| Mowrey, The Scientific Validation of herbal medicine (New Canaan, Conn.: Keats Publishing, 1986): 33.
, URINARY
* TRACT INFECTIONS and INFLAMMATIONS
Urinary tract infections (also known as cystitis and bladder infections) are quite common, accounting for approximately 6 million office visits per year in the United States. E. coli and other bacteria that inhabit the large intestine are most often responsible, due to the closeness of the urethra and vagina to the rectum. (See also chapter 20, Parasites.)
Dr. |
| Mowrey, The Scientific Validation of herbal medicine (New Canaan, Conn.: Keats Publishing, 1986): 108.
BIRTHING CENTERS
A review of the cases of over 11,000 women with low-risk pregnancies admitted for labor to free-standing birth centers found that there were fewer cesarean sections than would have been the case had the women gone to the hospital, and that the rates of infant mortality, as well as Apgar scores, were in line with what would have been expected in low-risk hospital birth.
J. Rooks et al. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 The seeds are collected and dried for use in herbal medicine.
In Europe, during the Middle Ages, and in later French folk medicine, as well as in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the liver was regarded as the seat of the emotions. Depression and emotional distraught were thought to arise from malfunctions of the liver. Milk thistle, available in early spring, served as a spring tonic to relieve winter depression by releasing the pent-up emotions or energies housed in the liver. |
| Herbal medicine has an ageless ability to improve the condition of the whole person and can be wisely used to help anyone achieve a better state of health than ever experienced before.
Principles of Herbal Healing
Just a few decades ago, the most widely recognized advertising slogan in America was "Better living through chemistry." Promoting the virtues of plastics, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, this motto came to be a catchphrase for progress in all of modern life, even medical treatment.
The fact that chemistry brought progress to health care is incontrovertible. |
| Targeting Herbal Treatment
Practitioners of herbal medicine have found that certain herbs and herbal preparations tend to benefit specific organs, systems, and functions of the body. This section illustrates the locations of various organs and systems, and lists some of the herbs often used for disorders that affect them. Note that an individual herb listed for a particular organ, system, or function may not benefit every problem that affects it. See the individual entries in Part Two for disorder-specific recommendations. These illustrations are provided for information only. |
| The recent renewal of interest in herbal medicine has been made possible by the same method that once seemed destined to replace it: herbs are not only good medicine, but more and more are being recognized as scientific medicine. Herbs are now subjected to clinical testing in the same way as other medicines are, in scientifically designed double-blind tests. These clinical trials make sure that an herb's effects lie in the herb itself rather than in the wishful thinking (either positive or negative) of the researchers. |
| The renewed confidence in herbal medicine has also been made possible by the efforts of well-intentioned practitioners, manufacturers, and government officials who strive to ensure that the promises made on a label of an herb product are met by the product inside the bottle. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that the ingredients listed on a label are to be found in the product and that no medical claims be made for a product that cannot be scientifically substantiated.
A growing number of herb product manufacturers today hold themselves to a higher standard. |
| The knowledge recorded in this source book included not only the early elements of herbal medicine, but also magic, astrology, and geomancy in a combination that eventually came to be called fang ji.
Although fang ji was a considerable improvement over no treatment at all, it was not adequate for every medical need. Four centuries after the writing of The Yellow Emperor's Canon, the Chinese master herbalist Zhang Zhongjing lived in a time of plague. In about 190 c.e., a devastating epidemic killed many members of his family. |
Barrie R Cassileth, Ph.D.
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 What Practitioners Say It Does
Practitioners of herbal medicine indicate that herbs can be excellent alternatives to OTC medications or other home remedies. The general rule is that herbal remedies can be used safely and effectively for minor ailments that typically would be self-medicated. |
Dr. Gary Null
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 TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
Over 50 patients with migraines were treated with the traditional Chinese herbal medicine Radix puerairae, in tablet form. Results demonstrated an efficacy rate of 83 percent, and no side effects. Based on these and previous findings, the authors believe that Radix puerairae works on migraines because it can lead to increased cerebral blood flow and a decrease in cerebrovascular resistance.
