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A Look at Arthritis Pain Relief
In a recent survey on pain conducted by the Stanford University Medical Center, arthritis pain was cited as the chief complaint among America’s seniors, with thirty-two percent of the senior population listing arthritis as the specific cause of...
Conspiracy Foods, The Inside Story about the Mass Produced Foods that are Making Society Sick
Food manufacturers can easily manipulate a whole population by the products they make available at a cheap price. The way those foods are processed and the things that are added to them can decide the level of health that millions of people...
Do You Have Diabetes? Symptoms of diabetes and how to address them
Diabetes mellitus is a condition resulting from the pancreas’ inability to produce enough insulin, which is needed by the body to help create energy. A deficiency of or ineffectiveness of insulin leads to high glucose levels in the blood, thus,...
StriVectin-SD Offers a Safe Alternative to Botox
We all know that botox is fast becoming one of the most popular ways for people to get rid of those irritating fine lines and wrinkles that naturally go along with aging. It is also one of the leading reasons why so many people that you meet these...
Winning the Stress Game
Winning The Stress Game Stress is a big factor in today’s world. The way we deal with it is as individual as we are. We need a certain amount of stress to function, but when it reaches extremes and we can no longer deal with it, it becomes a...
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Are Herbal Remedies The Answer?
It seems that almost every day we come across a story in a newspaper or magazine which raises concerns about the use, misuse, or overuse of a particular pharmaceutical remedy in the treatment of minor ailments, or serious medical conditions. Often these stories are quickly discredited as being ill-informed or based on insufficient evidence, perhaps medical opinion is divided, or particular experts in the field prefer to wait for an extended period of time, maybe years, in order to ascertain the safety, or otherwise of these commonly used remedies. This is not to criticise medical science, or its practitioners, who must rely on objective and statistically valid evidence before giving an expert opinion. However, it is little wonder that many of us turn to herbal remedies, either as a supplement, or as an alternative to manufactured pharmaceutical products. There is a reassurance in that simple word “herbal”, taking us back to simpler times, when there was little choice in how to treat our day to day bodily malfunctions, aches and pains and we made use of what was available to us, perhaps in our own back gardens!
Are herbal remedies the answer? Surely if they have been in use since men and women first walked on the Earth they must be both effective and safe? The answer to this, as to many questions, is “Yes” and “No”, or even “Well it’s not as simple as that.” In the past, herbal remedies were often administered or recommended by one particular person in the neighbourhood, frequently a woman, (probably regarded as a witch), who was an expert in her field. This person would have studied and learned, by trial and error, about the efficacy and safety (or otherwise) of the product she was supplying. Herbal remedies may be natural, but that does not make
them safe and we need to be well informed about the optimum dosage as well as about possible side effects and what are called “contra-indications” in the medical profession. After all, before a doctor prescribes a drug to you, s/he will refer to your medical history and question you about your lifestyle. We need to be equally cautious in self-prescribing, and take advantage of information and advice that is available to us from reliable sources.
Should herbal remedies be regarded as an alternative, or a complementary supplement to conventional medicine? We need to use our common sense in this matter. If a herbal product appears to be effective in treating a minor condition, then by all means use it instead of resorting to a manufactured product, with possibly dubious side effects. As regards more serious and even life threatening conditions, it seems unwise to reject the offerings of modern science, which for the most part have a proven record in alleviating suffering and prolonging life, whether or not they also cause undesirable side-effects. Herbal remedies may in these cases be used in a complementary way, if this is appropriate. Let us also not forget that many widely used conventional medications are based on a herbal product, (aspirin and digitalis to name just two), so we may be using a herbal based product without being aware of it. Herbal and conventional pharmaceutical remedies are not always mutually exclusive.
About the Author
As in most areas of our daily lives, we need to obtain as much reliable information on this subject as we can, in order to make informed and intelligent choices, should the need arise. Jon Davis provides free advice & information on herbal remedies can be found at http://www.HealthyHerbalRemedy.com
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The Alternative Dictionaries |
Includes a list of slang terms and phrases in various languages. |
www.notam02.no |
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Free-Codecs.com :: Download Real Alternative 1.51 : Real ... |
Download Real Alternative 1.51 : Real Alternative will allow you to play RealMedia files without having to install RealPlayer/RealOne Player. |
www.free-codecs.com |
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Free-Codecs.com : QuickTime Alternative 1.76 final : QuickTime ... |
Download QuickTime Alternative 1.76 : QuickTime Alternative will allow you to play QuickTime files (.mov, .qt and other extensions) without having to ... |
www.free-codecs.com |
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AlterNet: Home |
Syndication service and online community of the alternative press, featuring news stories from alternative newsweeklies, magazines and web publications. |
www.alternet.org |
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Open Directory - Health: Alternative |
the entire directory, only in Health/Alternative ... "Alternative" search on:. AltaVista - A9 - AOL - Ask - Clusty - Gigablast - Google - Lycos - MSN ... |
dmoz.org |
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Alternative Radio |
A weekly one-hour public affairs radio program that provides analyses and views that are ignored or distorted in most media. |
www.alternativeradio.org |
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The Alternative Medicine Homepage |
Information on unconventional, unorthodox, unproven, or alternative, complementary, innovative, integrative therapies. Maintained by Charles B. Wessel, ... |
www.pitt.edu |
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Alternative Medicine, Home for Natural Remedies & Healthy Solutions |
Complementary and alternative medicine information about common health conditions, including natural remedies, holistic healthcare, healing foods, ... |
www.alternativemedicine.com |
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Alternative rock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Alternative rock (also called alternative music [1] or simply ... The music now known as alternative rock was known by a variety of terms before ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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EERE: Alternative Fuels Data Center Home Page |
Provides information on alternative vehicle fuels and transportation technologies and related legislation. The center also distributes the newsletter ... |
www.eere.energy.gov |
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Alternative Comics: Publisher of cool comic books & graphic novels |
Alternative Comics, publishers of cool comic books, releases some of the most original and intelligent titles being created today. |
www.indyworld.com |
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Alternative Tentacles - Store |
Alternative Tentacles Records supplies the world with punk rock music from the Dead Kennedys, Nomeansno, and Jello Biafra. Featuring secure online ordering. |
www.alternativetentacles.com |
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Google Directory - Health > Alternative |
Related Categories: Health > Animal > Alternative Medicine (498) Science > Science in Society > Skeptical Inquiry (179) ... |
www.google.com |
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The Alternative Museum |
Free of physical restrictions, it presents online digital exhibitions, and live webcast events. Headed by international curators with cyber artist ... |
www.alternativemuseum.org |
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Centre for Alternative Technology Home Page |
CAT aims to 'inspire, inform, and enable' people to live more sustainably. A solutions driven organisation, offering practical solutions to environmental ... |
www.cat.org.uk |
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Los Angeles Alternative |
LA's only alternative weekly that is locally-owned and independent, bringing you the people, arts and ideas that make Los Angeles the center of the ... |
www.laalternative.com |
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NewsLink | Newspapers | U.S. | Alternative |
Updated links to all Alternative newspapers (US) from NewsLink Associates. |
newslink.org |
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