What is the difference between herbal medicine and homeopathy?
Many a time people ask me: "So how's the homeopathy going?", only to look embarrased when I inform them that I do not actually practise homeopathy.
There is a common misconception that herbal medicine and homeopathy are one and the same - a point which was confirmed when I studied perceptions and usage of Western herbal medicine for my MSc dissertation. The two are, however, quite distinct.
Herbal medicine uses whole plant extracts (in the form of tinctures, teas, tablets, creams etc) in order to utilise a plant's active constituents which can then have a physiological effect on the human body.
Homeopathy uses substances (which may be plant based, but not necessarily so) in a hugely diluted form, so that no molecule of the original substance remains. Instead, homeopathy relies on the 'memory of water' theory, where water is thought to be capable of storing information relating to substances with which it has previously been in contact. This memory is then thought to be able to have an effect.
The topic of differences between herbal medicine and homeopathy, along with changes to the herbal market, was reported in the press recently, and can be found on The Daily Express website.