5/29/14 Herbal Medicine Why Herbs? With Steven Horne, RH(AHG) and Thomas Easley, RH(AHG) A Personal Journey •  For thousands of years of recorded history, herbs have been mankind’s primary source of medicine •  25% of all modern medicines are made from tradiHonal medicinal plants •  Many more are syntheHc analogs of phytochemicals Herbal Medicine Today “Herbal medicine is sHll the mainstay of about 75 – 80% of the world populaHon, mainly in the developing countries, for primary health care (Kamboj, 2000). This is primarily because of the general belief that herbal drugs are without any side eﬀects besides being cheap and locally available (Gupta and Raina, 1998). According to the World Health OrganizaHon (WHO), the use of herbal remedies throughout the world exceeds that of the convenHonal drugs by two to three Hmes (Evans, 1994)” — From: “Herbal Medicine: Current Status and the Future” by Sanjoy Kumar Pal and Yogeshwer Shukla, Asian Paciﬁc Journal of Cancer Preven3on, Vol 4, 2003 TradiHonal Medicine “TradiHonal medicine (TM) refers to the knowledge, skills and pracHces based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to diﬀerent cultures, used in the maintenance of health and in the prevenHon, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. TradiHonal medicine covers a wide variety of therapies and pracHces which vary from country to country and region to region. In some countries, it is referred to as "alternaHve" or "complementary" medicine (CAM).” —World Health OrganizaHon (hap://www.who.int/topics/tradiHonal_medicine/en/) Topics to Discuss •  •  •  •  •  •  Are Herbs Safe? Are Herbs EﬀecHve? Herbal Medicine and Wholeness Financial ConsideraHons Environmental ConsideraHons The EclecHc Approach 1 5/29/14 Are Herbs Safe? Safety of Modern Drugs •  Studies of safety are usually short-‐ lived, only 6-‐8 weeks, and many harmful side eﬀects show up aher months of use •  Half of all medicaHons that are introduced into the marketplace are withdrawn within 10 years due to harmful side eﬀects •  Iatragenic disease is the 6th leading cause of death How Do We Know Foods are Safe? Sobering Thoughts •  Average number of Zimbabwean’s killed each week by AIDS; 2,500 •  Average number of Americans killed each week by prescripHon drugs; 1,900 –  From Harpers as quoted by Steven Harrod Buhner in The Lost Language of Plants Isolated Chemicals and Toxicity “It is an opinion deeply rooted in the public mind, that the qualiHes and acHon of a chemical compound can be decided from a knowledge of its consHtuents…” —Physio-‐Medical Dispensary •  GRAS (generally-‐recognized as safe) is used to designate foods, spices and other agents that have a long history of safe use •  Nearly all foods we eat have never been scienHﬁcally proven to be safe to eat, but we trust generaHons of human experience •  These same principles apply to herbs Food “Toxins” •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  Carrots contain carototoxin, a fairly potent nerve poison and myrisHcin, an hallucinogenic drug Radishes contain two substances which cause goiters Broccoli contains ﬁve goiter-‐causing substances. Olives are processed in lye and contain tannins (which have been linked to cancer risk). Olive oil contains low levels of a cancer-‐causing agent. Shrimp contain higher levels of arsenic, iodine and copper than some scienHsts would consider safe. Potatoes contain solanine, an alkaloid which interferes with the transmission of nerve impulses. All members of the potato family (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers) contain similar alkaloids. Apples contain phlorizin, which interferes with enzyme systems Oranges contain the ﬂavone tangereHn, which is toxic to developing embryos, and other toxic chemicals: tyramine, synephrine and citral. –  From an arScle enStled: Based on Modern Research There’s One Inescapable Conclusion: The Food You’re EaSng is Killing You by Richard L. Hall 2 5/29/14 DerivaHves •  “The most repressible form which this infatuaHon assumes, is that of aaempHng to pass judgment on the qualiHes of an organic agent [such as an herb] from a so-‐ called chemical analysis of it....A prominent instance of this kind, is found in the fact that chemical fermentaHon, carried on in a certain manner, will yield an alcoholic product from corn; or carried on in a certain other manner, will yield sugar materials; or carried on in sHll another manner, will