There was one thread a person on the list called me at home to discuss.
Their basic question was if herbs actually worked in treatment of ferret
illnesses.  Well, yes and no.
 
It is true that many modern drugs are a form of phytochemicals; that is,
natural chemicals found in plants.  Digitalis is a great example, as is
aspirin, curare, and many, many others.  It is also true that you can
ingest plant materials to obtain those phytochemicals; just ask any pot or
cocaine user, or someone who ate the wrong mushroom and lost the function
of their liver.  Or just think about it the next time you drink coffee.
No one can deny these two truths.  But that is not the real problem.
 
First, the body CANNOT tell the difference between a natural phytochemical
and a manmade one; they are biochemically identical.  That means,
regardless of urban myth, the origin of the chemical has no bearing on how
it works.  This is why you can substitute a generic drug for a specific
one.  Using drugs from herbs compared to those obtained from vets is
exactly the same, IN TERMS OF CHEMISTRY of the reactive substances.  It
is NOT true in terms of purity and dosage, as well as other important
aspects of drug therapy.
 
The problem is, plants are like animals in that they possess a great deal
of variation.  When you give your ferret a pill, you can be certain that
the little guy is getting a specific dose.  This is important, because
the effectiveness of a drug is usually dependent upon the levels of the
chemical in the bloodstream.  With plants, you NEVER know the exact dosage
because the concentration of the drug can vary from plant to plant, and
even from leaf to leaf.  Again, ask any pot smoker.  It is possible to one
day underdose your ferret and the next to slightly overdose the fella,
which you would never know, but the kidneys and liver might.  Also, again
contrary to urban myth, just because a plant was raised in natural crap and
never treated with pesticides, it doesn't mean it cannot contain dangerous
chemicals.  For example, bones from South America are frequently
contaminated by lead; leaded gas is still sold, and the lead in the air
lands on the grass, which is eaten by the cows and ends up in the bones.
The cows are made into hamburgers, the bones are dried and ground into
dust, and the bone dust is sold to people to want to feed their plants,
or change the pH of the soil.  In either case, get ready to take the
Roman fall, because lead isn't exactly good for your brain.
 
A second MAJOR problem is that many of the herbs have the potential to
interact with medicines and increase reactions or reduce the effectiveness
of prescribed drugs.  For example, it is a long known fact that eating
corn can reduce the absorption of some forms of metabolic iron; there is
a chemical reaction which turns the iron into a form which is quite hard
to digest.  Many Native Americans who primarily subsisted on corn also
suffered chronic anemia, a problem cured in South America by eating calcium
compounds and other foods which either added a great deal of iron to the
diet, or reduced the effects of the corn on digestible iron.  Drug-herb
interactions are such an common problem that the heads of the several herb
organizations have publicly suggested herbs only be used with the knowledge
of your doctor.
 
A third serious problem is that when you take a drug, you know it has
certain side effects, and demonstrated effectiveness in treating specific
aliments.  You have no such guarantee with herbs.  In fact, herb therapy
isn't yet regulated by the FDA (there is a strong movement to change that
status), so there is no requirement to prove specific claims.  It is like
those psychics on TV who claim they can see your future, but on the bottom
of the screen it always says "for entertainment purposes only." NEVER are
you offered evidence that a specific herb will do what it is claimed it
will do, because no proof is required.  Many herbs are offered in doses
which have no therapeutic value.
 
You can decide for yourself, but I love my little monkeys.  When I give
them a drug, I want to know how it works, what the side effects are, and
what I can expect the drug to do.  I have NO such guarantees with herbals
and alternative medicines.  I am not even sure they will work.  I do not
deny that some herb and plants contain powerful phytochemicals which can
exert a profound influence on biological systems, but unless I can be sure
of the dose or purity, I will use substances which have been purified,
regulated, dose monitored, and tested.
[Posted in FML issue 3427]