Medical herbalists are now treating a wide range of medical conditions. Sylvia Thompsonexplains why.
WESTERN HERBAL medicine, the tradition and practice of treating people with whole herbs grown in the western world, is becoming more mainstream.
Although still often a choice for patients dissatisfied with orthodox medicine, medical herbalists in Ireland are now treating patients with medical conditions ranging from high cholesterol to infertility.
On Saturday next, a panel of medical herbalists will give public talks about their experiences of treating patients in this holistic health approach as part of the Irish Institute of Medical Herbalists conference at the Cork Institute of Technology, Bishopstown, Cork.
Medical herbalist and qualified medical doctor Dr Dilis Clare will speak about heart health and, in particular, the herbal medicine approach to high cholesterol.
"The problem with patients with high cholesterol is that GPs don't have the time to talk people through various approaches to treat their condition," according to Clare.
"I believe that there are too many people on drugs to treat high cholesterol.
"Many of those on such medication should be seeing dietitians or herbalists to treat their condition," she says.
When treating a patient with high cholesterol, Clare takes a multi-pronged approach. "I look at exercise, diet, sleep patterns and stress levels before choosing herbs that will treat that particular patient.
"It's important to look at what's happening at a physiological level which means asking patients if they suffer from fluid retention or bloatedness.
"If you treat the circulatory system with herbs that will nourish the arteries, veins and capillaries, the cholesterol will flow through them and won't get stuck and cause inflammation."
In terms of diet, Clare says that high cholesterol is as much a sugar disease as a fat disease because sugars and fats are metabolised into each other in the body.
"The first thing I do is ask people about exercise because if they are burning off their energy, there will be less of a problem," she says.
"It's also important to ensure there are high enough levels of fibre and essential fatty acids in the diet.
"And, onions and garlic work directly to reduce cholesterol so if they aren't taking these in their diet, they should take a garlic supplement."
Clare believes most people can carry out only three small changes per month to help improve their condition.
"For that reason, a therapeutic relationship with someone knowledgeable is important to help them monitor their condition."
Áine Marie O'Reilly is a medical herbalist who works in the Lismore Clinic in Lismore, Co Waterford. Over the past while, she has built up a strong reputation helping couples with infertility problems.
"I even have people coming to me from Dublin," she says.
"Sometimes, I see couples early in the process of wanting to have a baby - which is easier because they are less stressed - but then I also see others who want support through in vitro fertilisation [ IVF].
"It's still little known that herbal medicine works well with hormonal problems. I spend an hour getting a good clinical picture of the hormonal levels and physical symptoms during the menstrual cycle.
"For instance, I have treated women who have had amenorrhea or polycystic ovarian syndrome who have then gone on to become pregnant within months," she explains.
According to O'Reilly, it's also important to check out the man as 50 per cent of infertility problems are male in origin.
"I've also seen patients who have had failed IVF attempts and I think that often there is not enough emphasis placed on nourishing the woman's body before implantation of the fertilised egg."
Both Clare and Áine Marie O'Reilly will speak at the public seminar on herbal medicine on Saturday in the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT).
Alison Morton, medical herbalist and lecturer in herbal medicine at the University of Lincoln, will also speak at the seminar. Her paper is on the herbal medicine approach to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
"I interviewed eight herbalists about their approach to ADHD and their experiences backed up the orthodox view that it is a multifactorial condition with genetic, environmental and dietary aspects," she explains.
However, according to Morton, there is a significant difference in the approach taken by orthodox professionals and medical herbalists.
"As herbalists, we look on ADHD as a condition of deficiency rather than one of excess, and herbal treatments concentrate on improving the nutrition of the child and his/her general health and wellbeing rather than on the behaviour itself," she says.
"So, we ask children with ADHD how they are feeling. We ask them questions like is their appetite good? Are their energy levels good? Are they sleeping well?"
According to Morton, this focus on the physiological processes helps put the child back in control of feeling well.
Other speakers at the CIT seminar are Dr Fiona O'Reilly, a GP in Clonakilty, Co Cork (whose theme is Integrated Medicine - the future of healthcare), medical herbalist Rosari Kingston ( Herbal Medicine and the Irish tradition) and Yaso Shan, a London-based medical herbalist who will speak about Holistic medicine - treating the person, not the condition.