Throughout human existence on Earth, various natural products have been used to alleviate physical and mental suffering, such as: medicinal and aromatic plants, bee products, various mineral substances, animal products, etc. The various methods of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, have built their Materia Medica, based on the healing power of these natural products.

1. Dr.Pharm.Ladislau Rosenberg
President of Romanian Society for the History
of Pharmacy, Sibiu

2. 
 Complementary medicine, which some call: alternative,
natural, holistic, integrative, etc., has its origins in
ethnoiatry, ethnomedicine, ethnopharmacology, from
the medical traditions of various peoples around the
world. The Americans have called it Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (C.A.M.), a name that has spread
around the world in recent years. The traditional
therapeutic methods have been living in the last
decades, a real rebirth worldwide and they are
recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The role of Natural Therapies during
History

3. 
 Throughout human existence on Earth, various
natural products have been used to alleviate physical
and mental suffering, such as: medicinal and
aromatic plants, bee products, various mineral
substances, animal products, etc.
 The various methods of Complementary and
Alternative Medicine, have built their Materia
Medica, based on the healing power of these natural
products.
Natural products used in
therapeutics

4. 
 The most well-known natural therapies, are:
acupuncture, aromatherapy, apitherapy, ayurveda,
chromotherapy, diet therapy, phytotherapy,
heliotherapy, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, manual
therapies, etc.
 Many of the methods of Complementary and
Alternative Medicine, are used successfully even
today and they have a multimillennial existence.
What are the most important natural
therapies?

5. 
Ayurveda the traditional Indian
Medicine
 I must mention first of all
Ayurveda, the ancient
Indian medicine, which is
documented for over 5000
years.
 In the treatment of
various diseases,
Ayurveda applies a
proper diet and uses
many herbal preparations
and volatile oils.

6. 
Traditional Chinese Medicine
 According to a WHO
assessment, the most
widely used therapeutic
method in the world is
Traditional Chinese
Medicine (TCM), which is
over 3500 years old.
 Along with acupuncture
in TCM, there are
thousands of medicinal
plants, with various
therapeutic effects

7. 
The history of utilisation of
medicinal and aromatic plants
 Utilisation of medicinal
and aromatic plants for
the treatment of
different diseases is
related to the
beginnings of human
existence on Earth.

8. 
Bee products in human therapy
 The use of bee
products, such as
honey, propolis and
wax, in the prevention
and treatment of
diseases, was
mentioned in ancient
Egyptian documents,
4000 years ago.

9. 
 Natural medicines come to complete the modern
therapeutic arsenal with new valences and
possibilities, which together with allopathic
medicine, based on synthetic drugs, complete today's
medicine. This is the way of Integrative Medicine.
 Complementary and Alternative Medicine methods
are not a fad in current therapeutics, but a
necessity, reflected by their widespread use by most
of the Earth's inhabitants.
Integrative Medicine in the 21st
century

10. 
 Chloroform was discovered in 1831 by Justus von
Liebig and Eugene Souberain and has been used
successfully as a narcotic in medicine.
 Chloral hydrate, was discovered in 1832 also by
Justus von Liebig, and introduced as a sedative-
hypnotic; it is still available today in some countries.
 In 1853, chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhardt produce
acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) for the first time.
The first synthetic drugs were introduced into
therapeutics in the nineteenth century

11. 
 But, nearly 200 years after the discovery of the first
synthetic drugs, about 30% of the drugs used today
come from natural raw materials, especially from
various medicinal and aromatic plants. For economic
reasons, synthetic or semisynthetic methods have
been developed for some of these drugs, instead of
plant extraction, to reduce manufacturing costs.
Now synthetic drugs have a dominant position
in the global pharmaceutical market

12. 
Poppy (Papaver somniferum)
 Opium, which is
collected from poppy
seed capsules, is a
natural source, from
which morphine is
obtained, an excellent
analgesic, codeine, a
remarkable antitussive
and papaverine, an
effective spasmolytic.

13. 
Milk thistle (Silybum marianum)
 The active ingredients are
located in the caryopsis of
the seeds of milk thistle,
which contain between
1.5 and 3% lignannic
flavonoids, known as
silymarin, consisting of
silibin, silicristin and
silidianin, which is
considered the most
effective hepatoprotector.

14. 
Catharantus roseus (synonym
Vinca rosea)
 Vincristine and
vinblastine, two
alkaloids isolated from
the exotic plant
Catharanthus roseus, as
well as their
semisynthetic derivatives
(Vinorelbin, Vindesina),
have gained an important
place in the treatment of
various forms of cancer.

15. 
 In order to preserve the remarkable potential in the field
of different natural therapies (apitherapy, aromatherapy,
herbal medicine, homeopathy, etc.), several projects stand
out, which are presented below:
 The project“The phytotherapeutic model of Biertan”,
1984-2010;
 The project “Pharmaceutical Traditions of Sibiu”, 2016-;
 The project “The essences of Baron Samuel von
Brukenthal”, 2021.
Projects designed to preserve the
traditions of natural therapies

16. 
 Pharmacy and microproduction laboratory with
phytotherapeutic profile; Headquarters of the Romanian
Society of Phytotherapy (1993-2000)
 Experimental gardens of medicinal and aromatic plants;
 Cultivations of ecologically certified medicinal and
aromatic plants;
 Phytotherapeutical Center (research-development-
innovation, production, quality control of products
derived from medicinal plants)
 Education Center , for courses and scientific events in the
field of phytotherapy, aromatherapy, apitherapy, etc.
The phytotherapeutic model of
Biertan

17. 
Biertan- UNESCO Center
 The village of Biertan is
UNESCO Center and
member in OWHC;
 The first documentary
attestation of Biertan
dates from 1283 and in
1572 the village became
the seat of the first
evangelical diocese of
Transylvania.

