The stigma of taking herbs is one of the reasons why patients on conventional medication would keep this information from their doctors. Not sure exactly which words would be used, but tree-hugging hippy, witchcraft, new-age mumbo-jumbo, would probably be in the list. Some people would carry these badges proudly but most would rather not. So it is understandable why people suffering from side effects due to their medication would secretly seek out alternative ways of managing the undesirable effects. Many people dont even believe in the efficacy of herbs. Some because theyve never taken them for not wanting to be associated with the type of people who do, some because most herbs take a long time to work so they seem ineffective (not counting colon cleansers of course). But ironically, everyone believes that they do indeed interact with conventional medication. The interactions are never good and the blame is of course always blamed on the herb not on the medication. The herbs are of course part of the problem, but not the only guilty party. It is clear to most that this one sided blame is about the millions of dollars that pharmaceutical companies would lose should the drug take part of the blame. The scientific and medical communities excludes anything that has not gone under rigorous testing; there is validity and need for this as well. However, the self-imposed superiority makes scientists forget that the active compounds of plants served as the basis of the creation for their medicines in the first place. The medication is often the chemists attempt to isolate and duplicate the plants active compound. But of course, even when successful, the result is merely an approximation and the effects are too strong (such as in the case of ephedra). The fact that there IS an interaction between herbs and medication should give them the validity and importance that the plants do in fact posses. The acceptance of herbs and plants as valid alternative methods of controlling conditions, or at least as a valid attempt as doing so, would open up the discussion between patient and doctor. The interaction between herbs and medications illustrate the power of the plant. This power can be looked at as a dangerous side effect that should be avoided or a potential to be further studied. The latter seems to have more to offer. People can greatly benefit from the healing potential of plants. We simply need to become more open minded to the possibility that nature still has to teach us things and that we have not quite arrived at the point where we have mastered it. Then, we need our scientists to further study which plants do what and how we can use the plant itself rather than try to recreate it in the lab. But research is expensive and the money cant be made back (plants are cheap and cant be patented) and we have not progressed to the point where we seek knowledge for its own sake and to the benefit of all.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 12:20:43 +0000
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