Did you know that approximately 74% of all drugs introduced in the US in the last 25 years have come from nature? There are at least 120 distinct chemical substances derived from plants that are considered as important drugs currently in use in one or more countries in the world. Scientists have long used nature for drug development. Aspirin is famously obtained from the willow bark tree and morphine from california poppy. Digoxin, a drug used for heart failure and arrythmia's, is from the Foxglove plant. Another example of this is the plant chemical named taxol. The name taxol is the name of the plant chemical orginally discovered in the plant. A pharmaceutical company copied this chemical and patented a drug named Paclitaxel which is used in various types of tumors today in the U.S. and many other countries. Another similar example is the plant chemical, silymarin, shown in the drug column below. Silymarin is a chemical found in the milk thistle plant and natural milk thistle extracts standarized to contain specific amounts of silymarin are found in just about every health food store in the United States. However, in Germany, silymarin drugs and milk thistle standardized extracts are sold only in pharmacies and require a doctor's prescription for liver problems. Before you go knocking or doubting the effectiveness of botanical medicine, understand that it is the original medicine and modern medicine wouldn't be anything without it's roots in Herbalism. Some of us would just rather go with the original source since the herb, when used correctly, does not come with all of the unwanted risks and side effects from altering it and adding synthetic things to it in a lab. #empoweredhealing #naturallynourished #theoriginalmedicine #herbalism #botanicalmedicine #thefacts #herbs (at Naturally Nourished)