Careful taking herbal remedies
BELEM, BRAZIL – JUNE 07: Avoid Street displays like this
Sadly, many of the most efficient cancer drugs aren’t very nice to take – so we end up either being resentful as we dutifully swallow our prescribed drugs – but not very willingly.
Or, ditching drugs altogether and going for old-fashioned alternatives.
But before we take alternatives, we should ensure that these medicines are not going to give us as many problems.
Some herbs can be very, very powerful, and even kill us if we mis-use them.
What’s best for us
Sadly, as a medical writer I get numerous claims of XXXXX herbs that can cure cancer. They can’t.
Believe me, if there was a real Herbal cure for cancer, even though the drug companies might not like this, Governments are spending too much money on cancer treatment to ignore this. But as so often happens, yet another claim of a ‘miracle’ plant bites the dust, and the world goes back to searching again.
But many people believe that herbal remedies can help mitigate the side effects of drugs, so if you want to take these:
a) take your Oncologist’s advi ce
b) then ask the advi ce of a Pharmacist who understands the power of herbal medicine.
Better still, after you have taken sensible advice, go for products grown and supplied by one of the traditional companies that has a good reputation in this field – not one that has come on the scene from some country with a supposed reputation for medicine – but no actual backing or basis for their prescribing.
- Has it a good record? Some companies have been going for 200 years
- Has it has an advisory committee overseeing products?
- Is it is proud of its traditions, guarding these jealously?
- So look for a herbal company that has a good track record, as is sold in a specialist pharmacy such as Lloyds or Boots.
- One such firm is the 200 year old firm of Potters Herbals, whose products are stocked in major specialist pharmacies, where the pharmacists understand herbal medicines.
Recently I saw a copy of their report Health of the Nation, which is a fascinating account of different major problems that affect our health – from coughs to lack of sleep.
Plants can be powerful!
Don’t let Foxgloves fool you; like many plants and herbs, they are very pretty. (see left).
Herbs gathered from plants are powerful: aspirin is made from white willow; morphine and codeine are made from the opium poppy – and the favourite for medieaval poisoners was the attractive foxglove (digitalis).
But company such as Potters has a reputation to safeguard. For many major worres today, from digestive problems to stress, they have an old-fashioned herbal remedy. Our ancestors seemed to do well on these, and prescribed by someone who understands their interaction with anything else you can take, they may well provide a gentler solution than taking a drug.
Sometimes drugs are necessary – but have a look through this report and see if there is a solution that makes sense. As they rightly say, “routinely popping pills isn’t necessarily the answer to safeguarding everyone’s health. Natural ingredients can play a powerful contribution to health by working effectively, and generally they also have fewer side effects.
