Herbal Medicines

Herbal Medicine

2009-01-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

The growing popularity of medicine plants has caught the interest of local barangays, municipal/provincial governments, st. dent groups, civic organizations and the like Herbal medicine' gardens began to sprout barangays, school campuses and backyard. Contests also were conducted by civil groups. Even health clinics began prescribing medicines either in prepared formulations dosages from raw plants taken from the community. NSTA and its concerned agencies in itiated training programs in the regions wit a view to promoting the program to loc leaders and medical practitioners. NSTA target is to set up regional production plan for the manufacture of drugs out of these plants so that people in the regions will have easy access to cheap medicines.

ANISE - the essence of this plant is used to cure asthma, colic in infants; impotence, migraine, palpitations and insufficiency of milk in lactating mothers. For asthma, three drops on a little amount of sugar, taken three times a day; for colic in infants, one drop per day for each year of the child's age, with a maximum of five drops per day. Don't exceed six consecutive days. For insufficiency of milk, take two drops of Anise essence on a little brown sugar, three times a day.
BASIL - better known as a seasoning, Basil essence, is applied on insect bites (1 drop of essence) and snake bites. Three or four drops of essence on a little brown sugar three times a day, calms anxiety. Three drops of Basil essence is also a remedy for gout, mental strain, migraine, scanty menstruation, vertigo and epilepsy.

CARAWAY - the oil of this herb is good for dry pleurisy, rheumatism, loss of appetite, flatulence, lactation, gastric spasm, vertigo, worms and diminished amount of urine.

CAMOMILE - the essential oil is rubbed on gout, rheumatism afflicted parts of the body, boils, dermatitis, eczema, and herpes. Three or four drops of camomile essence on a little brown sugar, three times a day, between meals, alleviate anemia. Camomile also cures loss of appetite, congestion of the liver or spleen, convulsions, depression, slow intermittent fever, influenza, insomnia, migraine, facila neuralgia, stomach cramps, vertigo (3 drops of essence on brown sugar when the attack occurs), and teething troubles in children.

CINNAMON - the essence of cinnamon is distilled from the leaves and bark of. the cinnamon tree and is used for coughs and irritations of the respiratory organs, snake bites, spasmodic colic, diarrhea and flatulence.

CLOVES - the essence of cloves, mixed with a 10 per cent alcohol solution, is rubbed on Lupus afflicted parts of the anatomy. It is used to cure scabies, sore throat, sinusitis, vertigo and wounds. It is also a remedy for asthma, diarrhea, dropsy, dyspepsia, flatulence, gout, measles, loss of memory, dental neuralgia, worms and diseases of the lungs such as bronchitis and pleurisy.

CORIANDER - the essence off coriander is a remedy for joint and rheumatic pains (mix warm olive oil, and 10 per cent coriander essence and rub on afflicted area), loss of appetite ( 1 drop of essence on brown sugar and taken half an hour before each meal), slow digestion (2 drops of essence on brown sugar after each meal), and flatulence.

EUCALYPTUS - oil from the leaves is used on burns and injuries, colds, sinusitis, rheumatism, asthma, bronchitis, diabetes, influenza, laryngitis, measles, and scarlet fever.

GARLIC - is a remedy for arteriosclerosis, asthma, hypertension, rheumatism and worms.

GINGER - the essence is extracted from the roots and applied externally for rheumatic pains, and as a gargle for sore throat. Internally, it is for loss of appetite, diarrhea, intestinal disorders, slow digestion and flatulence.

LAUREL - the essence of bay laurel is a remedy for rheumatism (mix with olive oil 10% of essential oil of laurel and rub on afflicted area) and for slow digestion (3 drops on a little, brown sugar after each meal).

LEMON - the essence of lemon' is applied on insect bites and stings (1 drop of essence), herpes (dab with cotton wool soaked in water with 2% lemon essence), brittle nails (soak nails for 15 minutes in warm olive oil with 10% essence of lemon), sore throat (gargle with lukewarm boiled water and 2% essence of lemon), warts, wounds (bathe with boiled water and 2% of lemon essence).

Lemon essence is also good for preventing facial wrinkles (four drops of essence do brown sugar after every meal forestalls ageing). It is a remedy for anemia (5 drops of essence on brown sugar half an hour before meals), loss of appetite, arteriosclerosis (5 drops on brown sugar 3 or 4 times a day), by per viscosity of the blood, loss of calcium, fragile capillaries, dysentery, hypertension (3 drops of lemon essence on brown sugar after every meal), and infectious diseases. Other diseases cured by lemon essence include influenza, jaundice, liver complaints (3 drops, of essence on brown sugar after every meal), 'lung problems such as bronchitis, asthma, pleurisy, malaria (5 drops of essence on brown sugar four times a day), and rheumatism (3 drops on a lump of brown sugar after every meal.

