The Future of Natural Medicine - Essay Example

This led to its near extinction in United States and U.K., while in Germany, China and India it got sidelined. Today there is a renaissance going on in medical herbalism throughout the world. W.H.O. estimated that more than 80% of the world population depends primarily on herbal medicine for their healthcare needs. In U.K. a recent survey revealed 1/3 of the people do use herbs regularly. [Herb Harvest] In U.S.A. there is a 380% increase in herbal medicine between 1991 and 1997. [Eisenberg et al 1998] The resurgence of the interest in herbal remedies is largely consumer driven.

[70% took herbal medicine by their own information- Eliason et al 1977] This comes by the increasing interest shown by the public and confidence in self medication [Blenkenstop and Bradley 1999] Increased media coverage of the beneficial effects of herbal medicine also played a role in this. Sales of Herbal Medicine increased in U.K.from 27.8 million pounds in 1991 to 38 million pounds in 1996.This is an underestimation since Mintel excluded Garlic and Ginkop from medical category. Actual figures will show this to be 7 times more.

European Union registered 7000 million dollars retail sales of herbal medicine in 1996. In Germany sales of herbal medicine in 1997 was 1.8 billion dollars (I.M.S. 1998) which comes to 1/3 of the O.T.C. [over the counter] sales. In U.S.A. 1994 sale was 1.6 billion dollars while 1998 sales rose to 4 billion dollars.[Brevoort 1998] In France it was 1.1 billion dollars in 1997, 28% of the O.T.C. market [I.M.S. –Institute of Medical Statistics-1998] Reasons for this increased use- An Herb is (also called botanical) a plant or plant part used for its scent, flavor, and / or therapeutic properties.

They can be used singly or in combination. NCCAM [National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine] brought forth a Fact Sheet for creating