I was reading a report from Newsweek today on how Western researchers are starting to pay attention to Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM. This story does a good job about pointing out why TCM is getting so much attention:
The beauty of the research is that it seems strongest in areas where Western medicine is weakest—namely, chronic illness.
No kidding. Western doctors are great with the scalpel, of that there is no question. We put out the finest in plastic surgeons and orthodontists; give 'em something not working and they'll put in a new one! TCM and other holistic healing modalities work on a totally different level. I especially enjoyed this analogy relating to herbalism:
Western trials are set up to study a single medication. But Chinese remedies are blends of many herbs. “Chinese medicine is not like a tennis match with two opposing players—disease and drug,” says Dr. Lu. “It’s more like a football game, with many types of players in different roles. Some herbs might be star quarterbacks; others are there to boost their efficacy; still others might tackle toxic side effects. It may be the combination of herbs or their subcomponents that makes them effective.
That sums it up pretty nicely! I encourage you all to read it. It's one of the more glowing reviews coming from conventional media in quite a while.
For the next few weeks, and hopefully not any longer, I'll most likely be out of pocket. We're moving today and couldn't get access installed at the new place until early December.
I'll try and update the site from alternate sources... if possible. If not, check back in a couple of weeks!
Evo
Now this is really strange. I was sorting through my referring sites list a few days ago and found, oddly enough, what appeared to be a link to my website from the online edition of the Wall Street Journal. Yes, the Wall Street Journal.
It took me a couple of days to check, as I had to find someone with access to the WSJ online; a pay-site. But sure enough, an article was posted Monday the 18th entitled "... Find a Blog" that was part of a special report on the Internet. And in that article the following was discussed. (Did I mention this was in the Wall Street Journal?)
There are also a handful of directories that break the blogosphere down into categories. Portal.Eatonweb.com, compiled by early blogger Brigitte Eaton, lists 7,875 blogs in 87 categories, the biggest being personal, journal, humor and commentary. You'll find treasures in the smaller categories, such as New Age. Listed there: Herbalist Evo Terra's ASimplerWay.com discusses holistic vs. conventional pediatrics...
When I started this website, I had lots of ambitions. But I never, ever, in a million years thought I'd have a link from the Wall Street Journal! Whoda thunk it? Coming up next week, global financial advice from Evo Terra!
(Oh, and as you already know, my discussions go well beyond pediatrics.. but who cares! I'm in the Wall Street Journal!)
A great walk and talk to the Superstition Mountains last weekend. This one was led by an ethnobotanist who gave us some great insight into the traditional uses of many plants. (In Walk and Talk)
This walk and talk was a bit different from the ones I've written about in the past. For this trip to the Superstitions, I was fortunate to have this walk led by David, a Choctaw ethnobotanist who is a caretaker or steward for the area. David has spent time with native peoples of various tribes and brings a wide perspective to traditional uses of the plants.
My camera wasn't cooperating that day, so there aren't any pictures. But you will find links throughout the article that you can follow for images or more information.
Opuntia fulgida - Chain Fruit Cholla
[image] It's interesting to note that, according to David, both the Chain Fruit Cholla and the Prickly Pear are basically the same plant, but one of them "decided" (yes, I'm anthropomorphizing) to try a jointed-stem evolutionary path and the other flat pads.It gets the name Chain Fruit from the fruits that link up with each other and droop down towards the ground. These are actually persistent fruit, meaning that that hang out on the mother plant year after year, until they are finally brushed off by a passing animal or become heavy enough to be overtaken by gravity.
Native peoples would collect the fruit and parch it in with hot coals tossed around in a basket. The coals would singe off the thorns and tiny hairs (worse than the thorns) in preparation for food. Cacti provided the native people with their main source of Vitamin C. In more recent times, the inner skeleton of the Cholla's has been used for a ready-made splint, lightweight and strong enough for holding re-set broken bones in place.
