With a quarter to a half of our medications being derived from plant-based substances, apparently a plant can be a medicine. You may not have known that a well known cholesterol lowering drug, as well as other “statins”, originates from a Ming Dynasty form of rice. St John’s Wort was described as a “beautiful bouquet of plants and chemicals working together” and it is, we learned, effective in helping people with some types of depression. That is about the most enticing description of a medicinal we’ve ever heard! It just might also be the British accent influence of Dr. Joe Feuerstein, a recent medical guest expert on the Sterling Health Show on 1490 WGCH, who discussed this topic. The Doc directs Stamford Hospital’s integrative medicine program, which you can check out at http://www.stamfordhospitalintegrative.com/. He also practices holistic medicine at the Boyd Center for Integrative Health in Greenwich, which you can learn more about at http://www.wicc600.com/Experts/ExpertDrBoyd/tabid/233/Default.aspx
There are such a variety of different botanicals, herbs and essential oils in use by so many people, including teas, tinctures, roots, capsules, powders, poultices, ointments and tablets, to name but a few forms, and many can be purchased over-the-counter. This makes it so important for people to understand them and to know when they should be seeking the advice of an expert on this topic before taking some of the over-the-counter preparations. Some of them just don’t mix well with each other or with some traditional medications and some, according to Dr. Feuerstein are best used under medical oversight. We previously hosted Dr. Henri Roca of the Greenwich Hospital’s Center for Integrative Medicine who discussed a broad application of holistic medicine approaches other than botanicals, so we are rich in resources and holistic medicine sites from which to seek care and counsel on the non-traditional forms of medicine. You can hear both Dr. Feuerstein and Dr. Roca’s very interesting programs by accessing www.sterlingcare.com and clicking on the WGCH radio show link.
