Fwd: Cases of Herb Toxicity, Aristolochia Fangchi, Fang Ji

[Guest guest]

http://216.92.231.121/Herbology/Toxic.htm

 

Hi Andrew,

 

This is the excellent article on problems with the misuse of TCM herbs. A

lot of this information applies to other herbs as well.

 

Victoria

 

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[Guest guest]

http://www.acupuncture.com/Herbology/Toxic.htm

 

Here is a very good article on aristolochic acid. It takes a realistic look

at potential problems with herbs.

 

One of the biggest causes of people running into problems with herbs is the

herbs are not being used properly. This is seen especially when it comes to

weight loss. For example, Ma Huang is never used in TCM for weight loss.

Excessive weight is a problem of Dampness, Phlegm, and/or Qi Deficiency

often complicated by Qi Stagnation. Ma Huang is an herb to Warm the

Exterior and actually will deplete Qi further, sowing the way for even more

weight gain in the long run. In addition to the main causes of obesity

there may be other factors like Fire In the Stomach causing excessive

appetite.

 

Every few months the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA launch a media

blitz to convince the public that herbs are unsafe and need to be regulated

(out of existence). This particular blitz uses Ma Huang and/or aristolochic

acid herbs as the rationale for severely curtailing all herbs. At various

times the FDA and pharmaceutical industries also mount campaigns to

restrict vitamins and minerals.

 

These combination industry - government agency media blitzes are common in

the US. Every few months we also see a joint insurance industry -

government CDC/ NIH campaign to convince the public that CFIDS is all in

people's heads. There is a clause in most insurance disability policies

that if a condition is psychological the insurance company only has to pay 2

years. One insurance company in particular has mounted a very aggressive

campaign to convince doctors that CFIDS is psychological.

 

The government also cooperates in media blitzes with the chemical industry

to convince the public that people who complain of Multiple Chemical

Sensitivity are also just " mental cases " . The government has backed off

some on the media blitzes that Gulf War Syndrome is just battle stress. A

few years ago the GWS blitzes were very frequent, but it turned out every

time the government mounted one of these campaigns, reporters were finding

out even more damaging info that contradicted what the Pentagon was

claiming.

 

The old revolving door between government " service " and employment in the

private sector is going fast and heavy in the U.S. these days. Top dollar

and some very generous perk packages are given to former civil servants who

didn't antagonize the industries they were supposed to be regulating while

working for the government. Some companies will even send employees into

government service for a few years. When they come back to the company

after a stint at a government agency, they come back to a much increased

salary and perk package.

 

Some of these media blitzes verge on the ludicous. One rather well-known

reporter was caught actually soliting bribes from various companies for his

industry-biased pieces. He also had staff members quit because he was

slanting stories and leaving out pertinent information that contradicted

what he wanted the American people to believe. He did a particularly

lopsided report on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

 

In the case of CFIDS, it's almost always the same 3 or nearly the same 3

individuals who get trotted out in these media blitzes. One is a British

psychiatrist who is quoted as an expert on CFS even though he doesn't follow

the CDC criteria for CFS. Even though Great Britain signed an international

agreement to use the CDC criteria, this psychiatrist made up his own

criteria and misappropriated the CFS label. The Wessely criteria are so

broad as to include just about anyone who has ever suffered from fatigue.

Unfortunately, most reporters and most members of the American public don't

realize that when he's quoted as an expert on CFS/ CFIDS, what he's talking

about is not the CDC criteria but his own very broad criteria. Even more

unfortunate is that the " treatment " he came up with for CFS - forced

exercise via Cognitive Behavioral Theory - will make a person who really

does have CFIDS a lot sicker. In Great Britain, the government is taking

young people with CFIDS (or ME as it was called in UK countries) away from

their parents and confining them in psychiatric hospitals. The young PWCs

are walking into the hospitals, but they're leaving in wheelchairs after

being made a lot sicker by the inappropriate " therapy " .

 

The third member of the media blitz team is always someone from a military

hospital. The second member is where these particular media blitzes get

really absurb. An English teacher with no background that I've been able to

discover in either medicine or science is quoted as an expert on CFIDS.

Elaine Showalter's credentials are that she once wrote a book comparing

people who have CFIDS and people who have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity to

people who see little green men. According to Showalter - who as far as

I've been able to find out also has no training in psychology - all these

people are hysterics.

 

It's interesting that the 3rd team member of the CFIDS media blitzes is also

someone from a U.S. military hospital. The British psychiatrist who is a

member of this CFIDS-debunking team also received a $1,000,000 grant back a

few years ago to study GWS in UK troops. This was back right after the

Pentagon was forced by the press to finally admit that there is such a thing

and it was during the time when the Pentagon kept having to revise its

estimates upward of how many persons were affected as reporters kept

uncovering more and more damaging info. Yep, the British psychiatrist

produced the expected " all in their heads " report.

 

Victoria

 

 

 

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