Botanical Medicine’s
Role in Mainstream Medical
Practice
“Botanical Medicine’s Role in Mainstream
Medical Practice”
- Tieraona Low Dog, M.D.Leadership Conference 2003
* View of medicine is changing; other means of healing being accepted -
acupuncture, massage, herbal medicine, tai chi, meditation, stretching, yoga,
the plants.
* People can’t use herbal medicine and not eat a healthy diet, and expect to get
well!
* “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of
opportunity.” Hippocrates
* All medicine came from botanical foundation all of our first effective
medications came from plant sources.
* Regulatory Status of BOTANICALS
* Dietary supplements include herbs, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc. this
is NOT an unregulated industry!! There is terrific quality control of herbal
supplements.
* Contamination - Many companies do not screen their products for heavy metals
yet herbal products grown in highly polluted soils
* Substitution wrong herb is used or sold
* VERY important to have good quality control in place and people need to know
they can trust the supplier.
MENOPAUSE with the latest release from the Women’s Health initiative
demonstrating that HRT does not prevent cardiovascular disease and slightly
increases the risk for breast cancer many women are looking for options to
address uncomfortable menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats and
mood fluctuations.
* “You don’t die from hot flashes, you don’t really have to do anything for it!”
* Menopause is NOT a disease! When we prescribe medications for something that
long-term cannot kill you, with medicines that can something’s wrong!
* Black Cohosh primarily used for rheumatism and melancholy
* Ten clinical trials 9 showed effectiveness for treatment of mood, hot
flashes, night sweats.
* Quality of trials, in general, are of poor quality.
* Research has repeatedly failed to show any estrogenic activity of black
Cohosh! Women who are risk for breast cancer need not worry about a risk using
black Cohosh.
* Tamoxifen + black cohosh reduced night sweats, did not help with hot
flashes. 20 mg. 2x/day Study reported on the news as “Black Cohosh does not
relieve symptoms of black Cohosh”
* It’s like giving someone with a bad headache only 20 mg. of aspirin, instead
of 650 mg.
* We are consistently trying to put a drug model into the study of herbal
medicines. Herbal ingredients work in synergy, so it is hard to point to just
ONE mechanism of action.
COLDS AND FLU:
* Echinacea 3 species, all have efficacy; leading selling drug in the US in
1920. (“Snake root”)
* Remedy for snake bite
* Assessment of efficacy for Echinacea is complicated by the following:
* Different products are used in the clinical trials, different forms, and uses.
* Recent studies done on college students did not show effect because students
in trial (143) were already sick 2-3 days before being given Echinacea.
* Use it early, and a lot, and catch it quick won’t do a whole lot of good if
you wait for two or three days.
* Can you be allergic to Echinacea? You can be allergic to anything! In tincture
form, rare, because alcohol denatures the allergens. Asthma, eczema, or booth
they are most likely to be allergic. Excellent safety profile. Very safe use
instead of antibiotics for fighting infection and getting your immune system
mobilized!
* No scientific evidence to the myth that you can’t take it longer than 2 weeks
at a time or your immune system will be suppressed.
ENLARGED PROSTATE:
* Saw Palmetto has been shown to reduce the size of the prostate gland.
* Evidence is overwhelming that saw palmetto works!! Urinary flow, residual
urine, nocturia, etc. Drug used to treat causes blood pressure to drop.
* At what point is it no longer alternative medicine? “Integrated medicine is
probably not going to happen in my lifetime.” Herbs are probably going to be
co-opted as drugs. 160 mg. BID 320 mg.
Most common side effects gastrointestinal; no known herb-drug interactions.
DEPRESSION:
* Acupuncture for addiction; massage therapy for anxiety; etc.
* St. John’s Wort works well for mild depression
* 2nd highest cause of disability in America; fourth worldwide.
* Many how other symptomatic complaints; doctors often overlook depression as
the cause.
* News reported that Davidson trial reported St. John’s Wort did not work. This
study used moderate to very severely depressed patients; given St. John's Wort,
Zoloft, or placebo. Everyone who had a favorable response after 8 weeks was kept
in the study for another 18 weeks. 31.9% placebo; 23.9% of the St. John's Wort
treated patients; 24.8% of sertraline-treated patients!!!! Did the news media
report that this trial showed that Zoloft did not work??? NO!!! We know that
Zoloft DOES work; so, clearly the entire study was flawed.
* 10,030 patients, 52 trials, evaluating 93 treatment arms fewer than half
(48%) of antidepressant treatment was successful!
* Parameters of study were not clearly enough defined to show that St. John's
Wort or Zoloft worked!
* St John's Wort does interact with medications - induces a subset of P-450
enzymes that metabolize a number of pharmaceutical medications. This same enzyme
interacts with tobacco making it taste bad to the consumer.
* Also interacts with digoxyn, birth control pills, warfarin.
* Pharmacist can look up and see if the drug a person is taking is metabolized
by the p-450 enzymes; then you will know if it is safe for them to take St.
John's Wort with their medications.
Other promising breakthroughs?
* Green tea cancer?
* Mushrooms boost the immune system?
* Ginger in larger amounts for arthritis? COX-2 inhibitor, not as potent as
Vioxx or Celebrex, but not the side effects, either!
* Hawthorne heart disease? Hawthorne jam, etc. consumed all over the world!
* Bilberries - blueberries
* Gingko dementia?
Potentially Dangerous:
* Unproven cancer therapies (People will try anything when they don’t know if
they can go through being mutilated, radiated, and/or poisoned again.)
* Aloe Vera internally for pain relief of intestinal area following cancer
* Unproven products for potentially life-threatening conditions
* Adulterated products people deserve and have the right to have quality
products!!
* Kava? We don’t know if it is toxic, and until we know, use it short-term, not
with alcohol or Tylenol.
Conclusion:
Just being with plants can be incredibly healing “paradise” means “garden”.
Don’t even have to be ingesting them to reap the health benefits!! Get outside
and reconnect with the earth!
Our life is a path, and along that path we make many, many choices choose what
is right for you after looking at all of your options use them wisely! Life is
all about the choices we make today, and how they will affect our children.
Founding fathers used the existing government of the indigenous peoples of the
eastern US. IN the northeast, the men would come together and make the decisions
for the tribe. They sent their decisions over to the old women’s group, all
respected for their age and wisdom. They thought about the decision, and how it
would affect their great-great-great-great-great grandchildren.
How will our decisions that we make today, affect our children’s children? Will
it make their lives better or worse? So much of what we are about is not about
the plants, it’s about taking a broader look at the world depression is not
just about a chemical imbalance, it’s about soul pain, loneliness, etc. Choose
wisely!
Go to my personal NATURE'S SUNSHINE
site for your Personal "Health Analysis".
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FREE.
Contact: Karen Olerich, Herb Specialist and Natural Health Consultant
Phone: (719) 495-4930
E-mail: Karen
