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Phytotherapy or herbal medicine
Phyto-Gemmo
Phytotherapy (phyto, this word comes from the Greek “phytos” which means plant and “therapeuo” which means to cure) is an ancestral traditional medicine based on the use of the natural pharmacological properties of the molecules contained in the plants.
It is one of the oldest forms of treatment which continues to play an important role in Africa and Asia through the use of medicinal plants.
Today in the West, it designates a set of remedies considered by part of the scientific community as unconventional medicines.
It represents one of the 5 pillars of Naturopathy according to Hippocrates: Vis medicatrix naturae: phytotherapy supports
There are various Galenic forms (The term “galenic” comes from Galen, doctor of Ancient Rome, secondly renowned after Hippocrates). By galenic, we must understand the form of administration and therefore also the mode of manufacture and absorption by the body of the chosen plant.
There are a number of dosage forms in herbal medicine which are not all equivalent in terms of efficacy.
We distinguish between classic / ancestral Galenics (infusion, decoction, maceration, mother tincture) but also modern / contemporary Galenics such as capsules or tablets.
Gemmotherapy
Gemmotherapy is a natural therapy which consists in using the properties of the embryonic tissues of growing plants: buds, young trees and shrubs. It can be defined as a global energy cell therapy.
Historically, it was in the Middle Ages, under the impulse of alchemical philosophy, that buds began to be used for therapeutic purposes. The old pharmacopoeias mention more specifically the use of poplar buds in the preparation of poplar ointment and fir buds for the preparation of herbal teas and a pectoral syrup.
It was in the 1960s that gemmotherapy was created by Pol Henry, a Belgian homeopath. He published the results of his research and clinical tests in 1970 and called this new therapy “Phytembryotherapy”. This discipline was taken up and further developed by Dr. Max Tétau, who called it “Gemmotherapy“, the origin of the name comes from the word “gemmae“, “bud” in Latin.
