Learn about Echinacea & why people take it to manage cold symptoms
Are you suffering from a nasty cold? Are you sniffling your way through the month, wishing for a remedy? If so, you’re probably researching Echinacea tablets and trying to work out whether or not they might help to ease your symptoms.
Today’s article will take an objective look at the Echinacea plant and why some people take supplements, believing it will help them fight the germs.
First things first: what is Echinacea?
Echinacea is a flowering plant that can be found all over the United States and Canada. With nine varieties, Echinacea also goes by other names, including black-eyed Susan and purple coneflower.
Echinacea tablets are created from the stems, roots, leaves and flowersof the plant. In addition to tablets, you can find Echinacea in liquid forms, and added to herbal teas.
Does it work and if so, how?
Echinacea has been used in America for at least a couple of centuries now, so you would thinkthatwould give it credibility as a reliable remedy. However, this is not the case. Visit the US gove...
HEENT: no headache, no tinnitus, no hearing loss, mouth sores, no voice changes, no problems swallowing, sinus congestion, no visual disturbances.
Herbal supplements and herbal treatments are nothing new to people looking for a way to enhance their diets or to those trying to find an alternative to traditional drugs. Such supplements include vitamins or minerals already present in the majority of foods. Other treatments are more unusual and stem from ancient Chinese healing or Native American therapies. Often these additional or alternative treatments have a positive effect on the patient. In China, during the early seventies, there were good results reported for treating bronchopneumonia in children. The doctors used herbal medicines, traditional methods of massage along the spinal column, and acupuncture and injections into needling points in conjunction with current antibiotics. This combination of traditional medicine with current medical practices had major improvements over the simple administration of antibiotics since the most recent method of antibiotics did not take into account the problems of a poor functioning cardiovascular system, spasms of the bronchi, and the fact that asthma often continues. The traditional method does have an effect on these symptoms (Risse, 108). However, despite the positive effects, there have been reported instances where men and women hav...
Over the years humans have tried every possibility to overcome the health problems, spread of epidemics and infections, disease control and have worked towards a healthy society free of disease and health problems. They have succeeded to a great extent. The book “Good germs, bad germs” describes that though the life expectancy is now far more as it was in previous eras. Epidemic problems and infectious diseases are now getting lesser and lesser and humans are being treated successfully. The hygienic conditions have also been improved so as to ensure least growth of microbes, germs, parasites and bacteria. Antibiotics have been invented to address diseases and infections caused by bacteria and viruses. With all these substantial efforts the biologists, physicians and scientists have triggered another epidemic which is even more severe. They have killed those microbes and bacterial species which were human friendly and as a result of either their disruption or mutation, pathogenic bacteria have even become more active and resistant to treatments. This has led to increased ineffectiveness of antibiotic drugs, low immunity and various infections and inflammatory diseases. The chlorinated water for drinking and food processing along with excessive hygienic conditions indicates our fight against these bacteria and germs. Further, these antibiotics are even given to the livestock which becomes our food and as result many of their resistant germs end up in our digestive tract and other organs. Thus, the war against microbes through excessive cleanliness and use of antibiotics has resulted in antibiotic resistance among humans, which has become one of the prominent problems of medical science
Plants cleanse, regulate and nourish the body through an unspoken intelligence. All living creatures have a predisposition for whole plant medicine. Think of it as a type of genetic memory. I know for some, especially those practicing allopathic Western medicine, it
Observing the leaves of a hibiscus (Hibiscus spp.) as it grows can tell you whether it's getting all it needs to thrive. Hibiscus is hardy to U.S Department of agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11, where it's a perennial. In the cooler zones it's treated as an annual. (See References 1, p. 93) Hibiscus grows dark green, glossy leaves that are adorned with an abundance of flowers. Although yellowing hibiscus leaves can be an indication of the natural resting phase, it can also be a sign of a more serious matter, such as improper watering, lack of nutrients, and sap-sucking pests.
