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Growing a home apothecary

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Re: Growing a home apothecary

#31

Post by Cass »

mtrpcic wrote: post #17
jalk wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it naïve to think that clinical trials have show that modern medicine is more effective? And the active molecules in those plants have been identified and can probably in many cases be synthesized more easily than extracted from the plants.

While I think the assessment that modern medicine is more effective, and often stands on the shoulders of these types of historically used plants, not everyone has safe access to modern medicine (either because "modern" medical treatments aren't available where they're located, lack of finances to pay for it in egregiously overpriced areas, or general mistreatment by the medical community). Using alternatives, while…

In areas so remote that modern medical treatments aren't available at all, people do often still grow their own medical plants.

If lack of finances is an issue, growing your own herb garden certainly isn't the solution. These plants aren't going to replace a $500 shot of insulin. At best you could maybe replace the occasional aspirin, dramamine, or buscopan, all of which are available over the counter at price points much lower than what it would cost to even buy a bag of quality seeds, never mind soil, fertilizer, and the garden to plant it all in. (Or the time and labor to plant and tend it).

Re: Growing a home apothecary

#32

Post by oblib »

I'll chime in for raw honey even though it's not a plant. About 12-15 years ago I started getting pain in my right shoulder. This went on for about 6 months. My wife and friends and my doctor told me it was "bursitis" and I'd need an operation to get rid of it. Back then going to the doctor was the leading cause of avoidable death so I wasn't keen on getting that operation (it's now the 3rd leading cause of avoidable death).

I was whining about it one day to a friend of mine who was in his 70s and had been a pilot for the military and flew missions all over the world. He learned on lot doing that. He told me "Raw honey will cure that if you take a tablespoon every day for a few weeks" and explained it was actually an infection that the honey would kill.

He was right. I bought some honey from a local bee keeper and it was exactly two weeks later that the pain was entirely gone. Right about that time a neighbor of mine stopped by and mentioned he was going to the hospital for an operation for the same thing in two weeks. I told him about the honey and he got some from the same bee keeper and it cured him too.

Most doctors won't tell you raw honey will cure that. Most probably don't even know it will.

Re: Growing a home apothecary

#33

Post by GordonS »

tsol wrote: post #29
jalk wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it naïve to think that clinical trials have show that modern medicine is more effective? And the active molecules in those plants have been identified and can probably in many cases be synthesized more easily than extracted from the plants.

Yes and no. If I'm nauseous I can take a little ginger, but there isn't really an comparable over the counter anti-nausea med. There's dimenhydrinate for motion sickness, but that's different. Ondansetron is a prescription only anti-nausea med that's very effective, but obviously much harder to obtain. So modern medicine is more effective, only for the proper indication and when a 'modern' treatment is easily availab…

I take ginger for sea sickness and motion sickness - it's efficacy is pretty incredible!

Re: Growing a home apothecary

#34

Post by BiteCode_dev »

oblib wrote: post #32

I'll chime in for raw honey even though it's not a plant. About 12-15 years ago I started getting pain in my right shoulder. This went on for about 6 months. My wife and friends and my doctor told me it was "bursitis" and I'd need an operation to get rid of it. Back then going to the doctor was the leading cause of avoidable death so I wasn't keen on getting that operation (it's now the 3rd leading cause of avoidable…

Same story but with propolis.

Re: Growing a home apothecary

#35

Post by dylan604 »

boomskats wrote: post #25

Something worth remembering when criticising traditional herbal medicine for its lack of double blind clinical trials, is that clinical trials cost serious money. It's unfortunate, but with the way things work in the western world currently, it isn't in anyone's commercial interest to invest in proving the efficacy of any of these herbal remedies. They aren't patentable (because they're plants and because there's pri…

>It's unfortunate, but with the way things work in the western world currently, it isn't in anyone's commercial interest to invest in proving the efficacy of any of these herbal remedies.

this is where i'd hope a prestigious medical school would step in to do the studies.

Re: Growing a home apothecary

#36

Post by teslabox »

In March 2020 I had a chronic cough - not an infection, just an itch that could only be scratched with a cough. "people are going to think I'm trying to kill them."

An old herbal treatment for the lungs is inhaling the fumes of apple brandy from a charred oak keg. Ethanol is an antiseptic, while the apple and oak flavoring compounds help stimulate the lungs to repair themselves.

Since I've started huffing on apple brandy, the itch in my lungs is much better than it used to be.

The charred oak keg is important, because it facilitates the evaporation of the brandy into fumes. Someone shared that they use oak spirals in a glass container: https://www.facebook.com/EdgarCayceOnPsychicHealth/posts/pfb...

My mom's husband tested positive for the virus recently. She developed a cough, but 'tested negative' (home tests are probably mostly worthless). After a month she was still coughing. I set her up with a barrel and sent her husband to the liquor store for apple brandy. Her cough was mostly cleared up in a week. Then she got sick again, but this cleared up quicker than her September case of "not-coronavirus".

edit: treating lungs with inhaled alcohol is science-approved: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22756511

Re: Growing a home apothecary

#37

Post by AA-BA-94-2A-56 »

boomskats wrote: post #25

Something worth remembering when criticising traditional herbal medicine for its lack of double blind clinical trials, is that clinical trials cost serious money. It's unfortunate, but with the way things work in the western world currently, it isn't in anyone's commercial interest to invest in proving the efficacy of any of these herbal remedies. They aren't patentable (because they're plants and because there's pri…

Thanks for this comment. I had never even considered that the myopia produced by market forces on academia was the cause of this. I have written off natural remedies my entire life, mostly because my mother was into them, and she administered a lot of them as I grew up with what seemed like limited effectiveness.

That said, I'll definitely keep more of an open mind now.

Re: Growing a home apothecary

#39

Post by DoreenMichele »

Cute little article. Mostly useless.

Plants and food can heal. They work different from the pills modern peoples are used to popping.

A single article listing a few plants and a laundry list of things each supposedly helps with is, at best, like a movie trailer teaser to try to get you excited. It doesn't even seem to direct you to more in-depth resources.

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