¿Qué es la Fitoterapia?🌿🥼

What is phytotherapy? We can divide the word "phytotherapy" into two parts, making it easy to understand what it is: "phyto" means plant, "therapy" means therapy, or treatment. We speak of phytotherapy when we use substances of plant origin to relieve symptoms, prevent, or cure a multitude of diseases. In other words, it is the use of plants or parts of them for therapeutic purposes. When we use formulations containing medicinal plants, we are using a natural remedy, and this is how diseases began to be treated before synthetic medications existed. From plants to modern drugs The use of medicinal plants began to be displaced by modern synthetic medications, and we quickly forgot about plants, but this does not mean that they are ineffective or that they can be consumed without consulting a doctor. As we will see later, there are several ways to consume medicinal plants. Drugs made from plants, like any medication, have indications, doses, interactions, adverse reactions, etc. Therefore, it is important to consult a professional before consuming them, especially if you have any other pre-existing conditions. Let's go back in time and tell you that medicinal plants were used by ancient civilizations to treat illnesses and ailments. Thanks to the documents and studies collected throughout history, today we can obtain all kinds of effective drugs or active ingredients to treat diseases. The origins of medicine in both the West and the East have something in common: the use of medicinal plants and a broad concept of health, which encompassed prevention, healing, hygiene, nutrition, physical activity, and even the environment. We can discuss them later on the blog, if you're interested. Current medicines derived from plants I want to give you two specific examples to help you understand the importance of medicinal plants today: 1. Morphine, a powerful analgesic for treating acute pain. It was obtained in the 19th century from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). 2. Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid, a synthetic drug from the late 19th century, used as an analgesic, fever reducer, and anti-inflammatory. Aspirin was obtained from one of the active ingredients in willow bark (Salix sepulcralis). What is a Phytopharmaceutical? As we did at the beginning, we can also split the word into two and understand what "phyto" means: a plant, a "drug" means a drug, or a medicine. Phytopharmaceuticals are medicines that contain active ingredients exclusively of plant origin, meaning they use plants or parts of them that have a therapeutic action. Phytopharmaceuticals are manufactured with active ingredients that come from standardized plant extracts. In simple terms, this means we know exactly what the preparation contains. Difference between a Phytopharmaceutical and a Medicinal Plant A medicinal plant that we traditionally use to treat a symptom is not the same as a medicine made from a medicinal plant, and the difference lies in the extraction and composition. As I mentioned above, phytopharmaceuticals are finished and labeled medicinal products, where the standardized active ingredients are obtained from plants or parts of them. A medicinal plant, on the other hand, is the plant that we will use for therapeutic purposes. A medicinal plant is neither more nor less than the plant or parts of a plant that we will use directly or make a preparation ourselves for therapeutic purposes, such as infusions, decoctions, tinctures, medicinal wines, etc. Difference between a Phytopharmaceutical and a Synthetic Drug The difference with a phytopharmaceutical is that the active ingredients have different origins. In the case of synthetic drugs, their origin lies in an active ingredient obtained artificially in the laboratory, and in the case of phytopharmaceuticals, they lie in plant extracts from medicinal plants. Thank you for watching and being on the other side of the video. Every comment and like is always super appreciated because they really help a lot! My pharmacy office: https://bit.ly/3hL48Dj And my posts with all the free extended information: https://bit.ly/3kkmxIK There's more content, and we can meet on other social media platforms: TikTok: farmaceuticanatural: https://bit.ly/3hJekMl Instagram: farmaceutica.natural: Facebook: farmaceuticanatural: https://bit.ly/3x62C2M If you want to be part of my community, enjoy exclusive content, or simply support my project, I'll leave you my Patreon:   / farmaceuticanatural