Opuntia phaeacantha - Prickly Pear
[image] Prickly Pear is "the Aloe of the desert". No, Aloe doesn't grow native in the Southwest; it was introduced from Madagascar and Africa. But Prickly Pear does contain the thick, mucopolysaccharide goo that's so good for cuts and burns. Archaeological evidence indicates it was eaten for a food source since pre-Hohokam times. The pads of the plant are an excellent source of calcium, sort of like broccoli of the desert? I've eaten Prickly Pear and find the taste to be reminiscent of a bland but slimy cucumber. David recommends slicing the pad up thin (please take out the spines and hairs first!) and frying them with some onion, corn meal, chili powder and eggs. (Sounds good, and I need breakfast!)Prickly Pear also has been used by the current tribes as a method of normalizing blood sugar. This is very important to the tribal contemporaries, as adult onset diabetes (Type 2) or non-insulin dependent diabetes is a significant problem for indigenous peoples. The nice thing about Prickly Pear is how it normalizes blood sugar levels. It doesn't just bring them down. So if your cooking for a family member with high blood sugar yet the rest of the family has low or normal blood sugar levels, everyone can enjoy this plant and see positive (or at least no) results. It has a similar effect on blood pressure-- same normalizing function. Truly a wonder!
Sphaeralcea emoryi - Globe or Desert Mallow
[image] Often referred to as "pink eye" or "sore eye", children tend to rub their eyes after touching the tiny hairs that cover the plant, resulting in the name. Related to the more medicinal "Marsh Mallow" of the east, Globe Mallow was used as a hair conditioner by the native people. The flowers are said to be a good remedy against hoarseness.Prosopis glandulosa - Mesquite
[image] Mesquite was the main source of flower in the area, as wheat and other grains find it difficult to grow in our soil and climate. The dried seed pods (husks and all) were ground to a very fine powder and used to make breads. Mesquite will exude a thick, black sap from the it's bark, usually on the main trunk. Boiling this sap produced a black pigment used by the Maricopa tribe to color their pottery. It has also been used to pack on the hair and cover with mud. Why? Natures own Grecian Formula!Krameria grayi - Ratany
[image] Ratany looks dead much of the year, hiding it's small leaves and seed pods well in the bramble of the spines. The only clue you can notice from a distance is when the plant blossoms. Not happening today, so we had to look close.The tea of Ratany is beneficial for sore throats, and a salve is good for hemorrhoids. Native peoples made a dye from the roots which turns baskets and weavings a deep, earthy red.
Acacia greggii - Cat Claw Acacia
[image] Cat Claw Acacia, or Wait-a-Minute Bush, closely resembles a small mesquite tree and is in fact a member of the same family, Fabacea. But Cat Claw Acacia is more medicinally specific. The entire aerial parts (leaves, flowers, fruits and stems) are used in making a sedative tea, especially useful when you need to sedate the stomach as well as the person.Euphorbia albomarginata - Rattlesnake Weed
[image] Not a nice plant to get in your garden, as you'll probably never get rid of it! But the natives used the plant mixed up into a poultice to treat rattlesnake bites, hence the common name. You can also take the whole plant as a tea for similar effects, but is has been reported to be quite purgative, so use caution!
Other Plants Seen
- Yellow LichenChuparosa (Beloperone californica)Black Brush (species unknown)
This is some really scary stuff and drives home the overuse of anti-bioitics in this culture. (In Good Stuff To Know)
The Detroit Free Press is reporting on a topic I first heard about over the summer. It seems that a woman was hospitalized and discovered to be harboring a staph infection that was non-receptive to vancomycin, one of the "last resort" antibiotics used by doctors.
More troubling is this:
By stealing genetic material from another bug, the new strain became totally resistant to vancomycin, the longtime drug of last defense against it.The implications of this statement are staggering. It's not a long shot to assume other acquired immunities to other agents might also be incorporated, building the "super bug", completely resistant to conventional anti-biotic treatments.
"It's a serious threat now, and it's getting worse fast. It's dramatically more of a public health threat than pesticides on food."No kidding. Luckily for us herbalist, nature provides us with many botanicals that prove very effective. And unlike the single-point offense provided by man-made or isolated chemical compounds, full-spectrum botanicals put forth a multi-pronged attack or defense, reducing the chance of resistance being built up by the offending micro-organism.To combat resistance and ensure drugs work when needed, health officials want people to do without antibiotics when infections are not life-threatening, said Matt Boulton, Michigan's state epidemiologist.
"We have to change consumer attitudes," he said. "There should not always be an expectation that you'll leave the doctor's office with antibiotics."