18. 
The old Pharmacy of Biertan
 The building of the
pharmacy was built in
1572, the first house
outside the fortifications.
Since 1810, in this
monumental building has
operated the pharmacy
founded by the Saxon
pharmacist Johannes
Jikeli, with the symbolic
name “Prevention is
gold".

19. 
Medicinal and aromatic plants
garden
 Experimental gardens
for acclimatization of
various species of
medicinal and aromatic
plants to the pedo-
climatic conditions
specific to the area of
Biertan.

20. 
Cultivation of medicinal and aromatic
plants in ecological certified conditions

21. 
Production laboratory for api-phyto-
aromatherapeutic products
 Medicinal and aromatic
plants from organic
farming, were
transformed into various
pharmaceutical forms
(tinctures, extracts,
volatile oils, herbal teas,
tablets, ointments, etc.),
for to obtain:
phytotherapeutic drugs,
food supplements and
natural cosmetics.

22. 
Laboratory for quality control of medicinal and
aromatic plants, intermediary and final
products

23. 
Education Center for courses and scientific events in
the field of phytotherapy, aromatherapy, apitherapy,
etc.

24. 
 The Sibiu branch of the Romanian Society for the
History of Pharmacy (SRIF), together with the
National Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, the
Department of the History of Pharmacy, launched in
November 2016 the cultural-educational project
“Pharmaceutical Traditions of Sibiu”. The
pharmaceutical activity in Sibiu has old traditions,
because in this locality the first pharmacy in
Transylvania was founded in 1494, by the Saxon
pharmacist Johannes.
The project “Pharmaceutical Traditions of
Sibiu”, 2016-

25. 
Brukenthal National Museum of Sibiu, founded
by baron Samuel von Brukenthal in 1817

26. 
Pharmacy History Museum is located in an old building
from 1568 and in which, from 1609, the third oldest
pharmacy in Sibiu operated and whose name it was “Die
Apotheke Zum Schwarzen Beren“

27. 
 Among the thematic conferences aimed at health
education, an important role has been played by those
who present various complementary and alternative
therapies. Has been revealed their role in the prevention
of various diseases ( cardiovascular, various forms of
cancer, diabetes, infections diseases, obesity, etc.), but also
in their complementary treatment. Thus, from 2016 to
today, many conferences have been presented to people
interested in a healthy lifestyle, on the therapeutic
possibilities offered by: aromatherapy, apitherapy,
balneotherapy, dietetics, phytotherapy, homeopathy
and other natural methods.
Activities carried out within the
project

28. 
 The young physician Samuel Hahnemann worked in
Sibiu between 1777-1779, as personal physician,
secretary and librarian to Baron Samuel von Brukenthal.
 In the heritage of the Museum of History of the Pharmacy
of Sibiu, there is the largest collection of homeopathic
remedies in Romania, consisting of 2900 pieces.
 With the help of my students and with the broad
participation of museographer Ana-Maria Papureanu,
we evaluated the entire collection of homeopathic
remedies, according to their origin, in: vegetable, animal
and mineral.
The history of Samuel Hahnemann, the founder
of homeopathy in Sibiu, was an important
research project for us

29. 
The collection of homeopathic remedies
from the museum's patrimony

30. 
Symposium "Natural therapies
today" 2019

31. 
 In recent years, live and online temporary exhibitions have
been organized with the valuable pieces from the collections of
the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Pharmacy
History, which reflect the role and importance of various
natural therapies, such as: aromatherapy, apitherapy,
phytotherapy, homeopathy , etc.
 For this webinar, the museum team, made up of Ana-Maria
Papureanu, Dr. Nicolae Trif and Dr. Ghizela Vonica, prepared a
beautiful virtual exhibition, which you can view by clicking the
link:
 https://brukenthalmuseum.ro/virtuale/farmacie/index_en.ht
ml
Temporary and online exhibitions about
the role of Natural Therapies

32. 
 The starting point of this aromatherapy presentation
is a cultural project dedicated to the 300th
anniversary of the birth of Baron Samuel von
Brukenthal, emblematic personality of Sibiu. In this
project, we proposed the rediscovery of various
essential oils from the remains existing in the
custody of the Museum of the History of the
Pharmacy of Sibiu and which were used by
pharmacists in the XVIII-XIX centuries for the
preparation of medicines and cosmetics.
The project "Essences of Baron
Samuel von Brukenthal", 2021

33. 
Pharmaceutical bottles for volatile oils and
distillation apparatus for obtaining them, from
the museum's collection

34. 
 The transition of natural products into the pharmacy
and from here in therapeutics, is a long road of research
and knowledge, which has been traveled by hundreds of
generations of pharmacists, medical doctors, chemists,
biologists, agronomists, etc. Through their work have
provided mankind with valuable drugs for the prevention
and treatment of various diseases.
 Medicines obtained from natural products (medicinal
and aromatic plants, bee products, animal products,
various mineral substances, etc.) are also present in
today's therapy and will continue in the future.
Conclusions

35. 
Thank you for your attention!