We don’t worry during surgery, because we know we won’t feel the pain. We’ll be asleep?and kept that way by anesthesia. But did you know that the doctors who use it don’t really understand how, or why, it works?
Even anesthesiologists don?t know what happens in the brain that makes people totally immobile and allows them not to feel pain. Anesthesiologist Emery Brown is trying to figure it all out.
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Three of the most commonly-used medicinal herbs are Echinacea purpurea, Astragalus membranaceus, and Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice). Doctors who tested them found them to be effective in boosting blood lymphocytes, which are essential to the body’s immune system. They also found that the extract of a mushroom commonly found in the woods of North America, Asia and Europe?which is too tough and chewy to eat?has a beneficial impact on the immune system.
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Who uses home remedies?and do they work as well as something you can get from your doctor or the drugstore? While use of home remedies is common among people 65 and older, Blacks and Native Americans tend to make much greater use of them than Whites. A common mother’s home remedy for a tummy ache or nausea has long been a glass of ginger ale. It turns out mom was right.
The difference in who uses home remedies is NOT due to income or access to health care. Psychologist Joseph G. Grzywacz says, “Ethnic [and cutural] differences?may explain why black and Native American elders are more likely to use home remedies.”
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The FDA has warned cosmetics companies that their products contain a lot of potentially dangerous, untested ingredients. They’re especially worried that when we mix several of these ingredients together, such as put on lotion before putting on makeup, we may be mixing these chemicals together into a dangerous combination. Well, at least soap is safe (but not if it causes superbugs!)
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