This paper includes an understanding about the parasitic roundworm called trichinella. It gives detail of the disease, its transmission and source. Emphasizing how it effects the body, further explaining the epidemiology and how the parasite poses a threat. Also providing an overview of the various types of transmission, how it obscures the human body, and informs one about the symptoms that occurs with the ingestion of trichinella. This paper also addresses the various diagnostic procedures and the treatment required in order to treat Trichinellosis. This, emerging the complex world of the most common type of trichinella species called Trichinella spiralis. In addition, it raises awareness of the health risks and possible outcomes that can come along when the parasites begins migrating throughout the body.
Zahn, K.A., Raymond, L. L., Purssell, R.A. (1997). Cardiovascular Toxicity after ingestion of Herbal Ecstacy. Journal of Emergency Medicine, 17(2), 289-291.
Today, everyone from health care consumers to providers are learning about natural options to help with being healthy. “Herbalists, or individuals who use herbal remedies to alleviate pain, are on the rise in the United States” (Tremmel 1). In 1995, a survey was taken with about 600 physicians across the count...
Natural products include dietary supplements and probiotics. Dietary supplements can be anything from multivitamins to supplemental herbs. Probiotics are live bacteria that are found in the digestive tract (National Center, 2011, para.6). H...
Cancer is presently responsible for about 25% of all deaths in US and other developed countries. On a yearly basis, 0.5% of the population is diagnosed with cancer. It can be treated with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapies etc., but all these have side effects and that is why botanical treatment turns useful.
From working animals to house pets, all animals can benefit from using herbal remedies- notably equines such as horse and ponies. It is nature’s way of healing, evident by the fact that animals have been instinctively ingesting plants to their benefit long before man domesticated them. Herbal treatment is the oldest form of healing. Modern medical science and world history confirm that herbs are a valid and healthy way both prevent and cure disease and infection while improving the overall vitality of animals. Most all modern drugs have been developed from medicinal herbs that have been in the earliest societies’ medical practices. In fact, it wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that veterinary medicine began to use today’s common pharmaceuticals.
Herbal drugs are the medicine which contains medicinal plant parts or there substance likes extracts. As per the initial record the herbal drugs being used in India, China, Egypt, Greek, Roman from last 5000 years. The oldest and biggest Indian texts Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Charak Samhita and Sushruta Samhita include the uses of many herbal drugs (Khamboj et al ). In 3000 B.C. the Egyptian text Papyrus Ebers given the name after the German Egyptologist Georg Ebers contains 800 recipes and description of 700 medicinal plants like aloe, colocynth, Indian hemp, garlic, opium poppy, juniper, cumin, ricinus seeds and Arabic gum (Aksel Bernhoft et al 2008).
Frequently a person believes that herbal medicine is more naturally safe and soothing than drugs. Nevertheless, there’s no reasonable defense about this. Though many consumers trusted herbal medicine much more than the synthetic medicine because it’s safe and effective, but like anything else, it has its own limitations too. There are several hostile issues related to herbal medicine that has been quite alarming. Notwithstanding, majority of the most popular herbs are at least nearly safe.
For about thousands of years the mankind has been utilizing the rich sources of flora for various diseases and disorders . Written record shows the usage of plants dates back to at least 5000 years and archeological surveys indicates the usage of the medicinal plants even before that . Greek botanist, Pedanios Dioscorides described about 600 herbs in his book in 78 AD and this treaty remained as a major source of reference for about many centuries on the medicinal plants. The therapeutic action of numerous plants were identified by observations and experimentation and were transmitted from one generation to the other by the by the ancient peoples. Swiss physician - Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, in his “Theory of signatures” informs that the colour, shape, odour and flavor of plants will attribute towards their therapeutically properties and thus gives clues to their clinical importance.
Health claims are booming in today’s world. Many of these consumers are being misled by advertising and believe that their choice will benefit their health. Although herbal medicines have been in existence throughout human evolution, I have chosen to take a deeper look into these health practices. I’m curious if this is just another health claim or if there are actual benefits to taking these medicines.