Putting Patients First
Integrated healthcare is at the heart of my philosophy because it offers a truly patient-centred approach. Not only do patients benefit from being under the care of at least two healthcare professionals, but practitioners also get to share skills and knowledge that would be unavailable otherwise. Whilst we may have very different approaches to healthcare, we share the same goal of helping our patients back to a good state of health. With the integration of both homeopathy and acupuncture into the NHS, many western herbalists are also keen to offer their services. In comparison to acupuncture western herbal medicine has a relatively low profile, partially due to subsidies offered by the Chinese government for rent on high street premises. However western herbal medicine uses European herbs and systems of treatment which are indigenous to this part of the world, and equally effective. It’s often argued that there is insufficient scientific evidence to support the use of western herbal medicine in the NHS, and yet the energetic effects of both acupuncture and homeopathy are far more mysterious. Herbal medicine works on these levels as well as having pharmacologically active constituents which can be analysed for their healing properties.
Tried and Tested
In ten years of practice I have never been asked by a patient to produce scientific evidence that herbal medicine works as part of their treatment, as people find it easier to relate to anecdotes and a recommendation often motivates someone to try herbal treatment. It appears to be mainly the medical profession that demands scientific proof for the efficacy of herbal medicine, and thankfully now there are plenty of good studies freely available. The relative lack of studies into herbal medicine is largely due to the huge variations in constituents between herbs, and the holistic methods used by herbalists. Herbal medicine uses the whole herb to treat the whole person, and the correct one is chosen for the particular stage of illness that the patient is in at the time. This is vastly different to treatment with pharmaceutical drugs which are far more generically used, and the more mechanistic approach that goes with it. Herbalists have gained a deep anecdotal understanding of how our herbs work over many generations, but only recently have we started to discover more about their pharmacological actions. Quality studies into herbal medicine are frequently published on websites like Medline Plus and journals such as the The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Recent examples include:
- When compared with Mefanamic acid and Ibuprofen, Ginger was found to be as effective in treating dysmennhorea in a double blind trial involving 150 women.
- An in vitro study in India found Marigold to have strong antibacterial actions against Staphyllococcus aureus, Eschericia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Psudomonas aeruginosa.
Saving You Time & Money
With the ever increasing pressure on the NHS to save time and money, complementary therapies such as herbal medicine could potentially play a vital role in helping to meet targets. Herbal medicine aims to treat the underlying causes of illness, working in a truly holistic way to try and get a complete resolution of symptoms. When talking to patients in depth we start to uncover numerous possible reasons why they became unwell, and in many cases there are psychological and emotional elements as well as physiological ones. Over time we can address these on all levels and usually achieve a significant improvement. In many cases patients are able to drastically reduce their medication or come off it altogether, contributing in a small way to a reduction of costs for the NHS. Wherever possible most Herbalists would prefer to manage this with support from a patient’s GP, although sometimes the patient is too concerned about their GP's reaction to ask them.
In Safe Hands
It's a common misconception that Herbalists are not medically trained and therefore incapable of forming diagnosis. Within a few years Herbalists working in all disciplines will become state registered in the same way as nurses and midwives. It's hoped that this will encourage a closer working relationship between the medical profession and western medical herbalists. In the meantime it's a question of 'buyer beware'. The National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) is the oldest and largest body of western medical herbalists in the world, with one of it’s founder members Jesse Boot of Boots the Chemist. Established in 1864, the NIMH will only accept members who have undergone at least three years formal training in Herbal Medicine at an accredited University or college, such as the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine.
Training includes:
Anatomy & Physiology
Communication, counselling & case history taking
Clinical & diagnostic skillsClinical training (a minimum of 200 hours in supervised consultations)
Herbal materia medica & therapeutics.
Pharmacy & pharmacology (both herbal and pharmaceutical)
Law & ethics.
This provides a strong foundation of knowledge in the fields of both conventional and complementary medicine, and following graduation some herbalists go on to specialise in areas such as cancer or paediatrics. NIMH members are also required to attend post graduate seminars as part of their CPD.
Herb Drug Interactions
We’re making great headway in our understanding of herb-drug interactions, with several well researched books now on the market. On a very general level, it’s unusual to see herb-drug interactions when a patient is under a herbalist, and possible interactions or contraindications can be reported by NIMH members using their yellow card system. I have access to the CAMLIS library and other resources which give the latest research findings on herb-drug interactions, and am happy to answer any enquiries from other healthcare professionals.
Working Together
Whilst herbalists are capable of forming a diagnosis, in relation to GP’s they see far fewer patients so are not exposed to the same variety of health conditions. The majority of our work involves seeing patients with chronic illnesses, many of whom have been unable to achieve the results they’d hoped for even after trying many forms of medication. Our ability to spend a considerable amount of time in consultation enables us to gain valuable insights into our patient’s state of health, and quickly get to the root cause of their presenting complaint. In many cases this has lead to patients being formally referred back to their GP because the herbalist has observed something that had previously been overlooked. Quite often this will result in the patient’s treatment taking a new direction which brings a lasting improvement. Other advantages of working together include:
- Improved support with diagnosis from GP’s.
- Better accessibility of specialist knowledge between herbalists and GP’s, practice nurses, psychiatric nurses, midwives, dentists, etc.
- Greater understanding of herb-drug interactions.
- Better ability to measure progress made with herbal treatment using diagnostic tests.
But most importantly, our patients benefit from being looked after by at least two health care professionals working in partnership. Patients are better able to make informed choices about their care, whilst practitioners gain a mutual understanding of the different approaches used.
