Do natural herbs really help?

Question

I've heard of ones that help with pain, some that work with burns and itches and some for headaches, some for digestions. Do they actually do what people say they do? If so what are some goon ones and how can i grow them?

Answer 1

Herbs are the "good stuff" in alternative medicine. I've studied them my entire life. Some are better than others. Aloe, broken straight off the plant, is excellent for simple burns. I've never found a herb that works for headaches. I've tested White Willow Bark, the amount you need to stop a headache is so great that Tylenol is far cheaper.

People used to rely on herbs before modern medicine. We now have a choice. I use the herbs that work out cheaper and/or have less side effects than pharmeceuticals. I use pharmeceuticals when they are the better choice.

What matters is what works. There is no value in any remedy if it doesn't work.  

Answer 2

Absolutely there are herbs that have medicinal properties.  People have been using them for thousands of years through trial and error.  But as any of my detractors will tell you, I'm not an expert in this area.  I think it is interesting, potentially useful but as yet, not proven superior to current practice.

Herbal remedies are definitely at the plausible end of the AltMed continuum.  After all, many modern drugs are derived from plants or other organics (ASA from Willow bark, Tamoxifen from Yew bark, Digoxin from Foxglove, Penicillin from bread mold etc etc)

The question is whether herbal treatments are equal or superior in efficacy, safety or side effects to pharmaceuticals.  One of the ideas of Alties is that herbs work better, because the several different chemicals in them which work synergistically.  Science on the other hand would say, why take that witches brew of chemicals, when we have isolated the one that is effective, and purified it.  

The facts are that for the vast majority of substances studied, the purified derivative is superior in efficacy and side effects than the herb from which it was derived.  I think over time there will be increasing use of herbs alongside Rx meds. One of the major problems with herbs however is quality control.  In many (?most) cases of herbs, the actual active ingredient is not even known.  Plants grown in one valley may have different levels of the AI in another valley or with different soil conditions.  There have been many quality control studies on herbs, and even from pill to pill, bottle to bottle, there is inconsistency.

Here is a blog about a promising new herb that is currently under investigation for use in preventing Peanut Allergy, at the excellent site Science Based Medicine.  Just to show I'm not opposed to things that are actually proven to work.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of AltMed, other than herbals has no supporting evidence at all

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=1...

Answer 3

Marijuana is basically a "cure-all" herb. You should try it.