Medieval herbal remedy

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

My anti-rejection drugs for my kidney transplant cost over $15,500 every year (I do pay less because of my insurance).  Why?  One is a "brand name" drug, which means there is no generic.  Since it is the only drug there is, they can charge what they like, because there is no alternate.

The other drug is a generic, which is somewhat less expensive, but still a lot more than a lot of current drugs for cholesterol, acid reflux, etc.

We have a friend that had a liver transplant (no drinking problem, just rotten genetics) whose wife is Canadian.  They had to move from Illinois back to Canada, because even with insurance, he couldn't afford the drugs, and Canada has universal health care, so they provide him with drugs.

And my insurance company is making me buy the drugs through their mail order.  The brand name prescription comes from India.  It's still about $2,000 out of my pocket every year, of course not as bad as $1,000+ every month without insurance (and there is still the other drug to buy, too).

It's not about health, is it?  It's about money.  And the insurance company and drug companies are taking an awful lot of mine.

[Angelhood]

It's frightening how much control the pharmaceutical companies have over our lives just because it's all about their profit. Don't even get me started on the FDA! That's probably why I'm so interested in alternatives like herbs and essential oils.

Here's one for you...did you know that cloven fruit game that gets past around a lot at SCA events and sometimes smaller ren faires has a more practical use than flirtation and breath freshening? Yes, clove is good for fresh breath, but it also can help with digestion as well as helping to beef up your immune system. Although the flirting probably adds some sort of health benefits too *wink*.

[jcbanner]

I'm not touching the profit margin thing at all, thats not my concern here, the science is.  Old remidies vs new drugs, its not a black and white issue such as "it works" and "it doesn't work"

Many old remedies were based off of observation; they noticed that someone who was sick got better after eating something unique, or that person over there always eats this type of fruit and never gets sick, that fruit must prevent disease.  In some cases it works, in others it doesn't.

vitamin C for example, everyone says it will prevent catching the cold. yet in scientific studies, it was impossible to determine if it had any effects, mostly because its about preventing, and not curing.  natural immune defense among indeviduals is not the same, so there is no base number to compair each group against to see if the Vitamin C group did infact suffer fewer colds as a result of taking vitamin C. (though it was noted that there wasn't much of a diffrence. but because of allready stated reason, it's inconclusive.

Scurvy on the other hand, that is a symptom of a Vitamin C deficiency, there, it was an accurate assumption that Vitamin C prevents Scurvy.

but lets go older. Many medical treatments were often times more detrimental then they were beneficial. Leeches anyone? for decency sake, I won't even start of the horrors of womens health treatment, its not much better for men.  There seemed to be some odd fascination though with shoving things where they do not belong.


there are some things that work, and others that don't,  if I'm just a bit under the weather or having issues sleeping, I'll make some herbal tea, but if theres a big issue, be sure I want medications that I can be sure are both safe and will work.  I'm a fan of the scientific method.

I have a tiger repellent rock for sell. I can assure you it works because I've never seen a tiger around here.
   

[Angelhood]

Not trying to pick a fight here or anything but I would like to point out that Science is based on observation as well. Truely, fault can be found with both methods....those of old and those of "Scientific Western Medicine" of today...hence so many drugs taken off the market as quickly as they come, often times with pricey law suits following closely behind.

Methinks they didn't do enough observation.

[jcbanner]

Yes, but in science, you make an observation, then a hypothesis trying to explain it then test it to determine its accuracy.  Nothing is ever truly "proven" in science. The goal of testing to to see if something can be disproved.

[Angelhood]

Thank you, I couldn't say it better myself....you just proved why I put little faith in modern pharamceutical medicine! I much prefer prevention instead of treating a problem. The drugs of today treat the symptoms, not the problem oft times, and come with a long list of unwanted side-effects which can sometimes be more dangerous than what you are trying to treat. Granted there are things like the organ rejection drugs, and insulin etc that a person may need to stay alive, but there are entirely too many prescriptions being made for petty issues that cause greater problems than they fix. Case in point would be the overuse of antibiotics which have resulted in the creation of superbugs.

Don't put too much faith in an industry that is in it for the money and doesn't care one iota for your wellbeing other than to insure you continue to give them more money. Do your own homework, so you can make an informed decision. Don't just take their word for it just because they are supposedly the experts. Get a second opinion. It's just common sense.

[Welsh Wench]

I have to agree with Angelhood.
I'm studying pharmacology. There are 50 cardiological drugs on this list alone, 14 of them are anti-hypertensive therapeutics.

And I've seen this before.
Doctor: So..the atenolol 50 mg seems to be working.
Patient: Yes, it is, doctor. Except I am dizzy.
Doctor: Wonderful! Let's take it up to 75 mg now.

Like with estrogen--do you want to die of cancer or a heart attack?
Tough choice. Do I want to go quick or painful?
My mom's doctor was pushing her to get on estrogen. What happened? Her ankles swelled. What was the recommendation? Let's take a diuretic.
She told him to forget the whole thing.

I'm not slamming the medical profession.
Just do your research.