G. Xiuxian and L. Xiuqin, "Radix Puerariaeln Migraine," Chinese Medical Journal 92, no. 4 (1979): 260-62.
Homeopathy offers help with migraines, researchers showed. |
Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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 Hot News About Old Favorites
Stops the Growth of Prostate Cancer Cells
Used for more than 4000 years as a herbal medicine, garlic mav prove to be the wonder drug of die next millennium. Garlic is a "broad-spectrum" herb that offers numerous benefits. It is a natural antibiotic—in fact, during World War II when penicillin was scarce, the Russian army relied on garlic to prevent infection on the battlefield. Garlic can protect against heart disease by thwarting the formation of blood clots.
But there's even more exciting news about the herb known as the "stinking rose. |
Frantisek Stary
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 People often ask if this ancient tradition of herbal medicine is outdated. The reply is an unequivocal 'No'. Man has always been highly dependent on
Paracelsus' coat-of-arms consisted of a silver renaissance escutcheon, or shield, with the Hohenheim coat-of-arms in the centre encircled by eight black crosses. The crest, mantlings, and Hohenheim coat-of-arms are coloured gold, blue and silver. nature. In the early period of his existence he did not understand much of what went on around him. |
David Brownstein
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 The Scientific Validation of herbal medicine. Keats, 1986
Chapter 11
Human Growth Hormone
BENEFITS OF HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE
The beneficial effects of using physiologic doses of human growth hormone include improving and perhaps reversing many of the following signs of aging: thinning hair, wrinkled skin, loss of muscle tone, low resistance to stress, depression, low resistance to infection, poor healing of wounds, and varicose veins. Human growth hormone has also been shown to improve the following conditions: cardiac disease, fatigue, osteoporosis, and perhaps cancer. |
Lita Lee, Lisa Turner and Burton Goldberg
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 I generally use enzymes along with thyroid therapy, herbal medicine, and aromatherapy.
Asthmatic children often respond to a change in diet, with avoidance of all refined sugars, plus a multiple digestive formula (Thera-zyme PAN) which includes the sugar-digesting enzymes or disaccharidases. Since sugar consumption is difficult to control in children, other formulas are often needed, such as the respiratory formula (Thera-zyme Rsp), which helps relieve wheezing and coughing. If environmental allergies are a trigger, you can relieve them by using the allergy formula, Thera-zyme Kdy. |
Barrie R Cassileth, Ph.D.
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| Ginseng, among the best-known Asian herbs, is a good example of the promises and problems of herbal medicine. Extolled for its virtues over many centuries, it has not yet been subjected to adequate scientific testing to document the circumstances under which it is effective and safe. Contradictory research has led to its sale to treat opposing symptoms, so that it is marketed both as a stimulant and as a depressant. Further, analyses of fifty-four ginseng products indicated that 25 percent contained no ginseng at all, and 60 percent contained only trace amounts. |
| Culinary herbs are used as flavoring in cooking. herbal medicine Healing through the use of organic substances. One of the oldest forms of medical care, the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, and other early societies discovered that certain plants had curative properties. |
Michael T. Murray, N.D., Joseph E. Pizzorno, N.D.
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 Ginkgo biloba extract is another useful herbal medicine in menopause because of its effectiveness in dealing with the forgetfulness, as well as cold hands and feet because of its ability to improve blood flow.
Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis)
In Asia, dong quai s reputation is perhaps second only to that of ginseng. |
| It taught a system of medicine that included the best of what was then known about nutritional therapy, natural diet, herbal medicine, homeopathy, spinal manipulation, exercise therapy, hydrotherapy, electrotherapy, stress reduction, and other natural therapies. The basic
Old Paradigm
The body is a machine The body and mind are separate Emphasize the elimination of disease Treat symptoms
Specialize (with the risk of tunnel-vision) Use high-technology, heroic measures Focus on objective information
(how the patient is doing based on charts, statistics, test results, etc. |
| In many instances, scientific investigation has not only validated the natural treatment measure (such as diet therapy, nutritional supplementation, or herbal medicine), but also led to significant improvements and greater understanding. In the past thirty or so years, there have been tremendous advances in the understanding of how many natural therapies and compounds work to promote health or treat disease. |
Dr. Gary Null
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| Mowrey, The Scientific Validation of herbal medicine (New Canaan, Conn.: Keats Publishing, 1986).
Morning sickness may have evolved as a means of protecting embryos from food toxicity. Several studies have associated morning sickness with lower rates of miscarriage.
M. Profet, "Mother Nature Knows Best," Nutrition Week 22, no. 32 (August 21, 1992): 1.
A case study of a woman with severe nausea through her entire first pregnancy reports that when the same trouble plagued her halfway through her second, she started taking 500 mg capsules of ginger 20 times a day. |
Ralph Golan, M.D.
