Filipinos call it Ampalaya. Chinese people call it Ku Gua. In India it is called Karela. Your diabetic patients may soon be calling it “good news.”
As the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes continues to rise, so have the number of new natural products aimed at helping diabetics and people with insulin resistance maintain better glycemic control. Several of these products are showing real promise in the management of these difficult conditions.
There are solid clinical trials supporting a number of botanical medicines for the treatment of arthritis, low back pain, and other chronic pain conditions. This growing body of literature includes several direct comparisons between herbs and Vioxx or other pharmaceuticals. Following are reviews of data on the most promising herbs for chronic pain, arthritis, and inflammatory conditions.
There are few human clinical studies of adaptogenic herbs in the English language medical literature, and few groups in the US have attempted to corroborate the nearly 40 years of work done in Russia, China and Eastern Europe. Following are a handful of significant studies in English:
The notion of herbal “health tonics” may seem like a quaint and dubious relic of the early 1900’s, conjuring up images of fast-talking hucksters selling patent medicines from the backs of their wagons as they rolled through frontier towns.
Physicians wishing to expand their knowledge of botanical medicine will get a lift forward this Spring, with the publication of the American Botanical Council’s ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs. The new compendium on 29 common medicinal herbs is the nucleus of a home study course approved for 13.5 hours of CME credit by the Texas Medical Association. NDs can also obtain credits.
Botanical medicine in the US often amounts to “green allopathy,” in which plant-derived substances are used in place of synthetic pharmaceuticals for control of specific symptoms. But plant medicine has potential far beyond symptom relief when used as part of a comprehensive system based on individualized metabolic and neurohormonal patterns.
Garlic, Capsicum, Hawthorn, and Ginkgo are among a number of herbs that can help in preventing or treating cardiovascular disease. Judicious use of these herbs can eliminate the need for expensive medications in many cases. Paul Saunders, ND, PhD, offers his extensive experience using herbs for heart health.
Maitake mushrooms (Grifola frondosa) are native to Northern Japan, growing wild in cool hardwood forests. It is said that in ancient times, people would dance for joy to find these large, tasty, medicinal mushrooms growing in clusters of 100 pounds or more. This, of course, is why they were called “the dancing mushroom.”
In 1902, Japanese generals were preparing to confront the Czarist armies of Russia on battlefields in northeast China. It was the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, in which the two powers would battle in 1904 for control of Manchuria’s vast natural resources.
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