If you've ever been prescribed drugs by a doctor for a medical condition and have picked up the prescription at the pharmacy, discarded the packaging and started taking the pills as recommended, all the while, never asking a single question about side effects or contraindications, never reading the package insert or the warning labels, I am here to ask you to consider evaluating your actions differently.
The truth of the matter is, this is human nature, to trust. We want to trust that our healthcare providers know what is best for us when we don't seem to know ourselves. This is the problem however; we don't know ourselves. We are putting the trust of our bodies into the hands of a virtual stranger. Perhaps our doctors are people we have known all our lives, but they have not had intimate experience with our bodies as we have, and while they are professionally trained, they do not know everything.
It is important to take back the knowledge of our bodies, to reclaim the intuitive wisdom of our ancestors and begin taking responsibility for what we ingest, put on our skin and use for therapeutic or medicinal purposes.
There have been over 420,000 recorded deaths related to prescription drug contraindications and possibly many more which have been undocumented. FDA does not regulate all pharmaceuticals that are placed on the market. Only a certain percentage of drugs are regulated prior to being placed for general use, the other percent is only regulated after it has gone to the public.
When we step into a doctor's office and are prescribed a pill, we must ask if there are common side effects, we must ask if there are alternatives, we must ask if the drug is absolutely necessary. We must be informed. Only then can we give consent to allow another person to guide us in our decision making.
This same philosophy holds true for herbalists. As an herbalist, I evaluate your health through a series of interview questions related to your health history, allergies, prescriptions, supplements, activity level, stress level, family and social life, and conduct a pulse test and tongue evaluation (the tongue is a mirror to health, as are the eyes). When I ultimately make recommendations on the herbs that can be incorporate into diet, the supplements and vitamins that can be taken, the foods that can be eaten and the activities that can improve health; I want you to ask me questions, I want you to read the literature on the subject, I want you to search the Internet. Because this is your health, not mine and you need to feel confident and comfortable, in case you do have an allergic reaction to something, that you have gone forward with all of the research possible and have an awareness of what you are putting in or on your body.
It's not always possible for either doctors or herbalists to know that a person is allergic to something until an allergy appears, in which case, you should discontinue use immediately. Unlike prescriptions however, herbs are generally safe and the side effects are very rare. Because I work primarily with pregnant mothers and children, I make it a point in my practice to use herbs that have no known toxicity.
Another reason that I feel informed consent is valuable is for our children's sake. When your child sees you being assertive and communicating your thoughts, desires, expectations and concerns to your healthcare practitioner, it empowers them to do the same. In this day when authoritarian rules seem to dominate free thought, it is important for our children to know they too have a voice. Because our children are people too, they deserve to be able to ask questions and feel validated in their communication with adults who are authority figures. When our children are given the opportunity to express their fears and concerns with support from us, their loved ones, we begin to cultivate in them the ability to stand up for themselves and be in their own power which develops strength, courage and leadership skills for the future.
While we can't always go the natural route for all of our healthcare needs, we can always ask questions in order to truly understand our choices, because choice is one of the most important assets we possess as individuals.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
About Herbalism
Herbalism is a time honored approach to natural healing that dates back thousands of years. Wise men and women have used herbs and plants to help facilitate healing in the body, ease pain and build nutrition for centuries. Herbal wisdom was handed down from family to family, generation to generation by word of mouth and then eventually put to paper. There is a long history of the use of herbs and while much information has been recorded, still much more is yet undiscovered.
It is thought that the first written record of herbal knowledge comes from ancient Greece, the writings of Hippocrates, the so called founder of modern medicine who believed that plants were the all powerful healers and doctors merely the administrars of such medicinal plants. His philosphy of "Harm None" later became known as the Hippocratic Oath which is used by modern medical practitioners today.
Before the advent of pharmeceuticals, there were only plant based medicines to help the body process an illness. People in countrysides knew when and where to harvest their plant allies and would store these plants for use during the year. Apothecaries in cities across the world held tinctures, teas, salves and poultices for every conceivable ailment. It was not until the sixteenth century that an alchemist, botonist and physician named Paraclesus discovered how to extract the vital alkeloids from plants to make a single component based compound, from which the drug industry as we know it today stemmed from.
You might wonder how herbalism has a place if the drugs we use today are mostly plant based and do the job to irradicate the illness that much more quickly than the plant might.
Because a single constituant distilled from a plant is a volatile substance, and because many of the modern pharmeceutical drugs have been synthesized, meaning artificially produced based on the chemical components discovered by the original extraction; the side effects of these drugs are not always known and side effects which are documented are the result of the product being combined with other artificial materials in order to make a chemical reaction.
Because herbs have so long been used, and because the vital alkaloids, proteins, vitamins and minerals remain in tact, they work together in a very powerful, yet gentle way to facilitate healing without side effects; people in modern times can take advantage of the well known and documented health benefits of thousands of herbs available on the market today.
