Guest guest Posted June 11, 2003 Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 Hi everyone, I thought this was interesting and important... Standardized herbs always seemed to me to move in the direction of bluring the line between herbs and pharmaceuticals. Plus how many times have we heard that " x " is the active ingredient, to find out years later that they now believe " y " to be instead. If we are going to allegedly be practicing " wholistic " medicine, should we not be using the " whole " herb, the way nature intended? My two cents, anyone else care to comment? Misty http://www..com Herbs—The Power of Synergy By JoAnn Guest Many drugs in common use today were originally derived from plants. Conventional doctors, however, tend to consider modern pharmaceutical products superior to herbal medicines because they contain precise doses of active ingredients. But this belief ignores the fact that the medicinal effects of an herb may be due to a variety of active ingredients acting together in an additive or synergistic way, which can either make the treatment more effective, or reduce its toxicity. Consider the plant feverfew. This herb's ability to relieve chronic migraine headaches has been attributed to its parthenolide content. But the herb also contains melatonin, and chronic migraine sufferers are known to have low circulating melatonin concentrations. Thus, a parthenolide extract or synthetic may not be as beneficial for migraine sufferers as taking the whole herb. In some cases, single drugs are more dangerous than whole plants. An overdose of the heart medicine digitalis can cause severe cardiac arrhythmias. Foxglove, the plant from which digitalis is derived, creates nausea prior to the occurrence of arrhythmias, and thereby lessens the likelihood of a toxic overdose from continued overuse. For thousands of years, Chinese doctors have been using mixtures of multiple herbs, often ten or more at a time. This time-tested practice suggests that complex herbal combinations may have benefits far beyond even those of single whole herbs. Standardized extracts of single ingredients are convenient and reliable, and certainly have a place in the modern pharmacopoeia, but it is foolish to ignore the value hidden in whole herbs and herb combinations. Fortunately, it seems that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is finally coming around to that conclusion. In the past, the FDA would only approve trials when the active ingredients had been purified or synthesized, but the agency has recently agreed to allow a British company to test an herbal eczema treatment on people, even though its active ingredients are not known. The herbal treatment, called Zemaphyte, is a mixture of extracts from 10 traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. The FDA is also working with three other researchers to test other herbal mixtures in clinical trials. Based on information in: New Scientist, 12-20-98; Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, Feb/Mar 1998 http://www.garynull.com/Documents/Spectrum/herbs_the_power_of_synergy ..htm JoAnn Guest mrsjo- DietaryTi- http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Botanicals.html http://www.topica.com/lists/HerbalWisdom/ Free online calendar with sync to Outlook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Misty: This is AWESOME! I've always known that the herbal/nutrient combinations that Bryan & I take are " synergistically blended " , but until NOW, I never really knew the POWER of what SYNERGY was!!!! Thank you for ONCE AGAIN helping me learn something new and know that I'm 100% on the RIGHT TRACK..... God bless. ===== BRYAN & PAM CRABTREE (910) 583-3836 ==================================================== For health & wellness tips and info, Join our " EXTEND YOUR HEALTH " for FREE at: extendyourhealth/ ==================================================== Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook. http://calendar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Aww shucks... Now I am blushing... Glad I can help... Be Well, Misty http://www..com , Bryan & Pam Crabtree <bryanpamcrabtree> wrote: > Misty: > > This is AWESOME! I've always known that the herbal/nutrient > combinations that Bryan & I take are " synergistically blended " , but > until NOW, I never really knew the POWER of what SYNERGY was!!!! > > Thank you for ONCE AGAIN helping me learn something new and know that > I'm 100% on the RIGHT TRACK..... > > God bless. > > ===== > BRYAN & PAM CRABTREE > (910) 583-3836 > ==================================================== > For health & wellness tips and info, > Join our " EXTEND YOUR HEALTH " for FREE at: > extendyourhealth/ > ==================================================== Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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