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St. Joseph News Press, MO
January 27, 2005
By LAURA PATE
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If Connie Francisco feels sick, she usually skips the pharmacy prescription
and heads to Herb-N-Oils, which sells natural medicines.
"If there's a natural alternative, I'll always try it first," she says.
But some American doctors hesitate to prescribe or recommend natural
medicines. Many don't know enough about it, says Dr. Martin Sullivan, former
director of integrative medicine at Duke University.
"It's difficult for physicians. They don't have the pharmacies backing them
up," Dr. Sullivan says. "It's true to say that most standard physicians are
not comfortable using natural medications."
But Dr. Sullivan, who now works at Heartland Cardiovascular Consultants in
St. Joseph, says he sometimes prescribes or recommends natural remedies to
patients.
He usually recommends natural medicines for long-term problems, such as
arthritis, depression and high cholesterol, because natural medicines
usually have fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals. For short-term
problems, such as surgery and heart attacks, he recommends pharmaceuticals.
Among the most popular natural medicines are St. John's Wort for depression,
Echinacea to combat cold symptoms and peppermint oil for irritable bowel
syndrome.
One of the helpful things about natural medicines in the United States, Mrs.
Francisco says, is that they usually do not require a prescription or
physician's visit.
When she took Effexor, an antidepressant marketed by Wyeth, she dreaded
going to the physician's office. The medicine worked adequately, but the
physician's visits depressed her, she says.
"I had to be constantly working with doctors who reminded me of the problems
I had to deal with every couple weeks," Mrs. Francisco says.
And when her husband went to the hospital after taking Paxil, an
antidepressant from GlaxoSmithKline, for four years, Mrs. Francisco decided
she should stop taking Effexor.
"It's like a death on your body," Mrs. Francisco says of mainstream
pharmaceuticals.
She now takes St. John's Wort, also known as Hypericum Perforatum, a short
yellow flowering plant, to curb depression symptoms. She feels safer
sticking to natural drugs, she says.
Sheila Mayer, owner of Herb-N-Oils, agrees that natural drugs are a better
alternative.
"Unfortunately, if you're taking medication A to deal with problem A, you
have to take medication B from problems caused by medication A," she says.
"You end up being a walking pharmacy."
A NATURAL START
For natural drug novices, Dr. Sullivan recommends checking with a physician
about starting a natural drug program. Some natural medicines can conflict
with manufactured medicines, he says. For instance, doctors recommend
against taking St. John's Wort and an antidepressant at the same time.
And, people should only use natural medicines that have a seal of approval
from the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, Dr. Sullivan
advises.
Without the seal of approval, people can't know for sure what the medicine
contains, he says. That's because natural medicines in the United States
aren't as standardized or regulated as they are in countries such as
Germany, where physicians prescribe the herbal St. John's Wort four more
times than Paxil, according to Psychology Today.
For the sniffles, Jim Fly, owner of A to Zs Fresh Air Fare, recommends
Echinacea, also known as a purple coneflower, which grows east of the Rocky
Mountains. Elderberry tops the list for people trying to avoid the flu.
"Some people call elderberry a flu shot in a bottle," Mr. Fly says.
In fact, Mr. Fly suspects elderberry may be more effective against the flu
than the flu vaccine.
If someone got a flu vaccine for one type of flu, they could get another
type of flu. But elderberry protects against all kinds of flu, he says.
To combat illness in general, he recommends a liquid mixture of elderberry,
Echinacea, propylus (a sanitizing substance bees produce) and zinc, a
mineral needed for formation of an antioxidant.
Thanks to the elderberry, the mixture tastes fruity. Echinacea, though,
tastes too bitter for the judging palate. It's best to "chase" the mixture
with fruit juice, he says.
"If you do it straight, you make your tongue tingle for a long time," Mr.
Fly says.
Though Ms. Mayer likes Echinacea and elderberry, she says colostrum, or
animal milk, is among the most popular items at her store. It helps people
to build up their immune systems, she says, as it is the first thing any
mammal gives to its baby.
And for upper respiratory problems, such as a runny nose, Ms. Mayer
recommends smelling eucalyptus, rosemary and thyme as aromatherapy. People
can rub the oils onto the soles of their feet, put them into potpourri or
add them to unscented lotion.
"Thyme tends to be a little more pungent. That's why it's important to
dilute it."
But she wouldn't always recommend natural medicines over pharmaceuticals.
"Medicines do have a place."
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