Herbal Medication Versus Quackery
By 1930, “Dr.” John R. Brinkley of Arkansas, Kansas had transplanted over 16,000 goat testicles into men who wanted to relive their youth. At $750 per procedure, he became a wealthy man. Needless to say, we would call his practice quackery at best.
The thing most people don’t realize is that because of loopholes in the law, people can be legally duped in much the same way. You can take anything you want other than recognized poisons and illegal drugs, package it up and sell it as a food additive. The only restriction is that you cannot make claims of any medical benifit on the container itself. They can make as many claims as they want away from the container. As long as those claims are not made on the container itself, there is no regulation on the product in the United States.
One poor fellow that I saw in the emergency room had a terrible case of Rhus Dermatitis. That is the medical term for what is commonly called poison oak or poison ivy. He had started out getting a small area of rash on his arm. So, he went down to the local health food store and bought a poison ivy treatment.
After taking the ‘cure’ he proceeded to get profoundly worse. By the time I saw him he had a rash all over his body and was extremely miserable. I found the reason by carefully reading the bottle. The ‘cure’ was a naturopathic remedy that had poison ivy in it! How ridiculous is that?
The advertising that you see for some products makes it immediately obvious that the product is useless. Anyone trained in anatomy and physiology would know right away that the claims were false.
One good example is when the claims are contradictory. Rheumatoid arthritis and allergies are good examples of problems caused by overactive immune systems. Yet I have seen products claim that they not only help with allergies but they boost the immune system. You can’t have it both ways folks.
The other thing that makes you go hmm… is when the advertising claims that the product causes specific physiologic changes in the body. Then they go on and claim that the product does not contain a drug. But, check the definition of a drug: ‘A substance used in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a disease’. Clearly, if you are claiming that your product can be used to treat or prevent disease, you are talking about a drug. If you say that your substance does not contain a drug, then you can’t say it is preventing or treating a disease. Here again, you can’t have it both ways.
But, you may say, what I am taking is just plant parts. When my father was in pharmacy school in the 1950’s, virtually all drugs were made by collecting plants and mixing them in certain ways to prepare drugs. Now, people do the same thing, but they are able to sell them as food aditives because they make no claims about their properties ‘on the container’.
Having said that, I have nothing against people using herbal remedies. In fact I’m all for it. But it is important to understand what that entails.
Let’s look at an example. Digoxin. This drug once was commonly prescribed for heart problems. You don’t see it as much any more because safer and more effective drugs have been found for most heart conditions.
Digitalis comes from the foxglove plant. Foxgloves are a beautiful flower found in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. My wife can remember people being paid to go out and harvest them so that drug companies could get digoxin from them.
Digoxin is rather peculiar because there is a very narrow range of the drug that can be safely taken. Take too little and it does nothing. Take too much and it can actually kill you.
Furthermore, different plants have different amounts of the drug. It depends on what type of soil the plant grew in. How much sun it got. Even if there were any insects or animals that had nibbled on it.
The part of the plant that you tested would also reveal that there were vastly different amounts of the drug in the leaves as compared to the roots.
A good example of that is rhubarb. The leaves are poisonous. The stems are good in pies.
Unfortunately, the guinea pigs I had as a kid found out the hard way. But, I did have a nice funeral for them.
It might surprise you that in a recent study, a large percentage of the herbal remedies sold did not even contain the parts of the plant that had been shown to be useful!
My advice? First of all get yourself a good reference. There is one book that should be in the library of everyone planning to use an herbal remedy and every doctor too for that matter. That is the PDR for Herbal Medicine.
This book lists every herbal medicine that is know to have a real medicinal effect. It also tells you potential side effects, what part of the plant has the active ingredient and what the medicinal effect it.
Once you know what you want to use, the next step is obtaining it. The best method is to grow your own so you know exactly what you are getting. That way you can make sure the plant is healthy and you are using the part of the plant that will help you and not harm you.
If you cannot grow your own, the next best thing is to do a bit of research and find a company that is known for its integrity and quality control. Then stick with them.
Finally, make sure your doctor knows what you are taking. There is some possibility that your herbal medicine may interact or interfere with any medication that you are being prescribed.
With the proper knowledge and a good source, you should be getting some good benifit from your herbal medication. But, beware of the claims of those other products.
Dr. Ron McCluskey is an emergency room physician with over twenty years experience treating all types of medical problems. A firm believer in natural remedies, he also hates it when people get burned by
rip-off artists. Eight Steps to Health
is your best resource for getting straight answers for your health care needs.
