The subject of the regulation of herbalists continues. We local herbalists, Jodie Foreman and Hayley Jones of Foreman & Jones, Hythe, organised a rally in Westminster last year to promote the statutory regulation of herbalists, and Hayley was interviewed by the Independent newspaper and heard nothing more of it. And lo and behold, yesterday we were featured in the paper! The article obviously approaches both sides of the argument, and shows the very different points of view on the matter. It is interesting that the first picture in the article has a caption that says “Monkscap or Wolfsbane. The root and daisy-like flower of Arnica (also known as Wolfsbane) are often used for skin wounds, infections and inflammation (red, irritated skin). If taken by mouth it can be poisonous and has been known to cause serious reactions.” Please take this with a pinch of salt, as Arnica is not Monkscap or Wolfsbane, it is Arnica, and neither of these herbs is administered by mouth by herbalists - they’ve got a few things confused there!
This is interesting because Arnica is not administered by mouth – it is not an internal medicine! It is used in small dilutions in creams. This seems to be a little sensationalist, as is the headline!
Foreman & Jones feel that when people speak about herbal medicine they lump together unscrupulous imported herbal products (which may have been adulterated with poisonous plants or pharmaceuticals) with prescribed herbal medicines from trained herbalists. The two are very different and there are many shades of grey in between. Even speaking about trained herbalists there is a large area of scope – we both trained via 4-year degrees in herbal medicine and are members of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH). Currently however there is no legal requirement for a person to be trained to call themselves a herbalist, so you can see this can be very confusing for people who are trying to understand the issue.
We obviously use herbal medicines to treat many common ills such as headaches, sleeplessnes, fertility problems, digestive complaints, circulatory disorders and immune system compaints and many people who have been told they will ‘just have to live with it’. We feel very passionately about natural health and the power that we all have to improve the way that we feel.
We will let you read the article and make up your own mind!
Hayley Jones in the Independent January 2010
Link to the Independent website
