of herbal medicines in the treatment of diseases has a long tradition of use outside of conventional medicines. This method is now gradually becoming a more mainstream method of treatment in many countries of the world, because improvements the methods of analysis and quality control of herbs and herbal drugs along with advances in clinical research their efficacy and safety are continuously bringing light the value of herbal medicines in the prevention and treatment of diseases.