ONION - the essence of onion is used externally for abscesses (bathe with the water in which an onion has been cooked), and boils and stings (dab with onion alcohol preparation). Raw onion is a remedy for the following: ageing, arteriosclerosis, asthma, bronchitis, colds, diabetes, diarrhea, flatulence, glandular imbalance, impotence obesity, and mental and physical 'strain.

PEPPERMINT - the essence of peppermint is a remedy for asthma, migraine, bronchitis, and is used as mouthwash. Used also for colic (4 drops of essence on brown sugar three times a day), flatulence, food poisoning, indigestion, liver ailments, migraine, palpitations, paralysis, and worm.

ROSEMARY - used for asthma, chronic bronchitis, colic (5 drops on a bit of brown sugar after meals; rub abdomen with 60% alcohol and 3% essence of rosemary), .general debility (4 drops on brown sugar before each meal), diarrhea, slow digestion, dizzy spells, dysmenorrhea, fainting spells, flatulence, heart trouble 'of nervous origin, liver ailments, migraine and rheumatism.

TURMERIC (Yellow Ginger) - the essence of turmeric eases pain in the bones (rub with lukewarm sweet almond oil and 5% of oil of turmeric), anorexia (two drops of essence on a little brown sugar taken half an hour before meal), slow digestion and sluggish liver (2 drops of essence after a meal). The essential oil of turmeric must be used in moderation and with care for a fairly limited period.

Health Practices

2009-01-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

Health Practices

Long before the introduction of modern medicines and Western curative methods herbal medicines had been widely used in t Philippines.

The curative effects of the herbs were tested by traditional healers on their patient on try-and-error basis. The knowledge an skills on the curative application of any give herbal medicine has been handed down fro generation to generation.

Apart from prescribing herbs medicines, the traditional healers were known to give psychological comfort an moral support to their patients. In the of days, they were well respected and enjoy high social status.

Through generations of selective process, the herbs that were known to be effective were kept alive. The ineffective one were soon forgotten.

In the days when drugs from the West just started to be used in the Philippines, the were not only too expensive but also too scarce. The rural folks and the poor continued to rely on herbal medicines available in abundance, locally.

Western-style medical care has reached a very limited number of people, mostly in urban areas.
As modern drugs were increasingly available at much cheaper prices, the popularity of herbal medicines waned considerably and faces extinction.

Traditional healers and the use of herbal medicines have begun to vanish along with the knowledge about their curative applications. Herbal medicines have become legacy of the past and the number of users is fast dwindling.

Hospitals that. have sprouted up in the provinces and later in the districts have in no small part contributed to the dying art of traditional healing. Doctors trained in Western medicine have arrived to introduce new concepts almost at every corner of the country. Of course, modern medicine is a wonder compared to the use of herbs. After all, there is still no herbal medicine comparable to antibiotics, vaccines, anti-inflammation, and symptomatic drugs.

Despite the Public Health Ministry's vigorous campaigns to make available medical services in rural areas, the services are still far' from adequate today. It is doubtful if the modern medical services will ever be adequate given our limited resources and trained manpower.

The policy of expanding medical services has been doggedly followed for several years to the point that authorities started questioning the necessity of some district hospitals considered too close to larger provincial facilities.

Patients living near town centers would naturally rather be treated at a provincial, hospital with more sophisticated equipment and supposedly more qualified doctors than at hospitals in their own districts.

Despite the expansion policy, the Public Health Ministry acknowledged that nearly 600 hospitals are providing care for not more than 30 per cent of the entire population. The poorest lot who live far from district towns and are in need of health care the most are unable to come to the hospitals.

Besides, hospitals are normally too crowded to provide good. services because everyone is taught to see a doctor no matter how insignificant the illness. The ministry estimated that about 90 per cent of patients do ,not need to come to hospitals at all.

Villagers who are unable to obtain services from government hospitals resort to drugs without prescriptions or proper advice. The health problems have been compounded as a result of the misguided consumption of modern drugs. Many suffered, and died from peptic ulcer perforation (punctured stomach) because of unperceived consumption of analgesics.

