Abstract
Medicinal plants represent the oldest source of pharmacotherapy used by mankind. A
considerable number of traditional systems of medicine (folk medicine) have emerged
over the last millennia under different cultural conditions. Even nowadays, the majority
of people in less developed countries have to rely on herbal remedies as primary health
care. Based on scientific and technical progress, the options to produce high quality
herbal medicinal products have been largely improved in the last decades. The acceptance
of phytotherapy as a “natural and mild alternative” to synthetic drugs is very high
within the general public in developed countries and, from a global perspective, sales
figures of herbal medicines are constantly rising. However, we still face many issues
in this field. In contrast to the popularity of herbal medicinal products, physicians
and their respective societies often have a very critical view of them. Besides dogmatic
obstacles, this is based on the frequently missing clinical trials that clearly demonstrate
their efficacy and/or safety. This perspective discusses the reasons and implications
of the lack of scientific evidence and also of the wrong understanding of the principles
of rational phytotherapy.
Key words
herbal medicinal products - plant extracts - evidence-based phytotherapy - clinical
efficacy