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 Some approaches that lend themselves easily to self-care, such as cleansing/fasting and herbal medicine, are presented in detail. Services usually rendered by health professionals, such as acupuncture and bodywork, are given brief descriptions that serve primarily as an introduction or overview.
Part Six—You and the Medical Profession
Self-care implies more than what you can do for yourself directly; it also means choosing the right helping professionals when their services are necessary and using them wisely. Some guidelines for this may be found in Chapter Twenty-two. |
Jean Carper
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 For example, saw palmetto had a super effect in a study of 110 men with enlarged prostate who were given either the herbal medicine or a dummy pill, as reported in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in 1984. Saw palmetto extract in a dose of 320 milligrams a day worked ten times better than the placebo at improving urine flow rates. It was about five times more effective than the dummy pill in promoting emptying of the bladder. |
| Unique Infection Fighter
(ECHINACEA)
It's America's most popular herbal medicine, against colds, flu, viruses, infections of all kinds. If you want to know why 30 million Americans take it, and German researchers praise it, give it a try yourself.
If you're hit by various bacterial infections, you can fight back by drowning in a sea of antibiotics that are fast becoming worthless because bacteria develop a tolerance for them. |
Michael Tierra
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 Over time, the tremendous growth of herbal medicine and its accompanying industry has created the need for professional recognition of herbalism and competent herbalists in America. Long ago, Michael recognized this need. He was both inspired by the national organization of herbalists in Australia when he taught there in the early 1980's, and encouraged by the professional herbal licensing bodies in the United Kingdom. At once, he saw the importance and necessity for such an organization in America. |
Jean Carper
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| However, the herbal medicine was even more potent taken along with light therapy.
Summing up the evidence for St. John's wort's effectiveness as an antidepressant is an evaluation of twenty-three randomized clinical trials with 1,757 patients, published in the prestigious British Medical Journal in 1996. Researchers Gilbert Ramirez, of the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, and Klaus Linde, of Munich's Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, applied the same stringent standards of scientific proof to St. John's wort and to orthodox pharmaceutical antidepressants. |
| Brown speculates it's because the herbal medicine binds to the same receptor sites on brain cells as Xanax. When Xanax goes away, the receptors "scream out for something to bind to," he says. If there's nothing there, they go nuts. But if you can slip in valerian, it's enough to satisfy them so they calm down. Dr. Brown says many doctors are now using valerian to help ensure a safe, calm passage away from the torments of Xanax.
1 1 *J
What Is It?
The root of valerian, a tall, fernlike plant, has served for thousands of years as a mild sedative. |
Dr. Julian Whitaker
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| These constituents are not isolated and sold as individual items— this would be contrary to the whole philosophy of herbal medicine. There are likely other important ingredients in the herb not yet identified as being active constituents. Furthermore, there is a synergy in nature. Things often work better together than on their own. Standardized herbal extracts contain everything nature put in them, including a specified amount of the most important constituents.
This has made it possible for manufacturers to guarantee the potency of their products. |
Lesley Tierra
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 Box 712, Santa Cruz,
CA 95061
A set of 24 one-hour audio cassettes comprising lectures on various topics relating to the study of herbal medicine, diagnosis and nutrition. These tapes are an edited version of an intensive weeklong seminar on Planetary Herbalism and Oriental diagnosis.
Herbal Magazines, Newsletters and Booklets
Planetary Formulas Newsletter
Author-Herbalist Roy Upton, P.O. Box 533, Soquel, CA 95073
Botanica Press
P. O. |
Dr. John Heinerman
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 But this works along the line of true herbal medicine and isn't homeopathic.
Cancer
Cancer Amid Biological Rationality
The simplest definition that can be given cancer, I suppose, is this: It is a disease event in which normal cells stop functioning and maturing properly. An accident occurs within them that is partly a change in their DNA or genetic blueprint. This is believed by some experts to be due to a type of biological "short" in electrical flow through the body. |
Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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| Personal Advice
Anyone who is interested in herbal medicine should know about the wonderful work performed by the American Botanical Council. Its magazine, HerbalGram, is an excellent source of information on the latest scientific research on herbs from around the world. (To contact the American Botanical Council, call 512-331-8868.)
Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer
There is some compelling new evidence that omega 3 fattv acids mav help prevent breast cancer and may even be a useful treatment lor this disease. |
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