Would you consider taking herbal medicine over the commercial available medicine?

Question

A lot of hype is currently being generated by alternative medications. Herbal medicine uses roots, stems, leaves, flowers, or seeds of plants to improve health, prevent disease and treat illnesses.

Answer 1

It depends. I have used antibiotics when i have had a dental abscess which made me delirious and i gave my daughter antibiotics when she had a septic finger which clouded her consciousness. However, most of the time i would use nothing at all.

Herbal medicine is appropriate for many chronic conditions and more appropriate for some, such as some persistent viral infections (probably not HIV), liver conditions, autoimmune diseases and hypersensitivity states. It is inappropriate for the recipients of transplant organs, systemic Candida, fibromyalgia and conditions where there is a single substance deficiency such as hypothyroidism or type 1 diabetes.

Herbal medicine is to orthodox drugs as whole food is to refined food. Orthodox drugs lack balancing compounds in them such as tannins with salicylates, and they are often adulterated with xenobiotic substances such as tartrazine which are inappropriate for consumption.

Orthodox medicine also has a lot of information which it doesn't use. For example, there are a lot of different cardiac glycosides in a wide variety of plants which would be more or less appropriate for different patients but only the ones from Digitalis are ever used. There are many different points at which the inflammatory process could be modified, but the only steps altered by most orthodox drugs are by "NSAIDs" and steroids. Orthodox medicine tends not to use the information available to it whereas herbalism does. There is extensive scientific research available on herbs which herbalists use, they have been in use for longer than orthodox medicine, are used by the majority of the world's population and always have been.

Some herbs are indeed dangerous and highly toxic. Those which are used medically, however, have a far higher therapeutic index (ratio between effective dose and fatal dose), sometimes by a factor of thousands, than orthodox drugs normally have.

It always makes sense to see a herbalist, who is medically trained and will take a full medical history, conduct any physical examination necessary, check for drug interactions and give lifestyle advice as well as herbs. Simply buying stuff over the counter may well not work and could be dangerous.

Answer 2

A lot of hype is also being generated by drug companies who advertise all of these drugs on television that are either not necessary or come with far too many side effects to ever consider taking. I think the health industry is more concerned now a days with turning over a profit then the public's health. The 'flu vaccine' is made out to be some necessary thing to curb something that can be deemed as a really bad cold. People survived for a long time without it so why in the past 7 years or so has it become so crucial? The only people who should take it are older people and infants who are more prone to experiencing fatal consequences from the flu virus. As for herbal remedies, I would opt for them first because many can help alleviate certain conditions. Many synthetic drugs ('commericial drugs') are deviated from many herbs, so what is wrong with relying on a natural form that seemed to work for thousands of years?

Answer 3

I would always take herbal over traditional. Traditional medicine is great in an emergency, but it's only a band-aid. Herbs heal, they correct the problem. Traditional meds. supposedly "fix" the issue but always cause another issue, see side effects on most prescription drugs. Herbs get a bad wrap for a few reasons ... 1) The user bought some generic herb that was mostly filler rather than herb. 2) The user thought taking more was better and got sick from the herb. Always buy quality herbs and remember more is NOT better.

Answer 4

Generally no. My feeling is that although pharmaceutical companies are allowed to gouge us, most of the meds are coming from the same place (usually places like the Amazon), and the companies are refining them to make less side effects. Also, they are tested more thoroughly then a lot of the herbal medicines.

That being said, if herbal medicines were tested more thoroughly I would likely consider them equal then and give them a fair chance.

Answer 5

You really need to go to your doctor for that..Useing herbals can really mess u up...If your doctor suggest a certain herbal then most likely it's okay. But herbal meds aren't regulated and so you really never know what your getting.... You know it could be something your eating that is making you have so much anxiety. Like I said check with your doctor and good luck.

Answer 6

Herbal is more on the preventive part of medicine. For the curative, it's either the commercial or both.

Answer 7

I wouldn't consider anything without the advice of my doctor as I don't understand the complexity of medicine. But if it were for something like prevention and stuff I'd look into natural supplements. I hear the bee's honey is great for a lot of things.

Answer 8

Herbal is always better because they are natural, no side effects and assured cure. Even by mistake you happened to consume a wrong medicine, the damage will be neither NIL or minimal. I have not heard of any one committing suicide by consming herbal preparation.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Sure because we all know it much safer to buy snake oil form anybody with an infomercial than use drugs that were clinically tested so rigorously that they passed inspection by an independent government agency. Don't you know there is no need to diet, because we can just get wight loss pills from the Internet?