give a vinegar product. But no man of the ﬁrst grains of intelligence, will pretend that either of these three products existed as such in the unfermented corn; as otherwise the meal of this grain might be used indiscriminately to preserve pickles, to sweeten coﬀee, or to get drunk upon.” —Physio-‐Medical Dispensary A Higher Standard RegulaHons •  In spite of media claims to the contrary, the herb and supplement industry is highly regulated •  FDA has the power to remove any unsafe product from the marketplace and oversees manufacturing quality Degrees of AcHon •  Herbal remedies are actually held to a higher standard than prescripHon drugs •  PrescripHon drugs are allowed a risk/ beneﬁt raHo •  Herbs are not Are Herbs EﬀecHve? Where’s Your Faith? •  Which do you have more faith in: –  Short term drug research, funded by companies with a vested ﬁnancial interest, where half of all drugs “proven” safe are withdrawn from the marketplace within 10 years –  Hundreds (and even thousands) of years of recorded human use 3 5/29/14 Limits of Science Finding Reliable InformaHon “Important facts may be completely ignored. Our mind has the natural tendency to reject the things that do not ﬁt into the frame of the scienHﬁc or philosophical beliefs of our Hme. Aher all, scienHsts are only men. They are saturated with the prejudices of their environment and of their epoch. They willingly believe that facts that cannot be explained by current theories do not exist... Evident facts having an unorthodox appearance are suppressed.” •  Some herbs do have scienHﬁc research that backs certain uses •  Other herbs have well-‐established tradiHonal uses •  Herbalists with pracHcal experience are a beaer source of informaHon than many web sources Using Herbs Herbs Aren’t “Magic Bullets” –  Alexis Carrol, MD in Man the Unknown, talking about scienHﬁc research •  Herbs are most eﬀecHve when combined with tradiHonal methods of assessment •  Herbs do not always correlate well with medical diagnosis or symptomaHc treatment What is the Best Medicine? •  Contrary to what many people think, there are herbs that have fast-‐acHng, drug-‐like eﬀects; like natural pain-‐ killers, for instance •  Medical doctors used to use these herbs (like opium, foxglove, etc.) before the advent of modern drugs •  Herbs work on broad underlying biological processes to restore them to normal funcHon. When you ﬁx these underlying processes, many diseases (symptoms) disappear. Inferior vs. Superior Medicine •  TCM has these “drug-‐like” herbs, but they regard them as inferior medicines, because they basically are symptom-‐relievers •  Superior medicines act as slow tonics that gradually restore the body to health 4 5/29/14 Herbal Medicine and Wholeness Wholeness When a man is young and knows nothing, trees are trees, mountains are mountains, and waters are waters. But when he has studied, and knows a liale, trees are no longer trees, mountains are no longer mountains, and waters are no longer waters. But when he has thoroughly studied, and ﬁnally understands, trees are once again trees, mountains are mountains, and waters are waters. —Old Zen Saying Food is the Best Medicine •  Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food… —Hippocrates Food and Medicine “I shall now describe the fuel which conSnues the ﬁre, or life of man. This is contained in two things, food and medicines, which are in harmony with each other, o[en grow in the same ﬁeld, to be used by the same people. People who are capable of raising their food, and preparing the same, may as easily learn to collect and prepare all their medicines and administer the same when it is needed.” —Samuel Thomson Another PerspecHve Wild Vegetables •  Edible herbs and wild vegetables, plants growing on the mountain and in the meadow, are very high in nutriHonal value and are also useful as medicine. Food and medicine are not two diﬀerent things: they are the front and back of one body. Chemically grown vegetables may be eaten for food, but they cannot be used as medicine. “Vegetables that are biologically closest to their wild ancestors are the best in ﬂavor and the highest in food value. “Foods that have departed far from their wild state and those raised chemically or in a completely contrived environment unbalance the body chemistry. The more out of balance one's body becomes, the more one comes to desire unnatural foods. This situaHon is dangerous