Why are songs from the 60s stuck in my head today? First Beatles, now
Monkees...
Anyway, I think that Mary and Bob are using the same words but in
different waysin parts of their posts recently, and this is leading to
some miscommunicaiton.
Also, even though neither normally generalizes much, the recent posts in
that disucssion can read like generalizations in placeds where I suspect
their authors don't want them to.
Of course, i could be reading badly due to seasonal asthma.
Do agree with BOTH of them that Ephedra is very dangerous and that the
risks have been well publicized. It is somethign to AVOID.
Pretty well anything storng enough to heal is strogn enough to harm.
That is why standard meds have package inserts and why mary has been
posting lists of herbs connected to specific hazards.
We had a time once when there were folks acting like herbal meds were
safe miracle cures by definition. Obviously , that was wrong and
dangerous, not to mention naive.
One thing that I greatly like about Mary is that she knows enough to not
be so naive and she does point out out useful risk tips, like the lsits
she recently posted about hazards connected to multiple herbs.. She also
stays open minded that some hypotheses amy not pan out and that future
risks or uses not now known may be discovered: for instance a recent
over-view study of chromium ofund it to be perhaps useless and at best of
unknonw value for diabetes (perhaps varying with subsets fo the illness
so that it may help some to some degree but not others) nad she was
interested in learning this and gettign the source of the info.
Normally, we use standard meds, but we have used herbals in combination
with them with our vets' okays first. As Mary, Bob and all the vets I
know advise, we DO clear ANY meds: Prescription, Over the Counter (OTC),
or Herbal, and Supplements with the vets BEFOREHAND and we research the
downsides as well as the good of each because we may need to jump fast
for a side effect of ANY of these treatments (and each CAN have side
effects with reputable resources like the _PDR for Herbal medications_
listing a number of them), or there may be a counter-indication due to a
pre-existing health problem, or there may be a medical conflict, or the
particular med may just be too dangerous. For example: we would never
give Tylenol due to it destroying ferrets' livers; we would not give Pau
d'Arco due to it precipitating insulinoma symptoms or worsening such
symptoms in ferrets (as per multiple sources including Dr. Karen
Purcell); we would not give licorice root due to it's multiple hazards;
we would not give specific steroids with some forms of circulatory
disease, etc. We sure would not give ephedra and I 've carried over
posts (one recently from Dr. Jerry Murray) mentioning that this herb
poses a real risk.
As Mary has said in the past: when there is a known standard med that is
effective against a disease it should be used, and vet care should NOT be
scrimped on and ALWAYS should be used. Heck, as per her own posts Mary
uses boht standard meds and herbals on herself and has posted about the
the way she does that in conjunction with her medical professsionals and
the cautins she must use.
I am sure that NEITHER Bob nor Mary would ever condone people using herbs
as a way to avoid providing needed veterinary care, needed testing,
needed treatments, needed medications... I am also sure that each of them
would consider that to be animal abuse. *****(Okay, i oculd be wrong
because I am not in their heads, but this is how their past psots have
read to me, so take that as my personal impression of both rather than
as me speaking for either, but these are things I trust thpse two people
on.)*****
Anyway, I know I expressed it badly because thjis is an asthma season,
but I don't think that either post came off quite like it was meant,
though that may be my bad reading due to my asthma. Sorrythat this is
mess; that's is the asthma, too, I am afraid. Hope it makes enough
sense.
[Posted in FML issue 3932]
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