| | | Switching to Herbs Instead of Drugs Answered by: Christine Dennis Question from: Tom Posted on: March 21, 2008
My wife and I are taking numerous meds for a variety of medical problems (our cost of of medicines is actually breaking us). I have long been interested in herbs and their proposed health benefits. I know some Rx’s are actually derived from herbs, only to be wrongly criticized by drug manufacturers. Are there any herbs that might be considered for: heart, high blood pressure, thyroid, stomach disorders, skin disorders, etc, etc. Thank you for any info you might offer, again, we are being compelled to find some factual alternatives.
I think the first place you need to look at is exactly why you and your wife are experiencing the health problems that you are. Holistic and herbal medicine does not look at health and dis-ease in the same way that allopathic medicine does. For example, in holistic and herbal medicine, one may not give herbs to lower high blood pressure rather the cause for the high blood pressure would be addressed first -- i.e. stress, kidney function, cardiovascular health, etc. The body is not a series of isolated systems rather they are so very much intertwined and by addressing one system, one is affecting all the other systems. Therefore a health problem in one system, such as stomach disorders may be the underlying cause for the rest of the health problems. Rather than trying to give list of herbs that affect each ailment you have listed, I suggest that you and your wife consult a herbalist in your area. Often times people are hesitant to spend the money for an initial consultation but it usually ends up being cheaper and much more effective than just going to a health food store and trying supplements randomly off the shelf.
In the meantime, to give you some food for thought until you visit a herbalist, try searching each of the symptoms through Richters Q&A:
http://www.richters.com/show.cgi?page=QandA/QandA.html
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