Beginning the Search

Any search for information usually leads an individual to the Internet first. Anything you Google is most likely to come up with some insane number like 1,532,791 answers to whatever question you’re throwing out there. I, like any good Internet user, did the same thing, plugging in herbal remedies and expecting the insane number. But my initial search brought me every retail site possible. Not only could I grow my penis by 54%, but I could buy a remedy for constipation and a salve for sore muscles. Not exactly what I was looking for. So I found after some perusing, that if I plugged in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), while by dangit, I found much better answers.

Which brings us to…what exactly is complementary and alternative medicine? Pretty fancy name for what?

Believe it or not, under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Health there is the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). http://nccam.nih.gov/ This organization promotes scientific research and training for practitioners in the use CAM. They define complementary medicine as a therapy used in conjunction with traditional medicine while alternative medicine is used in place of traditional medicine. Since I want to focus on herbal remedies, this would fall under alternative applications.

I also found a great article for physicians, which gives an easy-to-read breakdown of all the therapies included in CAM such as acupuncture, chiropractic and homeopathic therapy. http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20010300/37comp.html. The most important fact I found though in this part of my search is this: if anyone is considering using an alternative method for illness, you should most definitely discuss this with your physician. Herbal remedies may have fatal results when used with certain prescription drugs and death would definitely defeat the purpose of trying to become well.

Next, we’ll look into some of the history of herbal remedies. Until then…”Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” Mark Twain

Photo found at

www.cel.sfsu.edu