Hoffmann, David. The herbal handbook: a user’s guide to medical herbalism. Rochester, Vermont: Healing Arts Press, 1988. ISBN 0-89281-275-3. 240 p. Index and Bibliography.
In twelve chapters, this handbook instructs and advises the reader on the medicinal actions of herbs. Included in this handbook are Herbal Actions, Aromatherapy, the Chemistry of Plants, Body Systems, Herbal Pharmacy (how to prepare herbs for ointments, teas, baths, syrups, tinctures, etc.), and Becoming a Medical Herbalist. Together with evidence of herbal actions on bodily systems, Hoffmann’s belief in a holistic approach extends to Herb Gardens and Cultivation, Herbs and Cooking, Using Dye Plants, and Pot-Pourris. He explains that holism suggests the validity of many types of healing resources.
This is a wonderful handbook! The format offers precise information on herbal actions and bodily systems; the holistic approach encompasses gardens, cooking and other uses of herbs and enriches our vocabulary of herbal properties. This makes the book unusual when compared with recent publications that elude information on gardens and cooking, now seen as specialty areas. There are no illustrations, however its format conveys clear and precise advice and as such is consulted easily and quickly.
Hoffmann’s chapter on Body Systems is divided into the Digestive, Circulatory, Respiratory, Lymphatic, Urinary, Reproductive, Nervous, and Musculo-Skeletal systems. Also included are sections on the Ears, Nose and Throat, the Skin, Allergies and Auto-immune problems, the Endocrine Glands and Fevers and Infections. Functions of each system are discussed along with possible diseases or disorders, and these categories of disease or disorder are treated by the major herbs known to have a positive affect on the problem.
Herbal actions are complex with many herbs offering similar actions. We can compare the concept of an herbal action to familiar food and drink. Herbs, such as rosemary, parsley and sage complement foods with distinct taste and culinary style. Yet each of these herbs prepared and taken at dosage level offers medicinal action: Rosemary can be useful with digestive problems that surface as flatulence, headache and debility, as well as muscular pain, sciatica and neuralgia. p.177. Sage, contraindicated at medicinal levels during pregnancy, can otherwise be used as a mouthwash and gargle in cases of laryngitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis and quinsy. p.110.
Herbal Handbook compares nervines and sedatives with hypnotics, pain-killers and anti-spasmodics “… to reduce over-activity of the nervous system.” p.85. Hoffmann recommends we see stress as an adaptation response, but that we need to define the level of stress that affects us adversely. As you discover in Herbal Handbook, herbal actions are integrative. Where physical disease or distress is concerned, an herbal treatment has beneficial effects on more than one bodily system. This is seen with tonics, now known as adaptogens. An adaptogen, “…works to normalize bodily function and stability, and is found in herbs for the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, reproductive and nervous systems.” p. 21. At the time this book was written, the two Ginsengs (Panax ginseng and Eleutherococcus senticossus) were widely recognized as adaptogens for the entire body. A list of tonics for various bodily systems includes Garlic and Hawthorn for the circulatory system, bitters for the digestive system, and Mullein for the respiratory system.
Returning an individual from an agitated or depleted to a normal state, readies the organism for the self-healing qualities it innately possesses. Normalizing a condition, then, is seen as the goal in healing that is obtained from external sources such as medicinal herbs.
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