Phytopharmaceutical quality prevails

Herbal medicines: Quality prevails

26/01/2012

The good news beforehand: The trust of patients in the herbal medicines continues unabated. More than two-thirds of the population uses natural remedies and, above all, values ​​the efficacy and tolerability of high-quality phytopharmaceuticals. Doctors and pharmacists also reward the research efforts of reputable manufacturers of herbal medicines: the results of studies with special plant extracts are increasingly being used in the guidelines of scientific societies, reported Prof. Dr. med. Michael Popp, Chairman of the Committee for Research Natural Medicine e.V. (KFN) in Munich.

Hundreds of clinical trials have been carried out with herbal medicines in recent years, said Prof. Popp. Despite the new findings thus obtained, a problem has still not been solved: neither on the packaging nor in the package leaflet may manufacturers of herbal medicinal products indicate that their drug contains an extract with which pharmacological and clinical efficacy and safety studies have been carried out. In the interest of patients, the Committee for Research on Natural Medicine therefore calls for an optimization of the legal provisions, as required by the current EU directive.

For each natural product, the quality of the final product is defined by the raw material and the processing. The quality of a herbal medicinal product therefore begins with the selection of the seed or the type of cultivation. Equally essential is the technological maturity of the manufacturing process. Therefore, a plant extract obtained with optimal technology is not interchangeable with one that is derived from the same medicinal plant but produced under different conditions. For herbal medicines there can be no so-called „generics“ give, ie imitation products with identical active ingredients.
The research-based manufacturers of herbal medicines therefore demand more transparency for the products. Such regulation would not only benefit consumers. It is also necessary to continue research in this area. Prof. Popp: „We need reliable framework conditions both nationally and in Europe to finance our research.“ Only in this way can Germany continue to assert its position as a natural pharmacy in the world. (KFN)

Image: Paul-Georg Meister