Herbs and Weeds #5

What differentiated Künzle's book from both the academic as well as several of the popular herbals that had been published previously was his inclusion of general health advice (non-herbal suggestions) and the description of the procedures for using herbs (collection, preparation, applications, duration of use, where appropriate). Most herb books austerely present the individual herbs with information about their characteristics and indications, but little or nothing more about the actual context of using them. In that sense, they are not practical, but simply a reservoir of information.

Today, it is common for many people, even those with very limited experience with herbs, to write books that give all kinds of health advice and recommended formulas. Unfortunately, many of these books quickly reveal the limited wisdom and experience of the writer, leaving one with a despairing sense of isolation from a viable tradition. Therefore, we are fortunate to have as inspiration such a well-respected herbalist as Künzle to guide us through European herbalism of the 20th century. At the time of this writing, his manufactured formulas have been in widespread use for 80 years and retain the respect of European consumers. Based on the information now available about herbs, these formulas can be seen to deserve continued admiration. The recommended uses of the herbal combinations appear appropriate from the modern perspective of active constituents and their pharmacology as well as from the herb properties attributed to the ingredients over the centuries. Further, several of the recommendations for healthy living that Künzle emphasized still seem worth following even though most people have long ignored such common sense suggestions.

One of the things that has changed over the years since Künzle's passing is the improved quality control over herb product manufacturing and the greatly increased knowledge of herbal active constituents and their pharmacology. In Herbs and Weeds, Künzle was only able to mention the existence of general groups of ingredients (such as aromatic components) and only one chemical compound, salicylic acid (the basis of aspirin, found in the European herbs willow bark and meadowsweet). The chemical components in herbs were believed to be responsible for their medicinal effects then as now, but today we can identify many thousands of individual chemical compounds and provide detailed mechanisms of action by which they affect the body.

There has been some change in the context in which herbs are taken. There is greater emphasis on use of manufactured products rather than items collected by the consumer (or an herbal prescriber). Thus, for example, after describing the use of willow bark, Künzle mentions that this material is relatively easy to get from basket weavers. That may well have been so then, but not now. Today, there are a growing number of vaccines to prevent diseases that make some of the hundred-year-old therapies virtually obsolete, at least for those applications, such as treating measles, chicken pox, and whooping cough. Herbs that were previously regarded as safe to use have become restricted or banned from use due to rare instances of adverse reactions, usually from prolonged consumption of the herbs (compared to shorter term use that was characteristic of earlier herbal practice) and from use of the herbs by persons with unusual medical conditions. These and other differences between the current situation and the world that was depicted by Künzle in his book have made portions of his original text outdated and in need of revision: hence, the potential value of the current work. Since most individuals do not have easy access to all the individual herbs, and would not be satisfied with purchasing them individually and blending them according to imprecisely reported formulas, the presentation of Künzle-inspired formulations in convenient tea bag form (as described in Chapter 7) makes the information about the medicinal properties of the herbs, rather than their appearance and collection methods, that much more useful.

http://www.itmonline.org/kunzle/index.htm