If you guys don't trust traditional medicine, what makes you think that herbal medicine works better?

Question

"If found something growing on my basement walls. I ate some and then lost weight. Let's market it! It's all natural."

Answer 1

Everyone here is citing the "because we see it work" reason (which I often agree with), but I'm more in favor of the "becasue it's less dangerous and likely to hurt you reason." (for the same reason, regardless of efficacy, body work is safer than surgery and less likely to kill you since it's much less powerful and "unnatural").
Modern medicine has conquered many previously epidemic diseases (primarily through improved public sanitation), and made certain previously uncurable conditions fixable (I had an anyerism when I was younger, and anything but our current neurosurgeons would have meant death. Yet at the same time, I had to go to altenative practices for recovery, since the doctors said "you're alive, and in somewhat good health, that's a miracle, we can't do more.") but it has also created a long list of epidemics we never had to deal with before in its place.

Answer 2

I think herbals and traditional modern medicine complement each other. They can boost each other's effectiveness or one may be more effective than the other in different situations.

Answer 3

Herbs are the original medicine. Ayurveda is the original science of Medicine and they didn't use man manipulated chemicals. They used herbs. It is still a great science. It is not about being natural it is about knowing the science of these natural elements and herbs and applying them accordingly. Don't be a fanatical, extremest. Traditional medicine is the original medicine not the so called new remedies of todays so called science.

Answer 4

herbal medicine IS the traditional medicine. If you travel to other countries that is the majority of what they use to get healthy!

Our pharmacuetical meds are just remakes of herbs. They sort out what they want and chopp of the rest. They make copy cats of the herb with chemistry. They do this because they make so much money off of us.

I go to my garden and cut off a herb for my medicine. But I am well studied in it and no fool or abuser.

Herbs are God's Green Medicinals, our provided medicine and then we go and try to trump Gods creations with fakes in the lab. Labs cut off some of the most important componants of herb thinking they are useless, but it may be the one thing that held the healing power all together.

Any herbal abuse leads to the outrage of people.... but it had to be abused to be harmful.

But selecting slime off the wall is not herbal medicine. You are brainwashed and really do not have a clue about the recent origines of medicine. Yes very recent.... try 130 years The discovery of penicillin ...moldy bread.... was the huge jump start of our pharmacuetical business that is presently killing Americans daily with their toxic man-made, non-body compatible plastics and dirivitives.

now the herbal business also is getting so high and mightly trying to amke the fast buck on peoples illnesses.

Herbs have there place and like anything you put inside your body it must be compatiable, pure and needed.

Answer 5

chemical,
posters above gave many good reasons to mistrust traditional medicine, by traditional I think you mean western. a couple of reasons:
Merck just settled out of court $4.85 Billion because of the heart attacks and strokes caused by the wonder drug Vioxx.

Bayer Pharm pulled from the market Aprotinin sold to stop bleeding in surgery but it increased deaths within 30 days,

from Reuters Heath info...estrogen-progestin birth control pills increase carotid/femoral artery plaque by 20-30% for every 10 years use in healthy females.

Great stuff from scientific research! There are some life saving chemicals and I am delighted they were developed. Most are made to be sold.

Answer 6

True "Traditional Medicines" have THOUSANDS OF YEARS of human experience in using them. Compare that to a few weeks of study in the typical research trial for prescription drugs. Also, the typical 'new drug' has been tested on only 1500 people! Again, compare that number to millions of users over many millenia for traditional therapies.

Additionally, thousands of modern medical research studies are CONFIRMING the biochemical benefits of 'traditional medicines'. Look it up on Pubmed/Medline - the quantity of research is enormous!

Your uneducated biases are showing!

P.S. just for fun, here is a 'test' of your scientific biases. Would you use a parachute if you had to jump out of a flying airplane? Why? According to a major meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal there are NO SCIENTIFIC STUDIES that have ever tested or documented the efficacy of parachutes! You can look that one up too. It's a real study.

Answer 7

LOL Alternatives have been around for centuries unlike man made chemical prescription drugs which mainly only treat symptoms and never touch the root cause for an ailment ... Where as ancient remedies work with the bodies natural resources to aid in healing.. SO THERE!

If you ate mold and you lost weight you are probably going to shrivel up and die after a long and painful time!

Answer 8

People like me who grew up around alternative medicine see the proof everyday. Our Mom used foliage, barks and infusions to bring us back to health, whether we were suffering from croup, fevers, migranes or whatever. I know what to use for insect bites without needing anyone's approval. I am talking traditional healing of the Caribbean Islands.
I utilized these same traditions to cure myself of kidney dysfuncton and wrote a book on how I did it.
The beauty of it is there are no side effects for the items we use. This comes from oral traditions handed down over generations. No guesswork here because we stand on the shoulders of wise people and scientists who came before us. Do me a favor, find a traditional method that works rather than eating things that grow on your wall.

Answer 9

Kalos, wow have you been brainwashed by Big Pharma!

You do understand that the reason for drugs is not all research and science. Hell, most of it is simply BOTTOM LINE.

Stats, research? You need to educate yourself a bit there buddy. Most if not all man made drugs are based on a natural compound that you are telling us doesnt work. There is plenty of research showing they work, that is why BIG Pharma created a synthetic form and markets it to make millions. Do a little uncovering on your statin drugs and red yeast rice. There is a nice little court case on that one. Pharma tried to sue the supplement companies for selling red yeast rice because it contains statin. A drug they said they had the patent on. Guess what they were told.

YOU CANT PATENT A NATURAL OCCURING SUBSTANCE YOU DUMB ASSES.

Before you start mouthing off about stats and whatnot, educate yourself. Try looking up the deaths per year due to pharmaceuticals.

Answer 10

Experience!!!!!

The medications gave me horrendous side effects with very minor improvement in the original problem.

The supplement gave me my life back and 6 months later I was off the $400. of medication per month.

Seemed like a good trade off.