Benefits Of Alternative Medicine

With the growing number of people being affected by newly discovered chronic degenerative diseases such as AIDS and chronic fatigue syndrome,
Are you worried or wondering....

Is it possible to maintain good health?

What your body needs to function properly?

Why conventional medicine is becoming more complicated and costly and in some cases simply ineffective?

A growing number of people are turning to alternative medicine and natural healing--simple, traditional low-tech methods of preventing illnesses and solving everyday health problems.

Do you have unanswered questions on....

Why are people flocking to health food stores, with their lotions and potions, and what keeps them going back for more?

What to do if you or someone in your family falls ill?

Are these therapies really old wives tales or can they really work?

Even mainstream doctors have begun to recommend natural drugless therapies' to treat both everyday complaints and serious illnesses. Dietary modifications, for instance, has become the weapons of choice against a number of diseases that would have been treated mainly with prescription drugs a generation ago.

It is now known that many conditions are caused by the wrong diet and can be reversed by the right diet. Heart disease, cancer, weight problems, arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure--they can all be treated to some degree with foods.

Natural therapies found in alternative medicine are actually much older than Western treatments such as surgeries and antibiotics. Experts estimate that herbal remedies and Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, has been around for 5,000 years.

Many alternative medicine remedies began with scientific research or clinical impressions reported by physicians working with safe, natural substances. But we live in a generation now that has been cut off from this age-old
tradition of self-reliance. Healing and health care have become almost-
-the exclusive province of duly licensed physicians.

While doctors and other professionals-are indeed great to have around, what is not so great is when you cannot do anything without them.

Shouldn't we be able to do something to save our health--maybe even our lives--without a doctor?

What happens when medical help is not so readily available?

What happens when doctoring simply does not work?

Some of us go to doctor after doctor, and still no help. Is that the end of the line?

While antibiotics have saved millions of lives, they have not really solved some resurgence of germs that are turning up in new forms that do not respond to conventional therapies.

There has been a real shift in the way people think about their health. Rising health care cost is a factor in the recent surge of interest in alternative medicine. Many people are attracted to the alternative physicians emphasis on treating the whole person--body, mind and spirit.

Most importantly some physicians use intensive counseling to help patients find out whether aspects of their daily lives, such as job stress, marital problems, diet or sleeping habits might be behind their symptoms. In this age of managed care and impersonal group practices patients find this individualized approach of alternative medicine particularly appealing.

One of the principal goals of alternative medicine and natural healing is to break the cycle of dependency and allow people to be more in control of their own lives.

Alternative Medicines That Work For Me

There is a lot of hype about alternative medicines, and some of them are certainly without much value. Of course there is a lot of hype about regular medicines, many of which do as much harm as good. The fact that natural remedies and treatments rarely hurt people as much as prescription drugs is one reason to at least try them. Here are a few that I can vouch for from experience.

<b>Tea Tree Oil</b>

I had a lump on the side of my nose, growing slowly, bleeding at times. I had it for years, and the one time I asked a doctor about it, he wasn't sure if it was actually cancerous. I read somewhere that tee tree oil might work. I bought a bottle at a health-food store for $6. I applied a drop to the lump each day, and in less than six weeks, the lump was gone completely.

Coincidence? After having the growth for years? I don't think so. In fact I had another growth years later on my neck, and for several years, I couldn't remember what I had used the first time. When I found a clue in some old notes, I used tea tree oil on that growth, which was even larger than the first one. It was gone in about six weeks.

<b>St. John's Wort</b>

When hiking in Canada, I cut my foot. The gash was deep. I found St. John's Wort (Hypericum perfolatum), which has been proven to have anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. I mashed up a few leaves and bandaged them to the cut, replacing them occasionally. I have honestly never seen a cut heal faster.

St. John's Wort is one of the better known alternative medicines now. It is used as an anti-depressant, with numerous studies showing it's effectiveness. It is also used by some as a temporary mood-elevator. This effect isn't proven yet, but whenever I've had tea made from the plant, it tasted awful and left me happy for two hours. Anecdotal and subjective evidence (I'm not even entirely convinced), but interesting.

<b>Valerian Root</b>

When my wife has cramps and pain, nothing works better than a cup of tea made from valerian root. You can get the tea in many stores now. I wouldn't try driving after having valerian root. This is a powerful relaxant.

In fact, valerian root is too strong for some people. A gentler herb that will relax you is chamomile. You can find this as tea too. It makes a great drink with honey, just before you are ready to go to bed.

There are so many alternatives out there. I have stopped a headache just by chewing on willow twigs. I have stopped diarrhea with oak bark (careful - this can hard on the liver in large doses). I have watched a friend's poison ivy rash disappear overnight with the application of jewelweed juice.

I am sure that I have tried just as many alternatives that didn't work, too, but you know what? Put all the ineffective ones together and the cost probably doesn't add up to the cost of one visit to a doctor. As for the effective ones, well, no doctor yet has introduced me to one of them. You have to do your own research on alternative medicines.

Why It’s Better For Women To Use Herbal Medicine

A Little Something about Herbal Medicine First

Before we should address the issue of possible benefits that women can enjoy from the use of herbal medicine, wouldn’t it be proper to know a little something about the history of herbal medicines first?

Herbal medicine has been in use for years and years. If you want to know how long, would you believe it if I said that herbal medicine has been used to cure human afflictions for five thousand years already? That’s right. Maybe even Mother Mary herself once benefited from the healing powers of herbal medicine. And was she born even way back than 5,000 years?

The Wonders of Herbal Medicine

It’s Cheap – Money matters always so taking herbal medicine is not only better for the body, it’s better for the pockets too!

It’s Easy to Make – That’s right. You can make your own herbal medicine. Just follow the formula the way you would with a kitchen recipe.

It’s All Natural – And of course, all-natural is better than man-made more often than not. Because of that, there are fewer reasons to worry about symptoms and side effects. If you’re the one making the herbal medicine yourself, do make sure that you’re using clean utensils (clean hands also, please!) and the right herbs.

A Little Warning about Herbal Medicine

We can all agree that herbal medicine is truly helpful to the human race. But herbal medicine can also become a danger – but blame the humans (that’s us) for that as well.

You have to take the necessary precautions to ensure that herbal medicine will be completely beneficial to your body.

First, if you’re going to buy herbal medicine rather than making one for yourself, it’s essential that you buy herbal medicine that’s produced by a reputable company and buy it from a reputable retailer or seller as well. There are a lot of fake herbal medicines out in the market so just to be safe than sorry, do choose one that has proven to be effective.

Secondly, do be aware that it’s very much possible to overdose on herbal medicine. And when that happens, it means that you took more than advised. Hence, do consult your doctor first about the appropriate dosage and even if you feel that it wouldn’t harm you to increase the dosage, let’s just stick to the safe side once more and follow what the good doctor says.

Lastly, it’s imperative that you inform your doctor if you’re already taking other medications because it could react negatively when you start taking herbal medicine as well.