Paracelsus, the legendary Swiss doctor from the 16th century, was among the first scientists who wanted to extract the essence of plants as an active principle in healing the sick.  Phytotherapy makes use of the plant “as is” (the “mother tincture”) whereas gemmotherapy makes use of a 1/10 dilution (the “decimal tincture”) of the plant buds rather than the adult plant.  Modern phytotherapy and gemmotherapy both contain standardized amounts of plant-derived active ingredients, and both are registered in the official pharmacopeia. 

The use of plants goes back to the beginning of times. The Egyptians, Assyrians and Greeks all used plants extensively.  The plant Rauwolfia, for example, has been in use for thousands of years in India. Another plant, Chelidonium, has long been used to treat liver and gall bladder disturbances.

Selye, the Hungarian scientist, described the insurgence of multifactorial complex diseases caused by modern polluted environment and multiple aggressive toxins.  Being aware of the complex nature of modern toxins, we can make use of phytogemmotherapy to treat complex illnesses based on the theory that each disease in humans corresponds to a remedy found in nature. 

Since the 19th century, phytogemmotherapy has entered this modern scientific era having brought remedies such as colchicines, digitalis, and quinine. Some new diseases now surfacing on the horizon may yet have their remedy somewhere in nature, although still unknown to us. Therefore, this becomes an ever-evolving therapeutic modality, providing us an enormous assortment of remedies to help in almost every known disease.

Another advantage to phytogemmotherapies is that they are fast acting, much to the benefit of a patient in pain. A therapeutic phytogemmo cocktail can act as quickly and effectively as a conventional pain killer, without the side effects or toxicity associated with conventional medicine.