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Authors
Hans Rausch (lchenhausen/Neu-Ulm), Sven Schröder (Hamburg), Thomas Friedemann(Hamburg), Silke Cameron (Göttingen), Kenny Kuchta (Göttingen), Marius Konrad (Neu-Ulm)
Abstract
In this text contribution, a general overview of the European Traditional Herbal Medicine was compiled by German experts under the leadership of Hans Rausch. Based on the historical development in the form of written documents from about 2100 BC as cuneiform writings and hyroglyphs from the Mesopotamian and ancient Egyptian cultures with fixed recipes and corresponding indications up to modern phytotherapy, the relevant market potentials, regulations and developments are presented. In addition, a list of the important training and research centers as well as organizations, the dosage forms and the evidence base are also general topics.
Further contents include registration and marketing issues, “phyto-generics” and raw material supply of materia medica as well as the on-site cultivation of needed herbals.
An overview of typical phytotherapeutic applications in Europe and the used herbals as well as the relevant herbal secondary constituent classes is also included in tabular form. Furthermore, internal (oral) and external (dermal) applications are discussed. Also, the modern as well as the classical applications(modern European phytotherapy versus traditional European Herbal Medicine) are distinguished in detail.
Keywords
Phytotherapy, market potential, phytotherapeutic application, European Phytomedicine, market regulation and registration, cultivation, history, European health system, product variety, Western herbs, therapeutic fields, indication, application areas
Introduction
The European Traditional Herbal Medicine also called Phytotherapy encompasses the application of herbal medicine for the prevention, treatment and healing of diseases. Due to the manifold effects of phytotherapeutics its basic principles are often difficult to assess. This is compounded by the fact that the combined effects of its huge amount of constituents cannot yet be sufficiently assessed through scientific studies for only a few master constituents.
The term phytotherapy describes use of plants and parts of plants, such as leaves, flowers,roots, fruits and others and their preparations for the prevention and treatment of diseases and health issues. Plants suited to this application have traditionally been referred to as medicinal plants. This resulted in the Latin Species names with “officinalis” which means typically used in the pharmacies of monasteries. Of key importance is the fact that the medicinal plant or its parts are used as a holistic substance. For central registration process at the European Medicine Agency (EMA) one herb or part of herb or extract is seen as one active principle in such kind of remedies. Plant medicines therefore always represent multicomponent mixtures which corresponds to one active agent. In Germany and in most developed European nations, their quality, efficacy and safety must meet the requirements of the national drug legislation, e.g. the German Medicinal Products Act (AMG).