Herbal treatments offer hopes for modern ills

Herbal treatments offer hopes for modern ills

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The study and application of medicinal properties in parts of
certain plants has been undertaken since the ancient times in
various parts of the world.

However, this practice has gradually decreased following
significant improvements and breakthroughs in modern medicine
over the past few decades. This has led to growing skepticism
among the public and modern health practitioners regarding the
effectiveness of herbal-based medicines to cure diseases.

Concerns aired by those who oppose the use of herbal
treatments mainly stem from a failure to clearly express the
composition, usage and dosage, preparation techniques, warnings
and hygiene for safe usage of such treatments.

Despite this blow, many people still believe in the healing
properties of herbal treatments, concocted with centuries-old
techniques. Traditional society preserves the knowledge to
relieve their health problems, from coughs, boils, burn wounds to
more serious diseases like cancer and hepatitis.

Setiawan Dalimartha, a medicinal plants expert, said that some
400 out of 1,400 plants with medicinal properties have been
scientifically proven to be safe and are widely used by people in
certain countries.

The types of plants vary widely, including vegetables, fruit
plants, decorative plants or trees, like coleus scutellarioides
and bungur trees (lagerstroemia speciosa) and other flowering
plants like tembelekan (prickly lantana) and tapak dara
(catharanthus roseus).

Some plants like kemuning (orange jasmine), murbei (mulberry)
and senggugu (clerodendron serratum) possess healing properties
in every part of the plants, while other plants have them in one
or more parts, like tea leaves and akar daruju (the root of
acanthus ilicifolius).

"Compared to chemical-based modern medication, the medicinal
properties of plants can be absorbed by the body without being
accumulated in the organs, making them safer to consume compared
to the modern alternatives," Setiawan said during an interview at
his clinic in Daan Mogot area, West Jakarta.

Herbal-based traditional medications are slow acting but have
constructive and beneficial effects for overall health, he said,
while chemical-based modern medications react quickly but may
have destructive effects.

"Thanks to modern research on the properties and usage of
medicinal plants, the use of medicinal plants has expanded, not
only to maintain general health and cure simple diseases, but
also to treat chronic and degenerative diseases like diabetes
mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, rheumatism and
cancer," he said, while also indicating the beneficial
combination of modern and traditional medicines.

Setiawan, who has written 15 books on herbal-based treatments,
explained that, according to Chinese traditional herbal therapy,
it is important to combine several herbs with different
functions. This means that, in addition to the main herbs,
supportive herbs are added to intensify the medicinal effect of
the main herbs, some herbs to lessen the negative effects of the
main herbs and some others to help transport the properties to
organs.

"This four-tiered combination can induce the optimal healing
effect," he said.

Just like modern drugs, he added, the healing properties of
the plants can only be obtained by fulfilling certain
requirements that include choosing the right plants (because
there are plants that look similar but do not possess healing
properties), the right dosage, adopting the right preparation
techniques and the use of proper equipment.

Setiawan, who is also a member of the Jakarta chapter of the
Center for Development and Applications of Traditional
Medications (Sentra P3T) pointed out that failure to fulfill the
requirements would lessen the beneficial effects of the plants.

"Many people are skeptical of herbal treatments. This is
because they fail to formulate them properly," he said, while
also referring to many fake herbalists who have played a role in
damaging the image of herbal treatments by making unjust healing
claims of their herbal products.

When it comes to commercialized jamu (Indonesian traditional
herbal medicine) products, Setiawan advised people to go for
products from major companies. "These companies would ensure
proper handling of the raw ingredients they use while still in
the plantation field, the processing and the storing of the final
products," he said.

It is also advisable to buy jamu products in moderate
quantities and store them in a clean, dry place to ensure that
the product maintains a powdery appearance and the aroma of dried
herbs.

"If the jamu has become lumpy with a strange aroma, discard
it. It may have been contaminated with a fungus and could be
hazardous to your health," he warned.