It is not to say that heroic medicine does not have it's place. As any herbalist or holistic practitioner will tell you, it is about utilizing both gifts and knowing when to call your physician if there is a serious problem. However, herbalism provides a way for us to create vitality and inner fortitude by strengthening our immune system, balancing our energies, reducing inflammation (a main source of many diseases), and by allowing us to focus on living rather than irradicating disease. Herbs are nutritious, they combine wonderfully with each other and with whole foods and they make great companions for lasting health and wellbeing.
In my experience as an herbalist, I have seen that while drugs attack an illness resulting in only peripheral healing, herbs support a body's recovery through an illness to sustain long term health. It is thought in holistic health that illness is a necessary part of life and that the body has the miraculous power to heal itself with the support of proper diet, rest and nourishment from plants and homeopathic treatments.
I believe when you begin to truly experience the wonderful power of plants as medicine, our focus changes on how we handle illness and disease. From the view that our bodies are frail hosts for bacteria and germs, to the view that our bodies are sanctuary for wellness that invites the occassional illness only to work with the system to increase the power of healing that the body is capable of.
Integrating this mentality is tough in our world of medical intervention, to really feel empowered by the knowledge of ourselves as healers takes time, but I think that we can positively effect change by bringing herbal knowledge once again to the forefront of our healthcare practices. I think every business that markets healing products should have an herbalist on staff.
In this blog, I hope to reach people that have decided that they want to begin advocating for themselves and their families and no longer be passive onlookers to their health and wellbeing. If you are reading this blog and you feel that you are ready to take back your power, ready to learn how to heal yourself, ready to participate in your own wellness, you have come to the right place.
Stay tuned for the next topic of discussion: Why Informed Consent is Important.
It is thought that the first written record of herbal knowledge comes from ancient Greece, the writings of Hippocrates, the so called founder of modern medicine who believed that plants were the all powerful healers and doctors merely the administrars of such medicinal plants. His philosphy of "Harm None" later became known as the Hippocratic Oath which is used by modern medical practitioners today.
Before the advent of pharmeceuticals, there were only plant based medicines to help the body process an illness. People in countrysides knew when and where to harvest their plant allies and would store these plants for use during the year. Apothecaries in cities across the world held tinctures, teas, salves and poultices for every conceivable ailment. It was not until the sixteenth century that an alchemist, botonist and physician named Paraclesus discovered how to extract the vital alkeloids from plants to make a single component based compound, from which the drug industry as we know it today stemmed from.
You might wonder how herbalism has a place if the drugs we use today are mostly plant based and do the job to irradicate the illness that much more quickly than the plant might.
Because a single constituant distilled from a plant is a volatile substance, and because many of the modern pharmeceutical drugs have been synthesized, meaning artificially produced based on the chemical components discovered by the original extraction; the side effects of these drugs are not always known and side effects which are documented are the result of the product being combined with other artificial materials in order to make a chemical reaction.
Because herbs have so long been used, and because the vital alkaloids, proteins, vitamins and minerals remain in tact, they work together in a very powerful, yet gentle way to facilitate healing without side effects; people in modern times can take advantage of the well known and documented health benefits of thousands of herbs available on the market today.
It is not to say that heroic medicine does not have it's place. As any herbalist or holistic practitioner will tell you, it is about utilizing both gifts and knowing when to call your physician if there is a serious problem. However, herbalism provides a way for us to create vitality and inner fortitude by strengthening our immune system, balancing our energies, reducing inflammation (a main source of many diseases), and by allowing us to focus on living rather than irradicating disease. Herbs are nutritious, they combine wonderfully with each other and with whole foods and they make great companions for lasting health and wellbeing.
In my experience as an herbalist, I have seen that while drugs attack an illness resulting in only peripheral healing, herbs support a body's recovery through an illness to sustain long term health. It is thought in holistic health that illness is a necessary part of life and that the body has the miraculous power to heal itself with the support of proper diet, rest and nourishment from plants and homeopathic treatments.
I believe when you begin to truly experience the wonderful power of plants as medicine, our focus changes on how we handle illness and disease. From the view that our bodies are frail hosts for bacteria and germs, to the view that our bodies are sanctuary for wellness that invites the occassional illness only to work with the system to increase the power of healing that the body is capable of.
Integrating this mentality is tough in our world of medical intervention, to really feel empowered by the knowledge of ourselves as healers takes time, but I think that we can positively effect change by bringing herbal knowledge once again to the forefront of our healthcare practices. I think every business that markets healing products should have an herbalist on staff.
In this blog, I hope to reach people that have decided that they want to begin advocating for themselves and their families and no longer be passive onlookers to their health and wellbeing. If you are reading this blog and you feel that you are ready to take back your power, ready to learn how to heal yourself, ready to participate in your own wellness, you have come to the right place.
Stay tuned for the next topic of discussion: Why Informed Consent is Important.
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