Share your opinion on Herbal Medicine!

Whats your opinion on Herbal Medicine?

Great! Has helped me/others.	55.0%	[ 11 ]
So-so. I've tried it and it didn't help me.	15.0%	[ 3 ]
Nonsense!	5.0%	[ 1 ]
Not sure but would like to know more!	25.0%	[ 5 ]
Not sure and not bothered.	0.0%	[ 0 ]
Total Votes:			[ 20 ]

[Emicatmon]

I study Herbal Medicine, and I'd like to know my fellow Gaians opinions. So, what do you think about it?

Basically it is the use of plants in place of orthadox pharmacutical medicines. One of the benefits of Herbal Medicine is the lack of nasty side effects.

[MegaTurkey]

That's a tough one. It certainly has its benefits to a certain extent but it can interfere with prescribed drugs (with life threatening effects) and particularly in the elderly of some cultures, patients often stop taking prescribed medication and discontinue treatment plans in favour of alternative herbal tinctures which could have a detrimental or placebo effect at best. People can be conned very easily too and claiming that herbal medicine skips on the "nasty side effects" that synthetic medicines have isn't true.

Many, if not most drugs are derived from chemicals first discovered in plants so it isn't fair to portray herbal medicine on such a pedestal over conventional medicine; they are very similar.

[Dr Dimari]

Herbal Medicine is part of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

While I feel there is a place for CAM in medical practice, tinctures and stuff could be used for mild complaints that cause no harm and give symptomatic relief, it should not replace medications for people who have serious conditions that need to be managed appropriately. Therefore it should be used in addition to.

Herbal medicine is still no a "safe" medicine, as many medications do have "nasty side effects" for example the burning you can get from tea tree, the psychosis you can from THC and the interactions you may have with other medications, such as things with grapefruit or foxglove extract and digoxin.

[Vertigo_Kiwi]

I'm interested in it, but haven't really explored anything about it. The most I've done is used peppermint tea to calm an upset stomach.
My former teacher recommended St. John's Wort for depression, but then I read that vitamins aren't regulated, so you're never certain what you're getting...that kinda knocked my interest down.

[m i r a c u l u m]

I look forward to the day when the acacia tree is used as a side-effect free contraceptive again, like the Romans and Egyptians did...

[dahibfeouahfowa]

I've studied it a bit (thinking about being a surgeon or naturopathic physician), and used it on myself numerous times, but I would never tell someone with a heart condition to stop taking their medicine in favor of a herbal mixture I threw together. There still needs to be research done on lots of these kinds of treatments before we know it is safe for others with life threatening conditions to use.

[mad_cow_disease]

Herbal medicine is great but you must take into consideration the fact that many herbs can have negative side effects and can interact with drugs and other herbs to produce horrendous results.
That being said, in the case of minor/mild ailment, I think that it can be a fantastic alternative because even if many modern medicines may have their basis in some sort of herbal property, that does not change the fact that you are putting man-made/controlled substances into your body.
Both herbal and institutional medicine have their downfalls and I think that, in reality, we need to be more mindful of the ways in which we use each of them and better learn when is the appropriate time for each as well as how to pay better attention to the needs of our bodies.

[Gakre]

Perhaps the greatest weakness of herbal medicine is the lack of information at par with modern standards of studies. Many herbs may be less potent than their chemically produced counterpart; and many herbs are poisonous.

Personally; I'd like to be convinced that there are studies done by professionals (who actually know what they are doing; and are not forced out with biased reports for their companies' convenience) on these kinds of grey zones within biochemical knowledge.

[paleopdx]

To be honest, it seems like if you eat an all natural diet, then all natural remedies are probably all you'll really need.

But my guess is that nature doesn't have all the remedies needed to combat all the heath problems that come from the crap we eat and the crap we put in our food.

The rest of my opinions have pretty much all been said by other posters who say both are important and both have their strengths and weaknesses.

[Warriorwicket]

I'd say I'm interested.
I haven't pursued it all that much. mostly because I don't know where to start.

[goirkens]

Emicatmon

I study Herbal Medicine, and I'd like to know my fellow Gaians opinions. So, what do you think about it?

Basically it is the use of plants in place of orthadox pharmacutical medicines. One of the benefits of Herbal Medicine is the lack of nasty side effects.

I really like it. I even consider myself an herbalist apprentice since I'm learning from my mom. smile

[Captn Pikachu]

Ancient Chinese secret?