Do you have faith in herbal remedies?

[AB Asks]

New research has suggested that there is no evidence that herbal remedies work and has even said that some combinations should be banned. There has been much discussion over the years about the effectiveness of herbal cures. What do you think about them? Do you put your faith in them? Or are they no better than placebos?

[beejaybee]

As someone that has used herbal remedies for years, I have more faith in them than any prescription drugs. From a personal point of view, I`ve found that they do work. Herbs have been used as cures for thousands of years. I`ve even taken mine into hospital when I had to go in & was allowed to take them.

[filthiestfis]

I just see them as money-makers. They dont do you any harm but they dont do anything good either. Take a placebo pill instead. Its cheaper ;-)

[Octavius]

Gosh, with this �new� research and �no evidence� and statements such as �should be banned� I think I may well have lost my faith.

Could this �new� research have been funded by the global pharmaceutical corporations perhaps?

[Scarlett]

Yes they work and they work better than drugs that mask the symptoms and do nothing to deal with the cause. Echinacea WORKS, no doubt about it.

[andrea81]

Some prescriben medication we use today are made from a blend of chemicals and....... plants (or herbs). So to say they don't work contradictory!

I have only used Vareriana to help with anxiety and I have to say that it worked better than any 'bete blocker' i have had from my GP!

[Skreecheeboy]

They work. It's important to tell your GP if you are taking any and likewise if you are on pharmaceuticals to tell your herbalist what you're on as some can render the opposites ineffective or dangerous.
I think you might be onto something Octavious....

[mrs_overall]

One of Mr O's work colleagues has MS and the only thing that helps her symptoms is cannabis.
(Is it classed as a herbal remedy????)

[Skreecheeboy]

Hi Mrs Overall. I would class it as a herbacious plant yes. Also very good for tourettes and until the invention of the hypodermic syringe, was the most commonly used pain-killer in the world.

[Aprilis]

I am often amused by these debates over these so called 'alternative' herbal remedies and whether they are actually effective or not. Of course a great deal of them work! Where did modern pharmacy originate from? Yes, you've got it....herbal remedies! Extracts and concoctions that worked were refined and modified over the centuries. We learned what the active chemicals were in those remedies and started to extract them from other sources and eventually some were even able to be produced synthetically. This has all progressed into the modern medicine we have today. If it wasn't for those old herbal remedies there wouldn't be any modern pharmaceutical industry.

In times of old digitalis was extracted from Foxgloves and used for cardiac problems, the sap from a tree containining salicin was modified and became acetyl salicylic acid, now known as aspirin. The health profession promotes our intake of omega 3 & 6 essential fatty acids for all sorts of reasons and they are found in abundance in Evening Primrose and Starflower oils...plant extracts. These are just a few simple examples but this is how it all began.

That's not to say that there aren't charlatans out there trying it on with ineffective remedies, but as a general rule there are genuine pharmacological reasons why many naturally occuring compounds found in herbal remedies do work.

I do think though, that there are way too many people assuming that natural and herbal means safe. That most definitely isn't the case. Hemlock is natural and herbal but you wouldn't want to be ingesting any!

[Ice-Maiden]

Absolutely. I grow lots of them, know what to do with them - and they work.

[Kleiber]

Aprilis & Ice-Maiden, you've said exactly what I was going to say! Do some folk think there were no medicines before the global pharmaceutical companies developed theirs from chemicals??