The Safety of Herbal Medicine: From Prejudice to Evidence

About 100 years ago, natural herbs were the main remedy for treating human diseases. It has been estimated that 25% of modern medicines are made from plants first used traditionally [1], such as aspirin, artemisinin, ephedrine, and paclitaxel. However, there is limited scientific evidence to establish the safety and efficacy of most herbal products [2]. With thewide application of chemical drugs, herbalmedicine and other traditional therapies have shown sharp contraction. As a country with rich herbal resource, China is not an exception. In recent decades, spectrum of disease has shifted and the complex chronic diseases have become themain part. The effect of Western medicine treatment is not satisfactory and problems of the adverse drug reaction are also very prominent. The complementary and alternative treatment, especially the herbalmedicine, has gainedmore attention and has also become popular. About 80% of people worldwide rely on herbal medicines for some aspects of their primary health care [1]. In 2008, the global market for herbal remedies was about USD 83 billion, and now it is about 100 billion (see http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/). In China, the industry output value of Chinese patent medicines reached about USD 80 billion in 2013.