Question: Hi, i'm from Africa and there we mostly use traditional herbs for treatments of diseases such as diarrhea and thyphoid.It is possible that these traditional medecine are more effective than the drugs bought frm chemist

Audra Benjamin answered on 12 Mar 2012:

Modern medicines are usually made from traditional medicines. Scientist find the active ingredient in the traditional medicine and mass produce it, for example, willow bark had been used for many centuries to relieve pain before the active ingredient, acetylsalicylic acid, was isolated in the 1800’s and sold as aspirin, which we still use today.

I don’t know if traditional medicines are more effective but they may have other compounds that are not in the modern medicince, which make them work better. Something else to consider with modern medicine, is that when you take a tablet you know exactly how much of the active ingredient is in there, with traditional medicine, it is up to the skill of the herbalist to ensure that you are getting the right amount.