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Herbal Medicine: An Ounce Of Prevention
By: Priya Shah
In recent years the issue of Alternative Healing has taken the medical world by storm. A 2004 government survey concluded that more than one third of adults use some form of alternative medicine and healing. Many of those using alternative therapies do not even discuss them with their traditional healthcare practitioners. One facet of this burgeoning interest is Herbal Medicine. While it may seem "trendy" to some, Herbal Medicine has been around for thousands of years.In fact, many of the familiar pharmaceutical medications we use today were originally created from "natural" ingredients. Drugs like opium (from poppies), aspirin (from willow bark), digitalis (from foxglove) and quinine (from the cinchona tree.) What is Herbal Medicine? Herbal Medicine is the use of botanicals (plants) either singularly or in combination to prevent and treat certain ailments and illnesses. People native to different geographical locations have long used plants and plant extracts to cure specific maladies.Sometimes referred to as "folk" medicine, it is generally recognized that there are three schools of research one can follow with regard to the history of these treatments. There is the study of medicines based on Greek, Roman and medieval sources, which is largely used by Western schools of thought, Ayurveda which comes from India, and the Eastern tradition of Chinese Herbal Medicine. Rather than separation, these different schools of thought provide more commonality than division. It stands to reason that most ancient peoples used plants that were native to their geographical location, which provides sound reasoning as to why different schools of thought exist.All three of these modalities at one time included both philosophical and spiritual aspects along with the scientific knowledge that existed within a specific time frame.In the study that determined one third of Americans used alternative therapies, the same number surveyed showed a dramatic increase in positive results to more than 60% when "prayer" was included in the mix. Ayurveda, loosely translated to "knowledge of life," is the ancient Indian system of medicine. Dating back to more than 6,000 years ago, Ayurvedic Medicine practiced not just Herbal Medicine, but some of the earliest surgical procedures as well as inoculation. Over the years Ayurvedic Medicine became increasingly symptomatic as opposed to treating the root cause of disease, which originally was steeped in strengthening the immune system With all our so-called advancements in the medical field, it’s interesting that physicians are still treating "effect" rather than "cause." The old adage that, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" could not be more true. This is especially true when it comes to natural remedies. Nothing in the makeup of a plant tells us in what way it would be used the best. There are over a half million known herbs that could be used as possible remedies. Chinese Herbalist practitioners have over 2,000 herbs that are readily available in their pharmacies. Herbal remedies around the globe very in strength from the very mild and gentle remedies that are use even as food, to those that are potential poisons when taken at the wrong dose. Folk use of herbal remedies is familiar to all of us in some form or another. This is because herbal remedies are learned by being passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately this hearsay is what fuels the ire of the scientific community and their disdain. But by dismissing generations of experience and observation, it is really the traditional scientific community which is losing out on this wisdom. In recent times, attitudes toward traditional and herbal remedies have changed for the better. Many medical schools now offer studies in complementary medicine alongside traditional medical courses. It’s only a matter of time before herbal medicine becomes part of a more holistic practice of healthcare. Copyright © 2005 Priya Shah Priya Shah is the editor of The Glutathione Report. Get a comprehensive report on 47 Easy Herbal Remedies This article may be reprinted as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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How to Benefit from the Mind-Body Connection
(excerpt)
You are about to gain insight into the
mind-body connection. The number of
people who truly understand these principles on our
planet are relatively few.
There is an undeniable connection between our minds and
bodies, you can learn
to use this fact to your benefit.
Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of "Love, Medicine and
Miracles" was once a
distraught cancer surgeon until he
began to understand the greater principles
of the mind-
body connection. He felt dragged down by the artificial
barriers
that existed between patient and doctor, and the
helplessness he often felt as
a result of his inability
to effectively serve those patients. Eventually, those
barriers
were disintegrated by Dr. Siegel's recognition
and growing understanding of the
mind-body connection and
how it could serve his patients and himself.
Dr. Siegel, or Bernie as he began to have his patients
refer to him, had some
startling realizations as a cancer surgeon. He found that
there were actually
quite a few people in the world that successfully beat
the statistics on cancer
survival. He began to recognize that a patient's ability
to defeat something as
serious as cancer had to do with the patient's mind and
attitude about their
disease.
If you would like to see the rest of
this article, please go here:
http://www.tobeinformed.com/repository/mind-body.html
copyright 2004 - David Snape
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