SO WHY DON'T DOCTORS AND SURGEONS
USE HERBS IN THIS WAY?
Erm... hard one, that! It's a
question which used to trouble me early in my career. Are they
stupid? Are they mislead? Are they pressured and too busy? Do
their brains work? Are they worried about the insurance
implications? Are they just control freaks? Haven't they read
the "Hippocratic Oath" - which says they have to do all they
can to help their patients?
I still don't really understand it. But more and more doctors
are coming round to holistic thinking - slowly. The bottom line
is, people who become doctors tend not to believe anything
unless it's been researched into the ground. The trouble is,
such methods are often not appropriate for alternative
therapy.
Similarly - when these methods of testing are used - ie
for drugs - the resulting substances often have terrible
side-effects - which most medics call 'acceptable'. Then many
of them say herbs should be tested because they are
potentially so dangerous! Clearly, "double blind placebo based"
or similar testing is not the ideal measure of a good -
or safe - medicine.
One day, we may work together ....
CAUTIONS
Like any herb - Echinacea angustifolia should not be over-used.
Firstly, you may get too used to it, so that it does not work
so effectively when you need it.
Secondly - think 'ecology'! It is already very popular, and we
are running out of the plants! Echinacea angustifolia is not
easy to grow commercially - so there is always the risk of it
becoming an endangered species.
In any case, we do not recommend daily use of this herb
throughout the year. If you need an Immune System boost all the
time, alternate with other herbs - such as Garlic, Wild Indigo
or Myrrh.
There have been cautions against taking Echinacea in various
conditions - eg HIV/Aids. These are dismissed as
mis-understandings of the effects of the polysaccharides in
Echinacea, by respected herbalist and research chemist Kerry
Bone in the British Journal of Phytotherapy (vol 5/1).
Of course - you can have too much of a good thing. Some
herbalists say you should only use Echinacea for 2 or 3 weeks
at a time, then have a rest for a week or two. We think,
though, that a 3 month course of Echinacea is fine for the
Immune system.
The cases of sensitivity ('allergy') to Echinacea are very few,
and it has no known toxic effect - ie it seems that you cannot
overdose on it.
SO - KEEP SOME ECHINACEA HANDY!
[Next: Dosages...]
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