What is known about natural medicines and alternative therapies? Do we need science?

[Guest]

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[cobbler]

Before scientific breakthroughs the surgeon was also the barber.

Most people died from what are now considered minor infections.
Only in the areas of nausea and pain relief are there proven non-medical remedies.

[greep]

Does any one know of any natural medicines....

Why don't you check Youtube. Seems to be where you get most of your information.

[toban]

Hi everyone,

A few years ago, i went on a quest for knowledge concerning natural medicines and alternative therapies.

Many, if not most, doctors will disapprove of natural medicines and alternative therapies. They won't tell you that the treatments used on a cancer patient, for example, is actually bad for the patients' health, but they still perform the treatments, just the same.

I agree completely Babe and I will relate a personal incident of this. My late wife agonized through several years of chemotherapy and I can remember her saying, during one visit to her Oncologist "I think this stuff is killing me", to which he responded, "You may very well be correct, Mrs. ---"

So, but what if there were no scientific proof backing a particular natural medicine and alternative therapy? Does it mean they don't benefit the patient's health?
Whatever did humans do for so many thousands of years before scientific approval existed?

They were used after much observation of others allowed them to realize the benefits and dangers. That is actually where modern medicine began! It was ancient Egyptian and Chinese cultures who studied and documented their many remedies and thus formed a basis for understanding and use. Then in 1899 along came Bayer with his synthesis of Acetylsalicylic Acid [ASA aka Aspirin] to improve on a very well known folk remedy - the bark and leaves of the willow were known to be a remedy for aches and fevers. This was found later to be because of the salicin they were found to contain.

Does any one know of any natural medicines and/or alternative therapies that you've used, or grandma used, that actually worked?

Oh yes, as a kid I can remember many times when I had a bad cold, being sent to the local drug store to buy 25 cents worth of Friars Balsam. On returning home an empty tomato can with about a bit of water in the bottom would be boiling on the wood heater in the kitchen. A little Friars Balsam was poured in, then with a towel draped over my head I had to lean over the hot stove and the boiling can, so as to inhale the very powerful aromatic vapours coming from it. It really worked well though - caused me to cough up the mucous and phlegm in my chest and cleared the nose out so I could breathe properly! I guess that was before Vicks Vapour Rub was invented which is also a heck of a lot easier to use.


Be well,
Babe,
xoxo

A large percentage of the medicines we rely on today came about as variants of natural remedies sometimes used by other civilizations for centuries/millenia were studied e.g. Aspirin.

[Guest]

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[Modulus]

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[greep]

:O

[greep]

'Being a man of high intelligence.......'

Babe, this is what they call a self deprecating comment. It clearly went right over your head. (I cant believe you actually have to have this pointed out to you), lol.

sorry, But I had to say it here as well since you quoted it at the top of this thread.

[greep]

bye.

[thebigjuggler]

It has been scientifically proved (to some extent) that Omegas 3 are effective to relieve depressive symptoms when used with SSRIs. Melatonin is also used for some psychiatric disorders I believe. Ginger is also known to be effective at relieving fnausea

[Guest]

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[thebigjuggler]

I'm sorry but Zoloft, Effexor and Paxil are SSRIs and all of them are used to treat depression.The only one I could think that is mostly used to treat anxiety disorders is Celexa.


PS: I'm a lab technician in a pharmacy

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