Herb - Nature’s Panacea for Curing Ailments
A herb can be any plant that cannot produce tissue that is persistent and woody and whose lifespan is limited to a particular season when it attains the full growth and ultimately dies. Moreover, a herb can be medicinal or a seasoning plant - a herb having aromatic qualities and grown on pots even in households to accentuate the savory sense of the dishes. In the hippy culture and parlance, herb can be the marijuana plant. Mentionably, some herbs are pests.
Since the days of yore and much before the march of modern medical sciences, mendicants foraged the forests to collect all forms of herb to make magical concoctions that served as panacea for human ailments. In fact, such herbal medications were prescribed to even the cattle to cure some of the dreaded ailments attacking these beasts of burden.
Man has always built bridges with Mother Nature to seek the wonder world of herb. The alternative forms of medical treatment like Ayurveda and Unani have been drawing inspiration from that very fascinating world of herbs. Indian Epics - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata - as well as the Hindu holy books - the Vedas - have copious references to herbs and herbal medicines. There are tomes written on the medicinal properties of the different genus and species of herbs.
Mention may be made of Ganoderma — the mushroom popular in Asia as the wonder health drug and deemed so for thousands of years. The Chinese deem it as the ‘Spirit Medicine’ and an immortality elixir. Now modern research has proved its beneficial side. Ganoderma can not only to heal inflammation but is also an ideal detixicant, and diuretic medication. Moreover, it protects the liver, boosts energy, regulates the intestines, promotes libido, cures sleep disorders, and is a cardiotonic. What is more, Ganoderma keeps blood pressure under control, is an antitussive as well as a hemocatheresisis and an expectorant besides being a tranquillizer. Above all, it controls activity of the tumor. Ganoderma not only nourishes but also supplements the body by removing the accumulated toxins from our body.
Another aromatic medicinal herb is the commonly used garlic. It is antiviral and also possesses antibacterial properties. Moreover, it checks blood pressure and cholesterol and acts as a shield against stroke and heart ailments. Garlic has been in use for more than 6000 years. Garlic also fights infection and cold symptoms. What is more, garlic cures athletes foot, respiratory ailments, worms, tummy cancers, ear aches, colic, and bladder problems.
Nilutpal Gogoi is a writer and a freelance journalist having more than 18 years of service in several audio-visual and print media reputed organizations in North East India. He has published one popular adventure book for children and has published more than 1000 articles for various sites, as such
http://www.yourlivingscience.com/
Comfrey
(Symphytum Officinale)
Medicinal Parts: Rootstock, leaves
Description: Comfrey is a perennial plant common in moist meadows and other moist places in the U.S. and Europe.
Properties: anodyne, astringent, demulcent, emollient, expectorant, hemostatic, refrigerant, vulnerary.
Comfrey is truly one of nature’s miracle cures. The root produces a high amount of a gummy material called mucilage, and the root and leaf are both high in allantoin, a substance that helps with cell proliferation. Comfrey is excellent for reducing the swelling around a fracture, thereby allowing the union to take place with greater facility. And according to herbalist John Gerard, “A salve concocted from the fresh herb will certainly tend to promote the healing of bruised and broken parts.”
My midwife first introduced me to Comfrey after the birth of my first child. To put it mildly, it was not an easy delivery. All of those little joys after childbirth were making me very uncomfortable. You know, the tearing, bruising, stitches, etc. The midwife instructed me to steep Comfrey leaves in hot water and add it to my sitz bath. The results were phenomenal. It relieved the discomfort almost instantaneously.
Today, any time I attend a baby shower, I make up a gift basket stocked with comfrey. I wrap a generous handful of comfrey leaves in cheesecloth, then tie it closed with a ribbon. The packets can then be tossed directly into a pot of water to steep. Recipients always think I’m a bit odd at first, but usually I receive a heartfelt thank you note a couple of weeks after the baby is born. This is one gift any mother-to-be will appreciate.
Comfrey is not always easy to find. If you don’t have a health food or herb supplier in your area, please visit us at http://usingherbs.com/herbs for direct links to online purveyors of organic herbs.
M.K. Welty hosts an informational website on herbs, herbal remedies and herbal gardening. For more great tips on Using Herbs and Herbal Gardening visit, http://www.UsingHerbs.Com
Tags: herb, herb gardens, herbal gardening, herbal medicine, herbal remedies, herbs, nettles, peppermint boyberm on May 5th, 2008 Filed under Medicine | Comment now »