Please click here to visit our sponsor

Not Now, I Have A Headache


Home Remedies - Facts or Quacks?

That's what I recently asked myself. Myths and legends often have their basis in a grain of truth. So I wondered if home remedies, alternative treatments, and folklore cures might also be based on truth. A little research provided this unusual perspective on one of our most frequently-used medicines.

Barking Up The Wrong Tree?

Not if it's a willow tree! Chewing on willow bark to reduce fever and inflammation dates back to the time of Hippocrates (400 BC). Willow bark was used as a medicine in China and Europe for centuries because of its ability to relieve pain and lower fever. Early American settlers even found Native Americans gathering bark from willow trees to treat the same conditions.

What's So Special About Willow Bark?

Willow trees, including the white, black, purple and violet species, contain a chemical called salicin. Chewing or pulping this bark releases the salicin, which the body converts to salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is still used today to treat fevers, decrease inflammation, and even help heart disease. There's no need to gnaw on a tree like a beaver every time you have a headache. Today this chemical is produced synthetically as acetylsalicylic acid. Perhaps you know it by its more common name...

Aspirin!

That's right - centuries of chewing on willow bark led to the creation of one of our most widely-used medicines: aspirin. This is definitely one home remedy I would classify as a fact, not a quack.

It makes me wonder though: how many trees did they have to chew on before they found the right one?

Doug Smith is a Chemical Engineer and the webmaster of http://www.SuperHomeRemedies.com. You get free & natural remedies for fungus, lice, acid reflux, cold sores, yeast & more. Stay up to date with our Natural Remedies News

Copyright 2005 by Doug Smith. You may reuse this copyrighted article provided no content is changed - other than line length - and the author's box is intact. All links must be active hyperlinks or made active.




GCC Ministers to Tackle Alternative Medicine Issue in Geneva Confab
Arab News, Saudi Arabia - 4 hours ago
JEDDAH, 16 May 2008 — In spite of advertisements about herbal and natural cures for health problems being common on Arabic television, alternative medicine ...


Alternative medicine
Warsaw Business Journal, Poland - May 13, 2008
by Konrad Kiedrzyñski Political commotion erupted last week after the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party proposed that all public hospitals be transformed ...


Acupuncture And Myofascial Trigger Therapy Treat Same Pain Areas
Science Daily (press release) - May 13, 2008
Results of the study, published May 10 in the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, suggest that people who want relief from chronic ...
Acupuncture, myofascial pain therapy alike United Press International
all 11 news articles


Boomer health tip: Have you tried alternative medicine?
Seattle Post Intelligencer - May 7, 2008
While Western medicine provides much value to people, alternative medicine may offer different kinds of treatment that promote health and wellness. ...


Mind-body medicine needs a checkup
MSNBC - May 6, 2008
The most recent shift in the alternative medicine field has been the infusion of huge grants from foundations to some of the nation's most prestigious ...
Mind-Body Therapies Benefit Cancer Survivors eMaxHealth.com
It's not an insult if nurse calls you 'SOB' Chicago Tribune
Patients prefer polite physicians, says US report Reuters UK
all 14 news articles


Mental Illness on the Rise in Canada: Leading Medical ...
Market Wire (press release) - May 13, 2008
This disconnect was a big impetus behind the creation of Canada's premier international conference on Integrative, Complementary and Alternative Medicine ...


The last rites for alternative medicine?
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - Apr 25, 2008
The faith in question is the system of belief built around Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Women have always been attracted to alternative remedies. ...


Prince of Wales's guide to alternative medicine ‘inaccurate’
Times Online, UK - Apr 16, 2008
The Prince of Wales is being challenged today to withdraw two guides promoting alternative medicine, by scientists who say that they make misleading and ...
Alternative drug guides 'flawed' The Press Association
As The Complementary Medicine Debate Continues, Patients Lose Medical News Today
Complementary debate rages on Irish Health
Times Online
all 8 news articles


Prospective investigation of complementary and alternative ...
7thSpace Interactive (press release), NY - May 7, 2008
The prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use has been estimated to be as high as 65% in some populations. ...


Alternative medicine Trust me, I've got a licence
Economist, UK - Apr 17, 2008
So it is no surprise that alternative medicine, which offers valuable support and sympathy along with treatments of less obvious efficacy, is big business. ...

alternative medicine - Google News

home | site map

© 2006 www.elearn-university.org