There are several choices available for people who are looking for alternative remedies, including Acupuncture, Yoga, Qigong, Tai chi, Ayurveda, hydrotherapy, massage therapy, homeopathy, energy medicines, holistic approaches, and aromatherapy. In fact, the number of herbal remedies available for different ailments equals (if not exceeds) the number of regular drug treatments provided by pharmaceutical companies.
The point is that prevention always was and always will be better than any cure, mainstream or alternative. The advantage of herbal remedies is that they move an individual towards a lifestyle more geared toward prevention and cure in the early stages of any affliction.

One explanation comes from the concept of Holism which says that the process of healing is a combined effort by the entire organism and cannot be achieved by any isolated part of that organism.
The Holism concept can be traced to the time of Paracelsus, 1439-1541, who is credited with being the father of modern medicine. When Paracelsus treated patients he refused to pay attention to only that part which was showing symptoms of disease. Instead, he tried to treat the whole body as one whole entity.

This is probably the most difficult concept for the modern day individual to grasp. Though everyone is aware of the phrase 'prevention is better than cure' there are few people who actually go the extent of preventing even the most obvious trouble (think about smoking, alcohol, high cholesterol foods, sugar, etc.). Prevention does not merely suggest that troublesome activities should be avoided. What is says is that improving health is better than fighting disease. It suggests the application of this to short term as well as long term negative effects. In the short term, a healthy body can easily ward off minor illnesses (like common cold) and injuries (razor cuts, skin peeling during sports activities for instance). In the long term prevention suggests caution in all that is done today so that it does not result in adverse outcomes in the future. In other words, it too suggests a change in lifestyle for a healthier tomorrow.

There are many positive aspects that herbal medicine has going for it. Unfortunately, the lack of adequate scientific understanding means that there is no way a doctor can completely take responsibility for what is being prescribed and hence the safety factor involved in taking herbal medicines is suspect.
The drugs that we normally take have to undergo thorough testing and need FDA approval. This entire process ensures that every single chemical in the medicine and its interaction with the human body (and resulting side effects) are well understood, documented, and scientifically demonstrable.