Herbal medicine is a system of medicine which uses plants to heal.It utilises the Hippocratic principles of treating the person,not the disease,evaluating the whole lifestyle as well as the emotional and circumstanial environment of each patient,not just the physical symptoms.Herbal medicine restores and supports the bodys own defensive and restorative mechanisms,rather than try to replace these mechanisms.During a consutation with a herbalist, the problem itself is examined along with a assessment of diet,lifestyle,emotional factors.Then with the help of iridology,a diagnosis is made.Not just in the terms of the name of the disease, but also in respect to what is percieved to be the underlying cause .Herbalism helps remove the barriers to health, helping the patient to restore their own bodys defences.Individual herbal mixtures are then prescibed.