Pharmaceutical drugs are specific in their actions and targeting of pathologies whereas herbals can have a broad range of effects on the physiological system. There are some “drug-like” plant remedies whose actions approach those of pharmaceuticals.
In general, though herbal medicines are aimed at healing and tend to be much gentler in effect. Having said that things can and do go wrong, usually due to the following:
- misidentification of plants
- incorrect preparation
- incorrect administration
Usually, these latter two occur scenarios occur in the hands of inadequately trained naturopathic practitioners.
Although synthetic drugs have only recently been introduced into Western medicine, we trust them over and above natural medicines that have been around for thousands of years. This is because we know far more about them and their effects on the body.
Synthetic drugs are standardized in comparison to natural medicines. They are prepared following strict standard operating procedures whereby each batch is guaranteed to be of the same quality as the last.
