Alternative Medicine

Alternative medicine is one of the latest of many trends, but one that’s going to stick around longer than the others. People are getting back to basics, no matter what lifestyle, age bracket or income level they achieve. Doctors are finally taking into consideration the fact that the public likes to treat themselves and they like the idea of taking natural medicines, and the need is there for education on how to treat the masses who are also treating themselves at home. But, even if they’re educated about alternative medicines, the doctors still can’t read your minds,. You must tell them what you’re taking and it’s important.

Herbal remedies do what they’re touted to and sometimes that saves us a trip to the doctor’s office. Because they’re herbal and you can buy them alongside vitamins at the grocer, people regard the remedies as safe and they don’t do a lot of research before buying and trying them. One woman was known to give her toddler Kava Kava tea in her bottle (this is NOT recommended), further showing the general public’s trust in the safety of an herbal over the counter product.

The truth is, herbal remedies are medicine just like the synthetic ones are, and that’s why we should tell our doctors when we’re taking them during any kind of treatment. Drugs mix in your body, herbal and prescription.

For example, you might be suffering from minor depression or undergoing heavby stress, and someone with good intentions might offer you some St. John’s Wort tea or capsules. It’s herbal, inexpensive and it helps, so people don’t mind sharing, and people don’t mind taking something that’s natural. Later, you go to the store and bu your own bottle and begin taking them. But, neither you nor the person that first gave you the remedy realizes the calming effects of the herb are weakening the strength of their birth control pills.

Just like all synthetic drugs, herbal remedies interact with many prescription drugs and change or cause side effects. They can also cause the efficacy of prescription drugs to increase or decrease, making them potentially dangerous even when taken as prescribed.

For example, we take garlic for all kinds of things, from ridding our home and pets of fleas to gaining stronger immune systems, and we can take it in so many delicious ways. It’s very popular, affordable, and it works. Garlic isn’t just an herbal remedy, but, is considered a food, too. So, if we take garlic supplements and use it in our diet as well, we could be getting a hefty dose of it every day, which isn’t harmful. But, do you know what drugs it can interact with? You won’t find it on the drug packaging and if your doctor doesn’t know you’re taking garlic supplements, he won’t know to tell you.

Garlic reduces the efficacy of:

T abAntihypertensives: dittiazam (cardizem), nicarpedine (cardene) and verapamile (calan)

T abHIV protease-inhibitors: saquinavir (fortovase, invirase)

T abImmunosuppressants: cyclosporine (sandimmune)

T abOral contraceptives

Garlic increases the efficacy of:

T abDiabetes drigs such as: chlorpropamide (diabinese), insulin, glipizide (glucotrol), rosaglitazone (Avandia)

T abVarious blood thinners are dangerously increased in side effects

And that St. John’s Wort you’ve been taking, do you know what drugs it has an interaction with? It’s worth asking your doctor or looking up the information. It not only can decrease the efficacy of your birth control pills, but it can also increase the efficacy of MAO inhibitors and antidepressants. Say you took garlic supplements and eat a lot of it in your cooking, too, and then you take St. John’s Wort tea daily. Your birth control protection could be just about nil.

Some people say the only difference between a poison and a medicine is the dose. Now, we should modify that statement to the dose and/or mixture.

The side effects of a prescription medicine can also be increased or decreased in severity, and new ones may spring up bedcause of the mixture of medicines, as well. If your doctor knows you’re taking an herbal supplement, he may advise you to stop taking it during treatment with certain prescriptions. It may be dangerous not to tell him, as you can see.

T abAn her popularly taken as a mild antibiotic for the mucous membranes in the head and chest, Echinacea, increases the blood thinning ability of the drug Coumadin, also known as Warfarin.

T abHeal-all (also called self-heal or prunella vulgaris), a little purple flower that grows in grass is a great tonic and good tasting tea, hot or cold. It has the ability to actually thin blood and not only should it be avoided while taking blood thinners like Coumadin, it also cannot be taken a week before any type of surgery is performed or the patient could endure bleeding problems during the procedure.

T abColtsfoot is a common age-old remedy for coughs, among other things, and has always been considered so safe that it’s good for children to take it. However, if you’re taking an antihypertensive prescribed by a doctor, a dose of Coltsfoot could send a hypertensive child to the other end of the psectrum, leaving them hypotensive (the opposite).

It’s just a good idea to let your doctor know everything you take, even if it’s an over the counter remedy you got at the corner market.

SOURCES:

All of the information in this article is from experience and these three sources:

Professional’s Handbook of Complementary & Alternative Medicines, by Charles W. Fetrow, PhD and Juan R. Avila, PhD. Springhouse Publishing