Botanical Medicine and Herbal Remedies

Practicing what is known as botanical medicine or phytotherapy, herbalists use plants as remedial agents. Herbs work differently from pharmaceutical drugs because they are mixtures rather than single isolated chemicals. The combination of chemical constituents in herbs creates a synergistic effect. In other words, the use of a whole herb is much more effective and often much safer than the use of isolated chemicals, even if these are derived from the same plant.

Because of this, herbal medicines are much more balanced in their effects and have much fewer side effects than pharmaceutical drugs. This doesn't mean, however, that an herb is simply used instead of a drug. As an herbalist in New York, Dr. Hanson believes herbal medicines are most effective when used within the framework of a distinct therapeutic system, such as traditional Chinese medicine, or traditional Western herbalism or Ayurveda.

In these systems an herbal medicine is thought to have an energetic influence above and beyond its chemical effect. A commonly described quality of herbs, for example, is temperature. Mint is universally described as cooling while aconite is always denoted as warming.

As a New York herbalist, Dr. Hanson takes into account both the traditional energetic value ascribed to an herb as well as the contemporary scientific research when recommending herbal medicines to his patients. He believes that the most effective approach to healing integrates the accumulated wisdom of traditional herbal medicine and the rigorous methodology of modern research.

Herbs are administered either alone, according to specific indications, or together with other herbs in a formula. Dr. Hanson, herbalist NYC, usually recommends herbs in a tincture form because these are the easiest to absorb and because this makes adjusting the dose convenient.

Dr. Hanson, herbalist New York, has received extensive training in the interactions between herbal medicine and pharmaceutical medication. He selects only safe and non-toxic herbs for use with patients. When recommending herbal medicines, Dr. Hanson takes great care in selecting the best products available. If an herbal formula is not available commercially, Dr. Hanson will often prepare it for patients on an individual basis. If he feels that a certain single herb is best suited for a certain patient and that herb is not available commercially, he will, when possible, harvest that herb from the wild and prepare the tincture for the patient.