Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
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 In the Chinese system, there is a definite awareness of the synergistic effects of combining their herbal medicines. In other words, the energies of each individual element combine in a way that enhances their separate qualities, as well as creates a new whole that is more effective than the herbs or foods taken separately. In my own food experiments with live, unheated soups and blended foods, the same principle of synergistic improvement of foods for vatas applies. This has been the experience of others as well. |
| Trying to list them all is like trying to list all the known and unknown herbal medicines in the rain forest.
I want to expand on the concept that the wholeness of a food is crucially important. It is the wholeness of raw foods which is health-producing and nonreproducible by science. We do not fully understand why a raw-food diet is so effective, but it is clear that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Cooking or other forms of processing destroy qualities and components of our food for which the significance is not yet, or perhaps never will he, known in its totality. |
the Editors of FC&A Medical Publishing
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 It works so well that the German Commission E, experts in the field of herbal medicines, recommends taking up to a half tablespoon (about 3 grams) every day for this kind of indigestion.
However, if your symptoms are severe, they could indicate a more serious condition, like gallstones. Before you treat yourself with turmeric, check with your doctor.
Pantry pointers
The easiest way to get turmeric in your diet is to order curry at your local Indian restaurant. For you chefs who want to cook with turmeric, finding it is easy. |
Hemp TodayEd Rosenthal
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| Since cannabis was useful for so many ailments, eliminating it as a medical option would force people to use proprietary formulas rather than the cheaper herbal medicines.
Although Herer does not emphasize them in his book, he claims that other members of this group included the entire prohibition bureaucracy, which was soon to be out of work because of the repeal of the 18th amendment. Marijuana represented an intriguing new substance to fight since it was used by minorities, jazz musicians and other avant garde entertainers. It was estimated that over 50,000 people used marijuana in 1937. |
Michael T. Murray, N.D.
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 In addition, three other herbal medicines (bilberry, grape seed, and ginkgo extracts) are discussed because of their important roles in dealing with diabetic complications.
Even though the herbs described here possess blood sugar-lowering effects, proper and effective natural treatment of the diabetic patient requires the careful integration of diet, nutritional supplements, and lifestyle, along with herbal medicine.
Onions (Allium ceva) and garlic (Allium sativum)
Onions and garlic have demonstrated blood sugar lowering action. |
Ralph Golan, M.D.
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 Such information can pinpoint the most effective treatment recommendations, whether diet/nutritional therapy, herbal medicines, stress management, and/or pharmaceutical hormones.
Under stress, healthy adrenals will respond by increasing the output of both Cortisol and DHEA to higher than normal levels. Such temporary adaptive elevations enable an individual to maintain homeostasis and preserve health in the face of stress. However, if stress becomes chronic, eventually the adrenals can no longer maintain the production of extra DHEA. |
Janet Zand, LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreed, MD, CNC, James B. LaValle, RPh, ND
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 Today, many doctors, pharmacists, and nurses are getting training in the use of herbal medicines as well.
After making an evaluation of your needs, an herbalist can be expected to suggest individual herbs or herbal combinations known to be beneficial for your particular condition. An herbalist will often recommend herbs or herbal combinations both to strengthen the underlying system or organ and to relieve symptoms. Ask your herbalist when the preparation can be expected to effect an improvement in your condition. |
Ralph Golan, M.D.
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| However, some herbal medicines, like certain nutrients, can suppress immune function in excessive doses. (See Chapter Twenty-one for more discussion.)
MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS, such as shiitake, reishe, and ganoderma, also stimulate the production of interferon and other well-defined immune parameters.7 A reputable source of shiitake is Lentinus edodes by Eclectic Institute of Sandy, Oregon. You can find capsule combinations of these agents in some health food stores. (Also see page 460, "Immune-enhancing Power Mushrooms and Mycelin 3." |
Prevention Magazine
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 Even today, people in Germany, France, and other European nations use herbal medicines nearly every day. "In this country, however, we've pretty much cast them aside—until now," says Dr. Keller.
Doctors are discovering that many herbs work as well as drugs for relieving common conditions, and for a very simple reason. The active ingredients in herbs may be virtually identical to the chemicals found in drugs. When you take an aspirin, for example, you get the benefit of a compound called acetylsalicylic acid, which eases pain, lowers fever, and reduces inflammation. |
Jean Carper
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 In Germany the government's authority on herbal medicines,
Commission E, approves the use of licorice to treat ulcers, recommending doses of 200 to 600 milligrams of gly-cyrrhizin daily (about 5 to 15 grams of root) for no longer than four to six weeks. Other research shows that licorice may also help fight viruses and boost immune functioning.
