11/28/2023
Crazy story for you today…
I had my first physical today. At 44. I thought it would be great to get some bloodwork so I can have some markers going forward and some data to compare as I get older.
I shared with the medical resident that I had a couple weeks of hot flashes last Jan but I took some herbs for them and haven’t had any since. She then “informed me” that there have been no studies on herbs and no proof that they are effective. I was so shocked that I basically just looked dumbfounded and didn’t reply, lol. It’s hard to know what to say in that situation.
So I started googling. According to Wikipedia Archaeological evidence indicates that the use of medicinal plants dates back to the Paleolithic age, approximately 60,000 years ago. Written evidence of herbal remedies dates back over 5,000 years to the Sumerians, who compiled lists of plants. Currently, In the United States ALONE, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health of the National Institutes of Health funds clinical trials on herbal compounds, provides fact sheets evaluating the safety, potential effectiveness and side effects of many plant sources, and maintains a registry of clinical research conducted on herbal products. Not only have herbs helped humans survive and thrive since the DAWN of TIME, there are literally INNUMERABLE amounts of studies completed. Completely countless. If only one looked.
So what this tells me is that, not shockingly, allopathic medicine is simply uninterested in looking at that science. Likely because of a handful of reasons. But my heart sank as I realized that as a new medical dr, she hadn’t been taught or informed of the vast toolkit at her disposal. And quite possibly disinformed of the incredible benefits of herbal properties. And that’s unfortunate.
