By Cathy Margolin
on June 30, 2010
It's been 10 years in the making! This Saturday, July 3, 2010 is the official opening of the Chinese herb garden in at Bristol University in the UK and I wish I could be there. Apparently, it's designed to be a teaching garden with over 200 species of herbs growing. According to the gardens curator Nick Wray, "the aim of the garden is to be as healing in design, as it is in content".
The garden will also be used to further research on plants used in Chinese medicine and research plants which are currently under threat in the wild in China.
Chinese medicine practitioner Tony Harrison donated his well established collection of Chinese herbs to the university in 2000, after it became too large for his own plot in Cotham, Bristol.…
By Cathy Margolin
on June 27, 2010
Many young women are looking for a natural alternative to birth control pills for the PMS and cramps they get each month. Chinese herbs are very effective at controlling and eliminating PMS (premenstrual syndrome). The birth control pill is an option many women choose because they are not familiar with Chinese herbal medicine.
The approach I take is very different than the way progesterone and estrogen therapy found in the "Pill". Chinese Medicine can treat PMS and cramps successfully without artificial hormones.
Chinese Medicine recognizes that the liver is an organ that not just cleans blood but also moves blood. When the liver is overly taxed by stress, lack of sleep, drugs or accumulation of chemicals (including hormones found in our food supply) the liver energy can become stagnate. This stagnation effects the…
By Cathy Margolin
on June 27, 2010
Did you hear the Dis-Honorable Henry Waxman (D, CA) Congressman, tried in earnest to attach wording to the current finance bill in congress that would have given the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expanded powers to restrict access to dietary supplements including herbal supplements and Chinese herbs.
As Fox News reported it was "The Congressional Equivalent of Isner v. Mahut".
The deliberations were nearly as long as the just completed Isner v. Mahut Wimbledon tennis match. The match now holds the world record for the longest tennis match in the history.
Waxman also had the powerful support of Congressman Barney Frank (D,MA.) Barney Frank closed the conference committee at 5:39 am Friday morning, June 25th after all day and all night deliberations. Millions of Americans depend on supplements and this was…
By Cathy Margolin
on June 26, 2010
Have we become a nation of pill pushers?
It's a fact, in 2009, doctors wrote more prescription than the total number of people in the U.S. When did we become so dependent on prescription drugs? If your anxious, we have a pill for that. If you need a sleep aid, we have a pill for that. If your depressed, fatigued, can't concentrate, have hot flashes, think your having a panic attack or just having menstrual cramps, we have a pill for that too.
Why do people believe all the answers arrive in a pill? Is it because the pharmaceutical industry spent 4.5 BILLION dollars on advertising and marketing in 2009 alone? That's more than the entire economies of many countries. With that much money, I guess they can convince people there is a pill for just…
By Cathy Margolin
on June 23, 2010
I want to scream.. and it's not because I have PMS. I just saw an ad at this pharmacy promoting its Menstrual Relief / Menstrual Complete product. Come on, it's acetaminophen and caffeine packaged in a box of pills with the name "Menstrual Relief". The box says it temporary relieves cramps, bloating, fatigue, backache and headache.
Oh, and it's "pharmacists recommended", in case you were wondering about that!
Are you serious, this is the best you can do?
Wake up and smell the caffeine.. this not an answer for menstrual cramps.
Caffeine has diuretic effects, so it may help a little with water weight gain, but I think they add it to give you a little boost of energy so you have the perception of feeling better.
Acetaminophen is as…
By Cathy Margolin
on June 21, 2010
Some say Kudzu is a highly invasive weed, others call it a highly profitable cash crop or herb. I say it depends upon your point of view.
Michael Wyss, Ph.D., a Neuroscientist with the University of Alabama says kudzu contains healthy substances, called isoflavones. One particularly important isoflavone is puerarin, found only in kudzu. In fact, it’s the most abundant isoflavone in the plant. Puerarin is important because it can help control insulin for diabetics and reduce cholesterol.
The Chinese have used kudzu, a prominent Chinese herb in Traditional Chinese medicine, for centuries. It has been a proven mainstay for relieving muscular tension, reducing hypertension, dysentery and is commonly used for fevers due to the flu. Kudzu's is full of health benefits and from my point of view could be the next cash crop.
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By Cathy Margolin
on June 20, 2010
I don't usually blog about prescription drugs, I'd much rather talk about herbs, especially Chinese herbs. But in this case, I consider this more of a "Public Service Announcement". Most of my readers have strong feelings against taking any pharmaceutical drugs and have an inherent mistrust of drug companies. Here's another reason why a growing segment of the public feels they can't trust the drug companies or their TV commercials.
June 17, 2010: According to Carrie Newcomer, a Regulatory Review Officer at the FDA, Division of Drug Marketing, Lunesta, a prescription sleep medication made by Sepracor, has made an "unsubstantiated superiority claims" in a TV commercial. According to the FDA's letter to Sepracor. "Promotional materials are misleading if they represent or suggest that a drug is safer or more effective than another drug, when this has not…
By Cathy Margolin
on June 17, 2010
Americans are loving the TV personality, Doctor Oz. Why? He's become a source of easily understandable medical information. I appreciate that Dr. Oz brings up the subject of Alternative Medicine and alternative practitioners. I mean come on, Acupuncturists have been legal medical practitioners in California for some 30 years now. Nearly all states now have Licensed Acupuncturists (state license) or Certified Acupuncturists by a National Certification Commission.
Recently the Dr. Oz show did a segment on alternative health for sleep problems. Doctor Oz brought on his show, Dr. David Katz to represent traditional medicine, Dr. Hyla Cass- an Integrative Medicine Specialist, and Dr. Maoshing Ni (or Dr. Mao) – a doctor of Chinese Medicine. Dr. Mao is author of Secrets of Self-Healing: Harness Nature’s Power to Heal Common Ailments, Boost Your Vitality,and Achieve Optimum Wellness and Second Spring:…
