Phytomedicine, or herbal medicine, is the use of botanical remedies to treat illness. Herbal healing is considered by many to be the oldest form of medicine and has been used by all races, religions, and cultures throughout the world.
Herbal medicine can be used to treat most conditions which are amenable to conventional medical treatment and may be helpful in the treatment of medical conditions where no effective conventional therapies exist. There are herbs that can reduce inflammation, relieve pain, inhibit tumor growth, and prevent infection.
While most western conventional drugs have one or two specific actions, an individual herb can display multiple actions within the body. When properly administered, herbal medicines generally have far fewer side effects than pharmaceutical drugs.
Herbal medicine is very beneficial in the treatment of cancer. One of the most appropriate and effective uses of herbs is to help reestablish an underlying balance and general state of health of the patient after the patient has been rendered “cancer-free” with conventional therapies.
Herbs may also be used as an adjunct to ongoing conventional cancer therapies to offset the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy, enhance the patient’s immune system and aid in tumor reduction itself. As with chemotherapy, different cancers require treatment using different treatment principles and herbs.
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