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by the discovery of penicillin. This trend continues today, with products from natural sources (like plants,
fungi, and marine microorganisms) or their analogs contributing significantly to commercial drug
preparations.

Examples are numerous and include antibiotics (e.g., penicillin); the cardiac drug digoxin from foxglove
(Digitalis purpurea); salicylic acid, the precursor to aspirin, from willow bark (Salix spp.); reserpine, an
antipsychotic and antihypertensive drug, from Rauwolfia spp.; and antimalarials like quinine. Furthermore,
over 60% of cancer therapeutics currently on the market or in clinical trials are based on natural products. Of
177 drugs approved globally for cancer treatment, over 70% are based on or mimic natural products, many of
which are enhanced using combinatorial chemistry. These include paclitaxel (from the Pacific yew tree),
camptothecin (from the Chinese “happy tree,” Camptotheca acuminata), and combretastatin (from the South
African bush willow). It is estimated that approximately 25% of all drugs prescribed worldwide are derived
from plants.

Principles of herbal treatment

Cleansing: detoxification and elimination

A core assumption in nearly all traditional practice is that before healing can occur, harmful influences must
be removed. Disease was commonly viewed as a failure of the body's elimination systems. The symptoms of
acute diseases—such as vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, sweating (diaphoresis), and urination (diuresis)—were
interpreted as the body's driven effort to expel pathogens. In Chinese medicine, the development of chronic
disease was seen as a sign that these acute eliminatory responses had failed, allowing the pathogen to penetrate
"into the interior."

The goal of herbal treatment was thus to support these eliminatory functions as strongly as possible, relative
to the body’s vital reserves. Consequently, eliminatory measures were typically the first stage of therapy,
which would then be followed by more adjustive and sustaining treatments.

Heating: moving the circulation

The use of "heating" remedies is a frequent feature in every tradition. The most potent were the "pungent"
remedies like hot spices for internal use, though a wide range of gentler warming remedies also existed. They
were applied in various ways: as aromatic digestives for a "cold" or failing digestive system, as warming
expectorants for cold and dampness in the chest, or as "yang tonics" (in Traditional Chinese Medicine) to

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