From drugmaker Pharmacia, Vice President Ferdinand Massari said it's harder to find new drugs. It takes at least a decade and $100 million to try, he said.Not in our world. Maybe holistic medicine has the advantage over conventional in this new arena we find ourselves in?"For every one drug that you see in the store, there are probably 10,000 that were tested and didn't make it,"
Did a Walk and Talk with a small group ealier today. It turned out better than I expected! (In Walk and Talk)
Our latest trip in the field was really more to check on the condition of the native plants rather than to do a full "walk and talk." It was a bone-dry summer, but some early fall rains just north of Phoenix most likely invoked a response in the plants of the area. So we headed to the Agua Fria National Monument to see what we could see.
Surprisingly enough, it was as green as I've seen in recent years. Walking down Badger Springs Wash, it was hard to believe this was the same area I had walked just two short months ago, seeking some images of Xanthium strumarium for a lecture I was preparing. What was hard to find then was in abundance this time around!
I've been studying botanical medicine since 1997. Actually, it goes back much further than that, growing up under the tutelage of my conservationist grandfather. But I suppose we're looking for when I said, "Yes, this is what I want to do with my life," and that started when my family and I moved to Arizona.
I completed my coursework in Western Herbalism in 2002 from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. My primary instructor was a wonderful lady by the name of JoAnn Sanchez, a clinical herbalist with over 22 years of practical experience and professional member of the American Herbalist Guild.
During my studies, I've been fortunate to have attended classes taught by leading herbalists, such as Paul Schulick, Daniel Gagnon, Mimi Kamp, Peter Bigfoot and Michael Moore. I'm currently working with a mentor with over 20 years of experience with botanicals. 7Song is the director of the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine in Ithaca, New York.
Practicing community-based herbalism is at the heart of A Simpler Way. I truly believe in offering people a different kind of heath care option; one that returns to the roots of healing as an integral part of our lives. A Simpler Way can be experienced in a variety of ways, such as interactive plant "walk and talks", publications and writings (like you're reading now,) herbal consultations, classroom studies... it's about keeping your health in your own hands.
As for consultations, I offer my clients a few options:
Full Consultation - This takes usually an hour to an hour and a half. My office or your house, it's up to you.
Cyber Sessions - A great option to those who don't live in Central Arizona.
Communal Intensive - Got a group of friends who are interested in seeing an herbalist? Here's a great way to maximize everyone's time.
Contact Information
Evo Terra
2182 Sunflower Way
Cottonwood, AZ
623.229.2026
evo@asimplerway.com
Nearly 50% are threatened world wide - (In Ramblings)
(Thanks to Forbidden Science for bringing this to my attention)
A recent Reuters story says...
The percentage of the world's plants threatened with extinction is much larger than commonly believed, and could be as high as 47 percent if tropical species are included...
I'm troubled by this story not just because I'm an herbalist, but because I'm frightened to what's happening to life on our planet. Let me state that I completely understand that extinction is the way things go on this world. No species is immune to this natural progression of life. It's just the way things work.
What's sad is how quickly a single species is hastening the demise of so many other companion species. Sadder yet is the fact that I'm part of this species that seems to have not a care for the wellbeing of the other beings on this planet, nor the delicate balance that allows us to enjoy conditions which provide for our own prosperity.
Luckily, not all humans are hellbent on destructive practices. One organization in particular, the United Plant Savers, is dedicated to the preservation of a variety of medicinal plants that are threatened. I encourage all of you to contribute to this organization and to spread the word of their efforts.
Thanks to Michael Tierra of the AHG for posting this. Musta slipped by me...
Thirteen of the world’s principal medical journals, including The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association, have accused major drug companies of distorting the results of scientific research for the sake of profits. The drug companies, among the richest corporations in the world, are accused of using their money, or the threat of its withdrawal, to control academic researchers with legal contracts preventing them from reporting freely and fairly on the results of trials of new drugs. Such researchers, often from underfunded university departments, may not get access to raw data, including information on side-effects, often have no say in trial design, and may not participate fully in interpreting the results of trials. Researchers who complain can easily be replaced by others who do not, and even if researchers do have a significant say in trial design and result interpretation, the actual results will often be buried if they are unfavourable to the drug’s prospects (The Guardian, 10/9/01).