Secrets of the Medicine Man
Thousand of years ago Man, and Beast lived in peace. Then Man grew hungry and decided to hunt beast. Beast grew angry and decided to send disease to man. Man grew weak and sick, and was close to death. Plant took pity upon Man and said, "Do not fear, for death will not visit you. For every disease that Beast sends you, you will find the cure in us." (Iroquois 34) This Iroquois folk-tale was used to explain the healing properties of plants. Plants have been used to cure all the aches and pains that have plagued mankind.
There is a large body of research into herbal medicines. Great progress has been made in the isolation and identification of the constituents of medicinal plants using high pressure liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. Research to identify the main active components is carried out either in a search for new drugs or to enable claims to be made for proprietary herbal preparations. Medicinal plants have been generally shown to have not one but a combination of active principles. Once these principles are found, the next step is learning how to synthesize it
The medical industry has been synthesizing medicine for years now. We have become so reliant on the industry, that the very notion of ingesting the plant matter has become sickening. People have even stopped eating balanced meals, in favor of neat multi-vitamins. Most of which have vitamins that cancel each other out. The problems with synthesizing medicine, out weighs the benefits. We should not continue to synthesize our medication.
The first factor that one should consider is the cost of buying synthesizing medication versus taking the natural approach. According to Forbes Magazine consumers spent an estimated $3.5 billion on herbal supplements, almost twice the amount as in 1994. (Forbes 28) However Goldenseal now costs $100 a pound, up from $15 a pound a decade ago. When one considers the fact that it costs $1 billion, and requires 10 to 15 years of R&D to bring out a synthetic drug, one has to wonder why put up with it. The Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), a small, non-profit organization, estimates that medicinal plants and microscopic organisms from the Third World contribute between US $30-60 billion a year to the US pharmaceutical industry alone.(Brace 14).
On the other side of this discussion there are the United Plant Savers.
In Cherokee medicine, it is believed that councils of animals created diseases in order to avenge the loss of their families and living spaces. The plants, being sympathetic to humans, decided to each furnish a cure for these diseases. It is believed that the spirit of the plant will tell a sick person which one to use to cure his illness.
Plants were believed to have magic powers and were used symbolically in healing practices. Seeds, twigs, and leaves coloured black, white and red were believed to possess healing properties. Traditional healers act as an intermediate between the physical and spiritual world to enable healing and restore balance. Drumming, dancing, and chanting are used to arouse spirits in healing
Each year, people spend billions of dollars on pharmaceutical drugs, but what if there was an option that was cheaper and natural? Herbal medicine has been around for thousands of years and shows no sign of stopping. Many are familiar with Aloe Vera, a plant commonly used to treat burns, but it can also be used to speed the healing process of cuts. Herbal remedies have been around for a long time and have saved lives, like little Teddy’s life in No Witchcraft for Sale.
In the business of drug production over the years, there have been astronomical gains in the technology of pharmaceutical drugs. More and more drugs are being made for diseases and viruses each day, and there are many more drugs still undergoing research and testing. These "miracle" drugs are expensive, however, and many Americans cannot afford these prices.
The synergy of plants is the foundation of herbal medicine because fresh plant material provides living medicine for all of us, including our pets. This synergistic quality has always baffled scientists because some things can not be broken down and understood at a molecular level. It is often the in-between
Throughout time, mankind has persistently been seeking ways to maintain their health and to cure those that had not been so fortunate in that task. Just about everything has been experimented with as a cure for some type of illness whether physical, spiritual or mental. There has always been evidence of spiritual healing and it will continue to be an important part of any healing process, large or small. In particular, the roots of Native American Medicine men (often a woman in some cultures) may be traced back to ancient times referred to as Shaman. A special type of healer used by the Indians is referred to as a medicine man (comes from the French word medecin, meaning doctor).
The major use for herbal medicines is for the promotion of health and for therapy for chronic conditions, instead of being used for life-threatening conditions; except in the event of say advanced cancer or new infectious diseases when conventional medicine practices no longer are working an individual may use traditional remedies. While traditional medicines are often mistaken that because they are natural that they are safe, non-toxic, which is not always the case. In cases when an individual is taking herbs with prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, or other herbs that may cause some adverse side affects. As a flourishing commercial enterprise, it doesn’t matter why an individual uses traditional medicines, it provides important health care services for individuals that have access physically or finantually to allopathic
Lindberg, D. (n.d.). Herbal Medicine: MedlinePlus. U.S National Library of Medicine. Retrieved May 7, 2014, from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/herbal
It is estimated that around the world, 80% of people use herbal medicines as a primary health care through the World Health Organization("Herbal Medicine: MedlinePlus.").This makes sense, since some of the most populated places on earth are China and India which are third world nations that cannot afford and have not been modernized completely still sticking to ancient practice that are reliably for them.Even though the United States is a first world nation,Americans have a lower life expectancy and worse health care than all the other first world nations(Bland, DR. Jeffrey S). This fact is incredibly starling for the reason that the US has some most advanced treatments in the world.The problem is that contagious illness will not kill, but the chronic ones like heart disease and diabetes will kills society.“ Yet that is exactly the same medicine today as society face a tsunami of chronic disease that will cost on global economy 47 trillion dollars over the next 20 years and kill twice as many people around the world as infectious diseases(Bland, DR. Jeffrey S).”The truth is that treating the chronic disorders is not cheaper and is not realistic.The health care is like anything less it should be focused on preparing the problems the same as a someone would change the oil in their car so that it does not blow up the engine and the machining have to replace the whole thing.This is like what people are doing today, but unlike a car person cannot replace the engine when it is destroyed .Think about the numbers the facts is that if doctors were proving diseased that people could treat more people that more serious disease fully.Researcher could spend more time understanding the mind more and less threatening destroyed that still legitimately affects
Thus, herbal medicine is medicine made from different parts of plants. They have become very popular in modern times. Some of these herbal medicines can be helpful while others can be harmful.
I intend to help readers question their healing practices and the state of today’s formal medicine—to influence thought, education of the reality and exploration of the natural medicine realm.
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When you are sick you take medicine, but there are many remedies for the same problems. The use of herbal remedies traces back to the Chinese in the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well by a compiled book in China written back more than 2,000 years ago (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). Modern medicine has roots that are more recent in the development and production of synthesize drugs (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). The old generations took herbal remedies to improve their health, but now as time and people, progressed modern medicine comes on top. Herbal and modern medicines have good and bad points, but one has qualities that are more effective.
In the United States alone, 2011 sales of all herbal products were estimated to be $5.3 billion (Blu¬menthal et al. 2012). In reality, the herbal product industry is just another drug industry, one selling products that are poorly regulated and likely don’t work for their claimed indications (Steven Novella et al 2103). Various forest dwellers and metropolitan people also acquire ...
Herbal products are medicinal agents obtained from the plants. It’s all started 100 years ago by ancient people. Since synthetic medicine are not yet invented by that time, ancient people had invented medicine out of the plants. Through generations the original herbal medicine had been modified due to the new knowledge discovered and technologies invented.