To fulfill the World Health Organization's motto "Health For All By The Year 2000," the Public Health Ministry has given more attention to primary health care campaigns. Health communicators and health volunteers were recruited from villages to teach basic health care

One of the policies declared by the Public Health Ministry is the revitalization of. the use of herbal medicines through scientifically proven methods. The Ministry has embarked on a project to promote single herbal plants for their curative and preventive effects.

"This approach is chosen because the. cost of modern drugs could progressively become too high for the rural population to bear within the foreseeable future," the Ministry said in the agreement with the donors.

According to Ministry statistics, Philippines now imports about US$350 million worth of drugs.
Another reason cited by the Ministry for the herb revitalization programmed is that there is a growing concern that the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, the main supplier of standard drugs to the primary ,health care project, will not be able to produce required level of household drugs to meet demand in the wake of the large scale health services coverage.

By encouraging villagers to grow and use herbs for treatment, the Ministry would also promote the self help concept that would be, in line with the primary health care programmed.

Apart from collecting and classifying information on medicinal plants and traditional medicines, the Ministry will disseminate in formation on cultivation techniques and undertake scientific researches on herbs. The Ministry hopes to prove and prepare formula mixtures of traditional medicines for distribution through district hospitals and health centers in 25 selected provinces.

Key to Nutritional Healing

2009-01-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

Free Radicals - The Cause of Aging and Disease

Free radicals are produced from normal body functioning. Chemicals in the water and food we drink and eat, and emotional and mental stress from our lifestyle. The most damaging free radicals are the superoxide, hydroxyl, peroxide and peroxynitrate.

Anti-Oxidants

Dr. James Balch in his book "The Super Anti-oxidants" said that while the damage from oxidation cannot be minimized, the body can be armed with means of dealing with the problem of oxidation. These are the anti-oxidants.

Anti-oxidants perform the following health functions:

1. Scavenge from radicals.

2. Intercept the chain reaction between different oxidants.

3. Breakdown free radicals into more easily synthesized compounds.

The key to nutritional health is to provide the body with anti-oxidants. The anti-oxidants needed by the body are made up of several types:

1. Amino Acids, 2. Enzymes, 3. Beta Carotenes 4. Bioflavonoids 5. DHEA 6. Co-Enzymes

Micronutrients

These anti-oxidants can all be found in the food we eat. Being healthy is basically founded on proper nutrition, i.e., a diet of fresh fruits, grains and vegetables. These foods contain the micronutrients which interact in the body as anti-oxidants. Most of these micro-nutrients are lost in the processing and cooking of food. new ways to provide supplemental micronutrients are needed.

Nutraceutical

Nutraceutical is a term coined by Dr. Stephen L. DeFelice, M.D., Chairman of The Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, over a decade ago "to describe any food or food part taken for health benefits". Products in this industry include soups, beverages, processed cereals, and of course, herbal supplements.

Important Plant & Fruit Base Of Nutraceuticals:

1. Beta-Carotene from yellow to red fruits and vegetables.

2. Bioflavonoids from red to purple plants and fruits.

3. Enzymes from fruits such as Papaya, Pineapple, Guava etc.

4. Anti-oxidants from specific plants such as Green tea, Broccoli, Berries etc.

Health Benefits of Bioflavonoids

Studies have identified fruits with blue-to-purple colors as the Bioflavonoids, an anti-oxidant which provides protection against cancer, fights high cholesterol, strengthens blood vessel cell walls, fights viruses and inflammation, improves vision, protects against radiation, speeds healing of bleeding gums and varicose veins. lowers blood pressure and alleviates rheumatism.

These blue-to-purple fruits are rich in enzymes which are helpful in the treatment of stomach problems, liver conditions and in lowering sugar levels in diabetics.

Anti-Oxidant Enzymes

All living things have enzymatic activity. Enzymes make your body work. As long as our body make enzymes, we live. Although there are variations among individuals, our body's enzymatic activity generally begins to decline somewhere between the ages of 16 and 20, as our growth activity peaks.

A number of factors in our day to day lives can inhibit and destroy important enzymes in our bodies. These are: food additives, preservatives, coloring agents, flavoring, flavoring enhancers and pesticides in food.

Since every activity in our bodies require enzymes, replenishing the enzyme supply lost with aging can restore your body's natural enzyme balance and in turn, help fight disease and improve one's health condition.

Flavanoids & Carotenoids

It has been only recently that flavanoids and carotenoids have received any appreciable attention. The great importance of flavanoids and carotenoids lies in their anti-oxidant and anti-free radical properties.

