Botanical Medicine

Botanical medicine is a vital component of the healing arts that draws on the accumulated and developing knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants in the prevention and treatment of disease. Botanical medicine includes medical herbalism, a healing art that relies on the synergistic and curative properties of plants to treat symptoms and disease and maintain health, and pharmacognosy, the study of natural products. Botanical medicine has survived for many thousands of years in some form and in all cultures throughout the world.

Plants have been used since prehistoric times as medicinal remedies applied in various ways to provide relief from irritations as minor as a mosquito bite to situations as catastrophic as the plague. In modern medicine, many drugs are derived from plants, and many of these medicines are used in ways that are similar to their traditional uses. Many more drugs in modern medicine, however, are synthetic, and part of the reason for this trend is economic: plants can rarely be patented, so a pharmaceutical company will not gain the exclusive right to sell a plant-derived medication even after expensive research and marketing.

Botanical medicines, when administered properly and in designated therapeutic dosages, can be effective, trigger fewer side effects for most patients than pharmaceutical drugs, and are generally less costly than prescription pharmaceutical drugs.

The benefits of botanical medicine may be subtle or dramatic, depending on the remedy used and the illness being addressed. Herbal remedies usually have a much slower effect than pharmaceutical drugs. Some herbal remedies have a cumulative effect and work slowly over time to restore balance; others are indicated for short-term treatment of acute symptoms. Botanical medicine may be especially beneficial when administered to help with chronic ongoing symptoms.

The botanical medicines used by Dr. Colicci are pharmaceutical grade and chosen for quality controlled manufacturing processes, compliance to FDA Dietary Supplement cGMP’s, raw material ingredient testing procedures and methods, and finished product testing procedures and methods.