Ahhhhh, Chooooo

Many folks take herbal medications because they truly believe they work and are safer than pharmaceuticals.

Now I know some of you out there are completely unconvinced by scientific double blind studies, where neither the researcher nor the subject know what the test subject is getting-- the herb or a placebo. These studies consistently show many herbal remedies don’t work any better than a sugar pill.

I don’t know if it’s a mistrust of science or what, but I do know that people who use these herbs really believe they work. However, without a carefully run clinical trial, say where a person is given an herb ‘known’ to prevent colds and/or reduce their severity, and their nose swabbed with a cold virus, you don’t know if what you thought you were catching was really a cold or an allergy attack or whatever. Several times a year I feel as though I'm coming down with a cold only to find myself symptom free the next day without taking anything.

Here’s a true life adventure to help make my point. When I was seven I was convinced I had a cold, sore throat, runny nose, the works. I had a box of Luden’s Cherry cough drops and ate the whole box while sitting on a fence in the sun. The next day the ‘cold’ was gone. I was convinced the cough drops cured me. The next time I caught a cold I ate the same kind of cough drops while sitting in the sun in the same place. This time it didn’t work.

So, if scientific studies tell me an herbal remedy doesn’t work, I personally am more apt to believe that than my neighbor who swears by the stuff. But, that’s just me.

Oh, by the way, if you are going to take an herbal, please do a little research of your own. Some of these herbs can be toxic all by themselves or when taken along with a prescription medication.