to health.” —Masanobu Fukuoka —Masanobu Fukuoka 5 5/29/14 Food-‐Medicine-‐Drug Whole Part Food Whole, natural, minimally-‐ processed foods, natural herbs and spices Most vitamin Reﬁned foods and mineral (white sugar, white ﬂour, corn supplements starch, processed vegetable oils) Medicine Non-‐toxic medicinal herbs and herbal extracts Standardized extracts to isolate phyto-‐ chemicals and nutricueScals Chemically duplicated natural compounds Drug Toxic botanicals Isolated chemicals extracted from toxic botanicals SyntheSc Drugs SyntheHc Cost EﬀecHve •  Herbal medicine can be very cost eﬀecHve •  Generally speaking, whole herbs are much less expensive than drugs or even nutriceuHcals •  Unfortunately, however, they are not reimbursed by insurance or the government, which is why they can appear expensive to some people Environmental ConsideraHons Financial ConsideraHons Free Medicine •  You can get many herbal remedies for free –  Grow them in your garden (or even in pots) –  Gathering them from the wild (or vacant lots, waste places, etc.) PharmaceuHcal PolluHon •  “Many excreted pharmaceuHcals and their metabolites are not biodegradable and go on producing chemical eﬀects forever. Many that do biodegrade are regularly replenished by the need for conHnual dosing or by new prescripHons for new people. As pharmaceuHcals are excreted in pure and metabolized forms they also intermix with the waste in streams that ﬂow into the environment in ways that cannot be predicted, with eﬀects that are not understood.” –  Steven Harrod Buhner in The Lost Language of Plants 6 5/29/14 Bacterial Resistance to AnHbioHcs Drugs in the Water •  In a recent study conducted by the Environmental ProtecHon Agency, samples of wastewater from 50 large-‐size wastewater treatment plants naHonwide were tested for 56 drugs including oxycodone, high-‐blood pressure medicaHons, and over-‐the-‐counter drugs like Tylenol and ibuprofen. More than half the samples tested posiHve for at least 25 of the drugs monitored, the study said. High blood pressure medicaHons appeared in the highest concentraHons and most frequently. –  hgp://www.newrepublic.com/arScle/115883/drugs-‐ drinking-‐water-‐new-‐epa-‐study-‐ﬁnds-‐more-‐we-‐knew •  Bacteria develop a tolerance for anHbioHcs •  This leads to the development of anHbioHc resistant strains of bacteria •  A similar thing can happen with chemical disinfectants •  This anHbioHc resistance is making some diseases previously believed to be “conquered” reappear Sustainability •  Local herbs are the most cost eﬀecHve and sustainable form of medicine •  Unfortunately, there are problems with the modern herb industry, too The EclecHc Approach UPS “At Risk” List •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  American Ginseng -‐ Panax quinquefolius Bloodroot -‐ Sanguinaria canadensis Black Cohosh -‐ Actaea racemosa Blue Cohosh -‐ Caulophyllum thalictroides Echinacea -‐ Echinacea spp. Eyebright -‐ Euphrasia spp. False Unicorn Root -‐ Chamaelirium luteum Goldenseal -‐ HydrasSs canadensis Lady’s Slipper Orchid -‐ Cypripedium spp. •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  LomaSum -‐ LomaSum dissectum Osha -‐ LigusScum porteri, L. spp. Peyote -‐ Lophophora williamsii Sandalwood -‐ Santalum spp. (Hawaii only) Slippery Elm -‐ Ulmus rubra Sundew -‐ Drosera spp. Trillium, Beth Root -‐Trillium spp. True Unicorn -‐ Aletris farinosa Venus’ Fly Trap -‐ Dionaea muscipula Virginina Snakeroot -‐ Aristolochia serpentaria Wild Yam -‐ Dioscorea villosa, D. spp. What Works? •  The EclecHc Approach is the use whatever works best in a given situaHon •  This means we are open to all avenues of healing: herbs, homeopathics, nutriceuHcals and even prescripHon drugs 7 5/29/14 We’ve Got it Backwards “Above all, do no harm” •  Herbal medicine shouldn’t be “alternaHve” health care, it should be the “primary” health care •  Doesn’t it make sense to try the least toxic, least invasive and gentlest remedies ﬁrst, then save the stronger, more toxic and more invasive remedies as backup or “alternaHve” methods? •  FoundaHonal Therapy: Improved diet and healthy lifestyle (rest, exercise, stress management) •  Basic Therapy: Non-‐toxic herbal remedies, homeopathics, vitamin and mineral supplements, bodywork, ﬁrst aid •  Stronger Therapy: Isolated phyotochemicals (standardized extracts) and nutriceuHcals •  AlternaHve Therapy: OTC and prescripHon drugs, surgery Q & A Time 8