Re: herbs OT commercials

 Thought I would try to stay out of this, but here is my two cents that I couldn't ignore giving...

The processes that drugs must go through to be FDA approved for pharmaceutical uses take years and many millions of dollars in many cases.  Drugs that are manufactured and regulated are tested exhaustively and in the cases of those drugs that somehow were rushed to market, consumers and health care practitioners have sorely regretted it...often at the expense of many people's lives.  The exhaustive and often frightening list of side effects and adverse reactions that are common place in many drug info. sheets  are legally obligated to disclose to consumers every single side effect ever experienced by even one of the people out of  thousands of persons who were involved in the human drug studies.  Drug side effects are almost always listed in order of frequency of occurrence. Also, while it is commonplace to experience side effects, adverse drug reactions are  a whole other ballgame and should be immediately reported to your heath care practitioner.  Most MD's and NP's don't have a major problem with herbal drugs except in cases where the herbs are known contraindications to medications already being prescribed or in situations that predispose people to developing certain problems or when people try to self diagnose a complicated medical issue and treat it without knowing what the cause is.  For instance, did you know that people who are prone to depressive episodes should stay far, far away from certain herbal remedies for sleep?  Some of these have been known causative agents of psychotic depressions...I have taken care of many,  many people who come into the hospital sick as dogs because of poly-pharmacy issues and once a drug regimen is simplified, often keeping herbal remedies if that is what the patient desires while eliminating conflicting medications, you'd be surprised how much healthier people are.  Bottom line...always check with a physician or nurse practitioner (or other alternative health care professional) before self-medicating.  And if your MD/NP/other does not respect you enough to respect your 

views on homeopathic treatments, then it's time to start shopping for a new care-giver.  

Melody, IA (Z 5/4)

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."    
--Albert Einstein

_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index