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Herbal remedies have been around for thousands of years yet the vast majority of society fails to recognize that herbs were being administered topically and ingested orally for the relief of symptoms of certain diseases and illnesses.

For example: The herb willow bark is used in aspirin. In Hippocrates times, patients were advised to chew on the plant willow bark to reduce fever and inflammations. In today's modern medicine, scientists use willow bark in aspirin defeating the purpose for the use of the natural herb.

While patients are conditioned to take a prescribed synthetic drug, the drug only treats the symptoms but does not treat the cause. Herbal remedies treat the cause not just the symptoms, employing a longer time to heal but the benefits that the patient reaps are an independence of synthetic drugs over time.

There is much debate between the FDA and the herbal manufacturing companies. Since scientists invest millions of dollars in researching new drugs and their scientific evidence backs them up, the herbal remedies fall behind. Herbal remedies were written in the Materia Medica by homeopathic founder Dr. Hahnemann. Back then, when synthetic drugs were not yet in existence, Dr. Hahnmann did not anticipate that such scientific approach will exist due to a faster and quicker approach to relief pain, diseases and illnesses.

I strongly believe that politics plays a major role in the battle between natural medicine and drug companies. Money can buy your medicine but it cannot buy your health. With this I mean that what might cost you hundreds of dollars a year in synthetic drugs, you can spend a fraction of the cost by applying a healthy lifestyle, eating right and using herbal remedies with the guidance of a licensed professional alternative medicine physician.

It would take millions of dollars for the natural supplements and herbal remedies to have scientific evidence since the Materia Medica depended on placebo effects and not scientific evidence, but even the World Health Organization has approved alternative therapies that insurance companies cover such as acupuncture, massage therapy and a list of many others. I also believe that the answer to this debate is to incorporate conventional medicine with natural medicine, giving patients the right to choose their choice of health care.

Learn more about this author, Diana Perez.
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