HOW TO USE LICORICE FOR CHRONIC FATIGUE
Advice and Cautions from Dr. Riccardo Baschetti
Dr. Baschetti advises dissolving 2 grams of pure nondeglycyrrhinized licorice in about a pint of cold low-fat or skim milk. |
| THE AUSTRALIAN CELERY CRAZE
Actually, celery seed has long been used as a traditional folk medicine in England and Australia to treat arthritis of various types, says Kerry Bone, leading expert on herbal remedies and technical director of MediHerb, Australia's largest pharmaceutical maker of herbal medicines. Bone says a craze for celery seed to treat arthritis a few years ago in Australia depleted the commercial supply of the herb. |
| The United Kingdom lists kava on the General Sales List of approved herbal medicines.
What's the Evidence?
Fifty years of research—dozens of excellent studies, most done in Germany—show unquestionably that kava is a psychoactive substance—a mood elevator and mild sedative. Starting in the late 1950s experiments proved that kava extracts, and its principal chemicals, put animals to sleep and produced brain waves in humans similar to those induced by antianxiety drugs. However, unlike Val-ium-type tranquilizers, kava mysteriously induces sleep without causing sedation. |
| British expert on herbal medicines, after an exhaustive review of the medical literature in 1996, pronounced "normal doses" of ginger "completely safe in pregnancy." Nevertheless, pregnant women should always consult a doctor before taking any medicinal agent, including ginger.
How Does It Work?
No one is sure what constituents in ginger are responsible for its antinausea effect. But two compounds—shogaols and gingerols—isolated from gingerroot have had antiemetic (antinausea) properties in animals. |
Kathi Keville
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 She could not determine why, but many theories have been posed, most focusing on diet, lifestyle and, of course, herbal medicines.
It seems that certain plants can increase estrogen during menopause— and not just the plants that we think of as herbs. In one British study, Gisela Wilcox, M.D., and associates gave 25 women who had gone through menopause foods and herbs that were supposed to increase estrogen. When these women ate red clover sprouts, flaxseeds and soy flour every day for two weeks, their estrogen levels rose and remained high. |
Maesimund B. Panos, M.D. and Jane Heimlich
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 Nearly every community had its "goodwife" who supplemented her storehouse of English herbal medicines, plasters, and ointments with medicinal herbs acquired from her Indian neighbors. She decocted (prepared by boiling) the wintergreen plant and prescribed the infusion as a diuretic (to increase excretion of urine). Yaupon holly was used to stimulate the heart, and the Indians' balsam root for coughs and colds. In some regions the favored remedy for diarrhea and dysentery was "Indian chocolate," made by decocting the root of an herb called water avens and adding honey and milk to the decoction. |
Christopher Hobbs
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 From the 1600s, Agaric lost some of its magic, giving way to new and more specialized herbal medicines. In A New English Dispensatory (Alleyne, 1733), it is mentioned as a purging herb to be taken with aromatics (Ginger) and that a "purging pill" was official in the College Dispensatory, but that "it is hardly at all in use, or to be met with in prescription.'''' From the 2nd U.S. Dispensatory (Wood and Bache, 1834) we read that the 'purging agaric' "In the dose of four or six grains (up to a dram) is said to act powerfully as a cathartic. |
Jean Carper
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| Commission E has issued about 300 monographs on herbal medicines, 200 of which it has approved as reasonably effective and absolutely safe. The standard of proof of efficacy is not as strict as the double-blind human studies required by our FDA for pharmaceutical drugs. However, the German Commission E insists on proof that the drug is effective for certain conditions, as shown by research and traditional usage, and, moreover, that it cannot be harmful when used as designated. |
| Recently, however, because of a surging interest in botanical medicines, more German studies are becoming available in the United States, and the American Botanical Council has published an English translation of all the Commission E monographs on herbal medicines. Dr. Tyler and others hail these monographs as the most complete and reliable scientific compendium of evidence on botanical medicines in the Western world. (See page 282 for how to obtain it. |
Sharol Tilgner, N.D.
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 Peripheral action is the most common with herbal medicines. It may reduce the input of stimuli by acting as a mild analgesic or anesthetic on the respiratory mucosa, by modifying or decreasing output or viscosity of the respiratory tract fluid or by relaxing the smooth muscle of the bronchi. A peripheral agent may be a demulcent, local anesthetic, expectorant or antispasmodic.
Examples:
• Poppy (Papaver somniferum)
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
• See demulcent, expectorant and bron-chodilator for more examples.
Antitumor: Suppresses tumor growth. |
the Editors of PREVENTION
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 H Don't try herbal medicines if you are pregnant or nursing.
