Reader comments
Sour economy pushing people to buy herbal meds

They should just buy noni or xango or any of the other bugaboo juices. Those things will cure anything, I hear.

Most herbs have been used a lot longer than prescription drugs, and are a lot safer!

And I can tell you from experience that taking valerian for insomnia works better and is better for you than any pharmaceutical.

The article states that the "...use of alternative treatments is on the rise � even though evidence is often lacking on their safety and effectiveness." Many people hear the word herbal and assume that it must be safe. The truth is that a lot of herbals have documented serious drug interactions, side effects and allgery concerns.
Although, who am I to get in the way of anectodal evidence, and a "4.8 billion dollar" industry? It would be interesting, though, to see the results of a head to head trial between valerian and ambien...or even valerian and otc somonex/tylenol PM etc.

Utah County's economy is about to sky rocket!

And the fact that herbs have been "used a lot longer" is not evidence of efficacy.

You mean something natural may be better than a man made drug influenced by $ and corporate greed? NNNOOOOO!!

I'll stick with my bugaboo juice. No more chronic pain for me!!

I think that if I don't want to become addicted to sleep aides, and valerian works for me, (and it does) then that is evidence enough for me. Just think, I didn't even have to pay big bucks for some "study" to tell me how effective it is.

Where do most people get their advise on natural remedies? From the people selling it, of course. Now that is big business to me. Having worked for FDA I know that there are a lot of crooks in the "natural remedy" business. As for regulated drugs, most are controlled forms of herbs that have been studied and found to be effective. For anyone with really serious health problems, most natural remedies are a joke.

Western Medicine, Eastern Medicine. US MD's, US Naturopaths. The US Drug Industry, the US Supplement industry. And, there are a multitude of other active players in the health care industry. Folk should take great care in "mixing" MD scripts with store bought supplements - interactions at times can be disruptive to the biological system.
And I wish some of the more basic supplements had a more reasonable price tag - but they don't. Folk will travel down many paths in the search for good or better health and in the process follow the siren sound toward both salutory and ineffective or deceptive practices. Many drugs in the western medical arena are harmful at times to folk, just as some supplements and in both cases, some act simply as placebos and nothing more. Folk interested in this should initiate critical research before leaping financially into the fray. Or maybe many, will simply do it anyway - search out any and all (supposed) remedies.

How many people die each year from use of "regulated" drugs? Furthermore, how many addicts have been created by using "regulated" drugs? We Mormons need to wake up and recognize that just because an M.D. tells us something is safe, we should take their word for it alone. Our God given agency should compell us to be proper stewards over our own bodies and those of our children. Lets follow through on our own due diligence and stop taking the "easy road". Taking a pill to solve every ailment is not the answer. Listen to the still small voice within you. The body talks in more ways than one.

Inflated drug costs, the need to pay a doctor to actually get a prescription all contribute to this problem. Of course people will seek alternatives. This may be a good thing if we try non-medicinal solutions - beyond herbal supplements. It's high time we stop throwing a pill (often prescription narcotic) at everything that ails us. Insurance should also cover accupuncture and chiropractic care; not treat these as extreme, unusual, unproven or limited in number of visits, etc. to help curb substance abuse.

The supplement industry itself has resisted regulation by the FDA and understandably so considering everything, but there does need to be study and safety, standards of ingredients, etc. There needs to be an agency doing this within the supplement field but not promoted by those who stand to gain the most that might influence objectivity.