Herbal Medicines and Other Traditional Remedies in Iran - A Tragedy Unfolds

All plants and herbs that have been traditionally used as medications contain several alkaloids and other chemicals with different pharmacological properties and different amounts of the active ingredients. The property of each plant is dependent on the species and variety as well as the environment, including the type of soil on which it has been grown. The resurgence of the popularity of medicinal plants in recent decades throughout the world has multiple reasons. In the first place, it is a misconception that plants are ‘natural’ and can therefore have very few complications or side effects as compared to synthetic pharmaceutical preparations, as well as the fact that they have been used for millennia and thus have a historical tradition of safety; nothing can be further from the truth as this assumption. Some of the most potent poisons known to man are derived from common and popular plants.