H Don't give herbs to children without consulting a qualified health practitioner who can advise you about dosage and safety precautions that apply specifically to children. None of the advice in this book is intended for children under the age of 16.
M Use common sense when trying an herb for the first time. Although side effects are rare, if an herb causes any type of discomfort, stop using it and see your doctor immediately. |
Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.
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 I fully expect that as knowledge in this field improves, we will rediscover ancient methods and also find new ways to use herbal medicines to benefit unborn children. See the Resource Guide to find a qualified herbalist. Also, refer to the Appendix for a comprehensive list of herbs to avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Herbs That Can Kill
Certain herbs used commonly in the past are now known to be poisonous and are no longer available except to professionals. |
Linda B. White, M.D.
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 The German variety is the one usually used in tea and herbal medicines. A tea made from fresh chamomile flowers is a taste not to be forgotten. Both varieties like full sun to partial shade and a light, well-drained soil,- they'fe difficult to start from seed, so you may want to purchase plants.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Mild sedative, herpes remedy, bee magnet: You can call lemon balm all of these and more. This bushy, somewhat weedy-looking plant, with its large, lemon-scented leaves, has a long tradition as a medicinal herb. |
| Guess how many deaths were reported to poison control centers as being caused by herbal medicines? None.
Granted, many more Americans use pharmaceuticals than herbs, so you'd expect more problems with drugs. But these figures clearly show that most herbs are not a public health hazard.
That's not to say you can buy anything that claims to be natural or herbal, use it in any way, and expect absolute safety and effectiveness.
Extremely high doses of ephedra, a stimulant herb, have caused deaths. Some essential oils are very dangerous when taken internally, even in small amounts. |
| Do not give herbal medicines to children younger than age 2 without the approval of the child's doctor.
ţ If you are over age 65, stick with dosages at the low end of the recommended ranges. Sensitivity to drugs and the medicinal compounds in herbs increases with age. So does the risk of side effects.
ţ If you are pregnant or nursing, or if you have a chronic illness and or are taking any medication, do not take medicinal herbs without consulting your physician. |
| Pharmaceutical
Essential herb Safety Tips
While herbal medicines generally have far fewer and far milder side effects than pharmaceuticals, they may still cause problems if used improperly. Here's how to take herbs safely.
ţ Become well-informed. Read up on herbs before you use them. This book is a good place to start. Don't follow a friend's advice about dosage (unless that friend is a practitioner with years of clinical experience). Get your information from a reliable source that includes safety warnings.
ţ Start with a low dose. |
| In many cases, they've written books of their own about herbal medicines. You can count on these women and men to tell you the plain truth about using herbs to fight disease, promote longevity and vitality, and boost overall health. You can also count on them to tell you when you need to consult your doctor.
It's true that you can get lost in the maze of information about herbal remedies. But in The Herbal Drugstore, you have a reliable expert guide. We hope that it helps you reclaim your health if you're sick, and preserves your good health for a long time to come. |
| The wisest course is to incorporate herbal medicines with your doctor's approval and monitor your responses carefully.
Drug treatment
Insulin
Many types and many trade names. Function: control blood sugar levels in people with Type I diabetes and some with Type II diabetes. Side effects: overuse can raise cholesterol and blood pressure and increase body fat.
Oral Hypoglycemic Agents (Sulfonylureas)
Tolbutamide (Orinase), tolazamide (Tolinase), chlorpropamide (Dia-benese), glyburide (Diabeta, Micronase), glypizide (Glucotrol). |
Michael T. Murray, N.D.
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| This widespread use of herbal medicines is not restricted to developing countries, as it has been estimated that 30 to 40 percent of all medical doctors in France and Germany rely on herbal preparations as their primary medicines.2
The rebirth of herbal medicine
Throughout the world, but especially in Europe and Asia, a tremendous renaissance in the use and appreciation of herbal medicine has taken place. In Germany, estimates show that over $4 billion dollars are spent on herbal products each year. In Japan, the figure is thought to be even higher. |
| The bottom line for any practitioner or patient is the result! herbal medicines must be used successfully if their use is to persist. Challenge yourself to study botanical medicine and you will achieve results.
Live in Good Health with Passion and Joy!
Michael T. Murray, N.D.
Acknowledgmen ts
Dr. |
| I cannot effectively express my feelings on discovering the remarkable ways in which herbal medicines work. Humility, awe, wonder, joy, and respect often overcome me as I discover the true beauty and harmony that exists in nature.
The more I learn about herbal medicine, the stronger my faith in nature and naturopathic medicine becomes. I want to share not only the information I have discovered, but my faith as well. It is my hope that this book will inspire you.
The bottom line for any practitioner or patient is the result! |
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