‘Herbal drug’ is myth from evolutionary perspective, let us not use juvenile science to promote faith healing

 

The question of whether the herbal recipes (herbs boiled in water or oil, made into paste with sugar or honey or just dried and powered and called as churna or mixed with faecal matter of several animals, toxic metals and animal parts) can act like a ‘drug’ and cure diseases itself is very crude, untidy and juvenile from the scientific per se.   

Let us not tries to fit the herbal recipes into the definition frame of ‘drug’ as described by the allopathic science and instead let us accept all such products as mere extension of ‘silly science’ of the past and such porridge were made more with ‘individualized fallacy’, fatal love over ignorance and need to establish the supremacy of an imbecile over innocence and gullibility around. 

Certainly faith medicines in India enjoy the claps of the devotees of God since time immemorial and also patronage of the spiritual leaders.  Like a tape work or hook worm, the faith based healing system has entered into human thoughts and became part of the belief and value systems.   

Today the folk healing, traditional healing or village healing or kitchen healing practices are gathered in a basket and named as AYUSH’ and is celebrated with ‘special love’ by Modi government as a part of its larger agenda of super or ultra-nationalism and promoting Hinduism. 

The real scientific question is whether herbs in toto or in part can solve any of the human ailments and if so, is it scientifically possible for a plant to have phyto-actives that would work antagonistically against wide range of human or veterinary pathogens. 

From the evolutionary perspective such possibility is remote and such possibility if exist naturally means, many microbes may not have been alive today to evolve as human pathogen.  Much before all those pathogens encounter man and become human pathogen would have got limited by various herbal constituents.  But such situation has not happened so far and even the latest evolution of novel coronavirus is the best example for the above possibility. 

We must evaluate the scientific possibility of the healing power of herbs through the optics of evolution and adaptation chain of biology.   

The first evolutionary impossibility is that the plants cannot afford to have any constituent (s) against human or animal pathogens.  Human and wide variety of vertebrates, insects, arthropods etc., although may play a role in pollination or seed dissemination but also thrives largely on plants by exploiting them.  The plant metabolites if possess antimicrobial agents against human or animal pathogens means, the possibility of greater exploitation of all such plants only shall be the consequent effect and therefore plants are unlikely to have any such phyto-constituents from the evolutionary perspective which will save man and animals to exploit the plants.   

Evolution may favour mutual benefit and interdependence of different species and not the exploitation of one over the other.  Plants are likely to have some metabolites to fight against various plant pathogens which is often chemical defence mechanism and immunological like that of man. 

Another interesting point is that plants are unlikely to have any antimicrobial substances against human or veterinary pathogens because the biomics of veterinary and human pathogens are quite different from plant pathogens.  Pathogen cross-over is quite rare meaning plant pathogens causing infection in man or human or veterinary pathogens affecting plant communities is extremely rare. 

The proportion and extreme level of infection in man or animal by plant pathogens or human or veterinary pathogens causing such infection in plants is remote and hence such possibility once again only supports the speculation of plants are unlikely to have strong antimicrobial actives because plant pathogens doesn’t cause severe infection in man and animals and human pathogens in plants, either. 

Microbes have evolved smartly by spatial divergence as saprophyte, plant pathogen, animal pathogen and human pathogen with further more specificity as obligate plant or animal or human pathogen.  When certain pathogens have evolved with a particular host /species like man and such pathogen is not botheration for the plants means, why should the plants carry phyto-chemicals against such pathogens?  All the more, such possibility would only defeat the existence of the plant because saving man or animal by plants against all such pathogens might results in nothing but over exploitation of all such plants.   Therefore plants are unlikely to have any antimicrobial constituents against the pathogens of man and animals. 

The third possibility also we must analyse in detail.  Most of the phyto-actives of plants are likely to act only on direct contact and not after first pass effect or metabolism; like drug.  Let us say, a pathogen when invades plant tissue or leaves or fruits etc., the phyto-actives would directly enters the system of the parasite and may evict the parasite immediately or may kill them.  But such metabolites may not work against a pathogen in man or animal after passing through the digestive system of man or animal.  Therefore the systemic use of phyto-actives as antimicrobial agents against human or veterinary pathogen is not only remote but also scientifically impractical.   The proof is that till date no herbal preparation worth mention that can stand at least near the shadow of antibiotics of allopathic system despite over lakhs of research articles on antimicrobial activity of various herbal extracts on different pathogenic microbes at in vitro level getting published in several crazy and mouthpiece journals. 

The effect as established by direct exposure method (in vitro anti-microbial susceptibility testing) cannot be linked to the likely effect during systemic absorption.  But unfortunately the herbal science is so primordial and relies largely on juvenile science and cherry picked facts to hypnotise the human faith over superstition than real merit and science. 

The plant secondary metabolites can retain the native structure only for a short while and will degrade soon when enters into mammalian system due to metabolism.   The end products are likely to have some food value or toxin value and definitely not drug value.   Herbal recipes must therefore be barred from using the tag ‘drug’ and instead must be promoted as paramedical substances.

The science must reject outrageously the proposal of herbal myth for treating infectious diseases.  Whether herbal preparations would help in managing non-communicable, chronic diseases of man is again a million dollar question. 

The juvenile scientific evidence like coconut oil moisturize the skin, castor oil offer great occlusion and emoliency to the skin etc., should not be used as an endorsement to prove, a few leaves of basil or curcuma would fight even deadly coronavirus or ashwagandha or centella would act like antidepressant or anti-anxiolytic agent or Andrographis paniculate based preparation would act like anti-pyretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial agent and therefore all such preparations must be treated as universal drug is sham, farce and celebration of obscurantism.  

Herbs and herbal preparations can at best may offer some ‘health’ benefits and not ‘drug’ benefits and therefore herbal recipes of ancient faith based healing practices must be promoted as paramedical substances and so are the institutionally qualified vaid from faith based healing school as wellness experts and paramedics, not doctor. 

To promote and popularize herbal recipes, paramedical tag must be given to all such substances and not ‘drug’ tag or medical science tag to the system.  The ultimate proof for no therapeutic value for the faith based healing recipes in particular can be traced in rampant cross pathy by several institutionally qualified vaid from faith based healing practices in India. 

If the herbal recipes of faith based healing practices are effective means, why should the institutionally qualified vaid go after allopathic prescription than treating patients with own wonderful healing recipes of faith based system. 

Whether we cherry pick science or employ juvenile science or hidden agenda of ultra- nationalism to promote unscientific healing practices and its recipes, we are likely to increase only our disease burden, people’s reliance on occultism and obscurantism, trampling science and promoting medication health fraud. 

Cross pathy must be declared as medical crime, drug and doctor tag must be removed from faith healing system and the paramedical benefits like massage therapy, YOGA and allied services must be extracted from thousands of qualified vaid to the society than allow them to berserk medical science with unproven recipes and the engage in cross pathy to hide the uselessness of faith based healing recipes.