Flavanoids and carotenoids are found in the beautiful colors of fruits and vegetables. Chlorophyll provides the greens, yellows, oranges and reds which are carotenoids. The blues, purples, emerald green and some reds are flavanoids. Certain flavanoids appear to posses cholesterol lowering effects. Flavanoids retard the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein which is considered involved in atherosclerosis.

Berries which are red to purple in color are rich in flavanoids. Recent studies show that the anthocyanin (the red pigment found in berries) is a strong anti-oxidant. The darker the berry, the stronger the protective pigments are against cancer and cellular damage to the body.

Plants Fruits Trees

2009-01-09T09:06:00.001-08:00

Plants Fruits Trees

Ten (10) Herbal Medicines in the Philippines Approved by the Department of Health (DOH)

2009-01-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

These is the list of the ten (10) medicinal plants that the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) through its "Traditional Health Program" have endorsed. All ten (10) herbs have been thoroughly tested and have been clinically proven to have medicinal value in the relief and treatment of various aliments:

1. Akapulko (Cassia alata) - also known as "bayabas-bayabasan" and "ringworm bush" in English, this herbal medicine is used to treat ringworms and skin fungal infections.

2. Ampalaya (Momordica charantia) - known as "bitter gourd" or "bitter melon" in English, it most known as a treatment of diabetes (diabetes mellitus), for the non-insulin dependent patients.

3. Bawang (Allium sativum) - popularly known as "garlic", it mainly reduces cholesterol in the blood and hence, helps control blood pressure.

4. Bayabas (Psidium guajava) - "guava" in English. It is primarily used as an antiseptic, to disinfect wounds. Also, it can be used as a mouth wash to treat tooth decay and gum infection.

5. Lagundi (Vitex negundo) - known in English as the "5-leaved chaste tree". It's main use is for the relief of coughs and asthma.

6. Niyog-niyogan (Quisqualis indica L.) - is a vine known as "Chinese honey suckle". It is effective in the elimination of intestinal worms, particularly the Ascaris and Trichina. Only the dried matured seeds are medicinal -crack and ingest the dried seeds two hours after eating (5 to 7 seeds for children & 8 to 10 seeds for adults). If one dose does not eliminate the worms, wait a week before repeating the dose.

7. Sambong (Blumea balsamifera)- English name: Blumea camphora. A diuretic that helps in the excretion of urinary stones. It can also be used as an edema.

8. Tsaang Gubat (Ehretia microphylla Lam.) - Prepared like tea, this herbal medicine is effective in treating intestinal motility and also used as a mouth wash since the leaves of this shrub has high fluoride content.

9. Ulasimang Bato (Peperomia pellucida) - also known as "pansit-pansitan" it is effective in fighting arthritis and gout. The leaves can be eaten fresh (about a cupful) as salad or like tea. For the decoction, boil a cup of clean chopped leaves in 2 cups of water. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain, let cool and drink a cup after meals (3 times day).

10. Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii) - commonly known as Peppermint, this vine is used as an analgesic to relive body aches and pain. It can be taken internally as a decoction or externally by pounding the leaves and applied directly on the afflicted area.

Tips on Handling Medicinal Plants / Herbs:

● If possible, buy herbs that are grown organically - without pesticides.
● Medicinal parts of plants are best harvested on sunny mornings. Avoid picking leaves, fruits or nuts during and after heavy rainfall.
● Leaves, fruits, flowers or nuts must be mature before harvesting. Less medicinal substances are found on young parts.

● After harvesting, if drying is required, it is advisable to dry the plant parts either in the oven or air-dried on screens above ground and never on concrete floors.

● Store plant parts in sealed plastic bags or brown bottles in a cool dry place without sunlight preferably with a moisture absorbent material like charcoal. Leaves and other plant parts that are prepared properly, well-dried and stored can be used up to six months.

Tips on Preparation for Intake of Herbal Medicines:

● Use only half the dosage prescribed for fresh parts like leaves when using dried parts.

● Do not use stainless steel utensils when boiling decoctions. Only use earthen, enamelled, glass or alike utensils.

● As a rule of thumb, when boiling leaves and other plant parts, do not cover the pot, and boil in low flame.

● Decoctions loose potency after some time. Dispose of decoctions after one day. To keep fresh during the day, keep lukewarm in a flask or thermos.

● Always consult with a doctor if symptoms persist or if any sign of allergic reaction develops.

Herbal Medicines

2009-01-09T07:39:00.001-08:00