Talk:Rauwolfia

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Firstly there is no such thing as the 'Modern Western Medical system'. The level of grammar in the same sentence also leads to suspicion and doubt as to the scientific validity of the satement. Homoeopathy is not medicine, in any case it may be harmful. Doctors study hard and are examed intensely and so are trusted to communicate scientific research to the population. Seeing this kind of information circulate not only reminds one of the mass of ignorance that pervades this field, but of the uneducated and therefore harmful nature of this kind of information.

Actually, there is a significant difference between homeopathy (where a substance is diluted to the point where no active agents are present) and herbal medicine (where one or more plants are ingested, usually as an extract).

Digoxin, for example, is used in conventional medicine, and is extracted from digitalis aka foxglove. This is an excellent example of well-documented herbal medicine.

Obviously, not all herbal medicine is well-documented, and not all of it works as advertised.

But this article is about Rauwolfia, which contains several active agents, the most interesting of which is reserpine, which is an antipsychotic agent that works by depleting monoamine stores, which in turn has well-known, well-documented effects.

Obviously, the exact quantity of reserpine for a given weight of the Rauwolfia plant will vary, which is why serious manufacturers will use standardized extracts instead, where the amount of the active ingredient will be sampled, and the batch is then diluted to a known strength. Of course, not all suppliers are concerned with consistent quality, and back in the days when herbal medicine was more of an art than a science, one would have no way to determine the quality, leading to variable efficacy.

I agree that the phrasing 'Modern Western Medical system' is inappropriate, and I will change it to 'conventional western medicine' instead, which is a more accurate term to describe what the author probably intended.

Hope this clarifies the matter. Zuiram 06:30, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Did this confuse anyone else?

"Others: Dangers outweigh any benefits. Don't use."

What?

I didn't take it down because I'm not absolutely sure.... but I think this section is basically telling me that quinine (tonic water) is unsafe. It says something funny about amino acids as well. --Haikon 00:10, 14 March 2007 (UTC)