Phytotherapy it is the science that studies medicinal plants and their use in the treatment of diseases. The word "herbal medicine" comes from the Greek terms therapy = treatment + phyton = plant and means "plant therapy".
It is one of the oldest therapeutic practices used by man. Its origin goes back to the year 8,500 a. C., based on popular knowledge (ethnobotany) and scientific experience (ethnopharmacology).
Once considered a popular and alternative medicine, herbal medicine today has been increasingly used and recognized in medical and scientific circles, mainly due to products with proven therapeutic action scientifically.
Isolating the active principle of plants and studying their pharmacological mechanisms is one of the priorities of pharmacology.
Until the active ingredient is not isolated, medicinal plants are used as home remedies, mainly in the form of teas, ultra-dilutions or in the industrialized form, through the homogeneous extract of the plant.
Herbal medicine x Herbal medicine
The concepts of herbal medicine and herbal medicine are different. Herbal medicine is a pharmaceutical preparation that uses plant parts as raw material (leaves, stems, roots, flowers, seeds) with known pharmacological effects.
Herbal medicine, on the other hand, encompasses phytopharmacological preparations, herbal medicines and the popular use of plants themselves.
Read about the Definition of Holistic Therapy.