Dr.Steve’s BOTTOM LINE: So you’re about to take your favorite herbal for something like irritable bowel or other ailment and then someone tells you the story they just read about Chinese herbs coming over with cow dung or other undesirable elements added in…. no extra charge! Yuck! And, that’s not the whole story. With cow dung come parasites. Hmmm, maybe THAT’s why you have irritable bowel? Well beyond this horror show, you also want to know if the ingredients are actually what they say they are. How do you know? Read more on Your Herbal Meds: Mixed with Cow Dung Or Pure? |Dr.Steve’s Bottom Line…
Dr.Steve’s BOTTOM LINE: Painful periods are known as dysmenorrhea, in medicalese. Standard treatment depends on why the uterus is misbehaving, but include over the counter pain pills through heftier drugs and possibly surgery. There are really multiple causes, so this post is a tad too short to cover all that. Suffice it to say, especially if you’re living it or living with someone in this pain, it’s pretty miserable. Standard treatment often fails. So, what about the ancient art of acupuncture? Does it work? Read more on Painful Periods? How About Acupuncture?| Dr.Steve’s Bottom Line…
Dr.Steve’s BOTTOM LINE: Fatigue is common these days, and even aside from diagnoses of fibromyalgia and fatigue syndromes, all of us feel run down at some point or another. A Chinese herb, Cistanche deserticola, commonly called Rou Cong Rong, has pharmaceutically active materials. These are known in Chinese as suosuo dayun ( 索索大元), which are produced by slicing the stems of the plant. Unfortunately, the herb is on the world’s endangered species list so it this study about its fatigue fighting properties is right on, we may run out…… Does it work? Read more on Fatigued? Herbal Cistanche deserticola| Dr.Steve’s Bottom Line…
Dr.Steve’s BOTTOM LINE: Ever use natural sleep aids? Wonder if anyone else is using them and how well they work? This Quebec study looked at how often they are used, but I added in some comments about the one which turned out to be the most popular choice…just in case you were wondering. Read more on Natural Sleep Product Use |Dr.Steve’s Bottom Line…
Dr.Steve’s BOTTOM LINE: If you are having problems with pain or discomfort in the right upper abdomen, it may or may not be related to your gallbladder. The first thing to do is find out from a physician if this is the problem. This might take an ultrasound or other diagnostic tests. Otherwise, you may be trying to find relief for the wrong problem, and/or there may be something serious going on: ulcers, other bowel problems, hiatal hernia to name a few. Having said that, chronic cholecystitis or chronic inflammation of the gallbladder is fairly common, particularly in women. Surgery, endoscopic treatments, anti-inflammatory drugs are the mainstay treatments. Is there an herbal solution? Read more on Chronic GallBladder Problems?|Herbal dan an tang|Cholecystitis| Dr.Steve’s Bottom Line…
Herbal Treatment Viral Heart Inflammation |Myocarditis|Dr.Steve’s Bottom Line
Dr.Steve’s BOTTOM LINE: Inflammation of the heart due to viruses, called viral myocarditis, can be EXTREMELY serious. Translation = you could die! If not death, sometimes it can leave you a cardiac cripple, unable to walk, pick up your kids, or anything associated with a good quality of life. Mild myocarditis can come and go away after your viral disease goes away. But, if it does not or the heart muscle is severely damaged, there is not much modern medicine can offer without getting into transplants or pacemakers and things of that radical nature. So, it is best not to get it. If you are unlucky enough, and are averse to standard medical therapy, is there anything in the herbal world that might assist your recovery? Read more on Herbal Treatment Viral Heart Inflammation |Myocarditis|Dr.Steve’s Bottom Line…