I often bring up to my Ghanaian co-workers that there is not much practice of herbal medicine in the US. They are always puzzled as to why.
While I have some ideas, I want to ask you (my beautiful blog followers) why you think herbal medicine isn't as popular in the United States?
Please comment on this post with your ideas of why. Consider this an honest, open, and safe space to share your thoughts.
I don't think there is an absence of herbal medicine used in the US, but more of an absence in usage by mainstream medical doctors and practitioners who have been educated by traditional medical schools that are often affiliated with pharma companies through research funding,etc. and therefore push those remedies. There are of course Osteopathic medical schools and other alternative approaches, but they are not heard of as often. Also, media tends to blast all kinds of ads on TV, internet, etc. that sell mainly prescription drugs because it is a good source of income.
ReplyDeleteThis is not to say prescription drugs are bad, they are amazingly helpful and save lives and I believe quite a few of them are based on exact plant life replications of know species used in treating ailments (some of which we highlighted in tours I gave as a docent at the Botonical Gardens!). I guess each application would have to be researched as to which is more economical and effective in a specific geographic location, raising plants to extract medicine or producing synthetic products. All products, synthetic and/or naturally occurring, are broken down into the same atoms and compounds of our chemical world, they just come from different sources. But there does seem to be a bit of distrust among some people in using herbal medicines, even though they may have similar properties of comparable prescription drugs. This may have to do with how American consumers tend to relate more to how things are packaged and presented than the essence of what something really is...There are also many touted herbal supplements that do absolutely nothing for your health. So again, I believe one must scrutinize each specific drug or herbal supplement in each situation that presents itself. What percentage of resources drug companies in US are allocating to doing research in herbal medicine I have no idea.
Because that shit does not go through clinical trials
ReplyDeleteAnother notable reason why we don't have herbal medicine in the US is that there is a perception that herbal medicine is something...well...quackish!. If you look in the dictionary under the word quack, it states, 2. "a pretender to medical skill". I think the media, the powers that be, has done a good job of portraying anything other than prescription drugs as faux medicine and frankly, there is some basis for this. Back in the 1960's herbal usage included just about anything those young heathens would use or sell. Experimentation with unregulated herbal remedies (OK all you Pot smokers who are now thrilled it's legal for medicinal purposes..hold on, not sure about that one!)led to many people becoming sick or messed up. Even echinacea, from the cone flower, was not used properly. These herbs, and others because they are associated with them, have gotten a bad rap because of their past usage and we seem to still be very cautious when approaching them. It's amazing that we believe the drug companies just because of clinical trials( not that I discount these by any means) but do not take into account years and years of successful usage in other countries of medicinal herbs. Again, the media has done alot to damage the benefits of herbal medicine. We have to be careful as products are presented to the public that they do work, are safe, are regulated and it is not just a bunch of quackery!
ReplyDeleteAlex Ocampo is the best! that is all.....
ReplyDeleteMom and Aunt Regina are probably right in that the media plays a large role in how we perceive herbal medicine. There are only a few countries that allow pharmaceutical companies to use direct-to-consumer advertising of their products, and the US is one of them. (Other countries usually allow pharma to advertise only to doctors.) While the public does need to be able to access all information about drugs/medicines (no matter what type!) somewhere outside the doctor's office, I don't think advertising drugs/medicines is typically helpful nor does it allow people to make more informed decisions. With more information (and as someone else said, clinical trials), I think that if there was more information available about herbal medicine, people in the US would consider using them.
ReplyDeleteThis is reminding me... if you're really interested in this topic, you should look into this mini course that I took last semester through the RC. It's only one credit and graded pass/fail, so it's not a big time commitment, and it talks a lot about the huge effect that the pharma industry has on the medical field. It's taught by Prof. Hank Greenspan.
I also agree with Rico that Alex Ocampo is the best.