Herbal Studies

[rhoda_bruce]

Welll, I am from Louisiana....What I couldn't tell ya'll about Marie Laveau. We all know something about her, but I don't know much about her religion, except its a combination of Catholic and whatever they called their form of worship from Africa. Most of us have been to fortune tellers and the like, but I haven't really dabbled in it much to speak.....certainly not in my adult life. But there are people who visit Marie's grave and burn candles in front of it, to ask her for favors.
When I was little, there were ladies in my home town, similar to her, but now, I know of only one....if she is still with us (haven't heard of her in years, although I know her daughter). Not the kind of thing I want to play with. But still, I bet they knew some herbology.
Well, I'm on my 3rd day off. I have a comfrey tincture started. Been consulting with my co-worker, who is my partner in crime and plans on taking a different course in herbology. Its called Survival Herbology....or something like that. I think its 2 books/ 2 tests and only about 70 something dollars. I find it funny she has taken this long. Well, I told her, I'm not studying once I'm finished the next 4 tests. What my plan is, is to actually DO WHAT I HAVE LEARNED. Several months of planting, hunting, preparations, collecting, reviewing and case studies. If I didn't have books and tests in front of me now, I'd feel that now was the time.
Funny to see a VooDoo witch doctor pic.....DH told me to save him some chicken claws and a few clean bones for him to make some decorations to hang from his rear view mirror.

 

[baymule]

When you said witch doctor in your previous post, I went looking for one. I just couldn't resist Hey, if I had known your DH wanted chickenbones, I could've sent some to ya' today......but the dogs ate them.

On a more serious note, I can't wait for more posts of not only your studies, but what you are doing with your new found knowledge.

 

[so lucky]

Me too....I'm keeping up, just not posting much. I'm proud of you for pursuing what you truly want. And having the fortitude to stick with it.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Thanks. I did think about it for a long time, although I knew I wanted to do it. Guess I had to prepare my mind for it. I wish I had gone for it years ago. DH is really getting into his gardening, which is helping me with my plans, bigtime. In the beginning, I thought he was going to read all books with me, but that it was going to be me who had the certification. My sister is also going wild planting various things and her daughter (my godchild) is constantly consulting me about herbal remedies and has been trying her own hand at planting things. I'm trying to at least do something SS everyday and now with my interest in herbs, I make sure I do something practal with my studies every week, if possible.
Well, gotta hit that bed and I might as well get closer to the end of that (grrrr) book, which I soooo wanna finish.

 

[DeniseCharleson]

World first clinical trial supports use of Kava to treat anxiety

A world-first completed clinical study by an Australian team has found Kava, a medicinal South Pacific plant, significantly reduced the symptoms of people suffering anxiety.

The study, led by the University of Melbourne and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, revealed Kava could be an alternative treatment to pharmaceutical products for the hundreds of thousands of Australians who suffer from Generalised Anxiety Disorders (GAD)

Lead researcher, Dr Jerome Sarris from Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, said GAD is a complex condition that significantly affected peoples day-today lives. Existing medications have a modest clinical effect and new effective options were needed for patients with anxiety.
Based on previous work we have recognised that plant based medicines may be a viable treatment for patients with chronic anxiety. In this study we've been able to show that Kava offers a potential natural alternative for the treatment of chronic clinical anxiety. Unlike some other options it has less risk of dependency and less potential for side effects, he said.
....
(more at linked article)

http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/world-first-clinical-trial-supports-use-kava-treat-anxiety

The only negative thing I see in the article is that "the study was funded by the NHMRC and Integria Healthcare who manufacture MediHerb and Thompsons Kava products." Nevertheless, JCD is a respected peer-reviewed journal, and I think the findings can be trusted.

More on Kava here , which appears to dispute the U Melbourne claim that theirs was a "world-first completed clinical study." The Cochrane review alone included 11 clinical trials. The Cochrane review concluded that:

Compared with placebo, kava extract appears to be an effective symptomatic treatment option for anxiety. The data available from the reviewed studies suggest that kava is relatively safe for short-term treatment (1 to 24 weeks), although more information is required.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

My most recent text, touched up on kava, just a bit. Traditionally it was used in the SouthPacific to induce relaxation, but is also used for wound care, inflamation of the uterus, colds, rheumatisms and I must have wanted to try it because I underlined that longterm use was good for weight control.
Well, I finally took that test and I didn't ace it. I missed one and it was a religious question, having to do with Buddist beliefs. There was a chapter on meditation. Well, I knew already that I could only eliminate what I knew it wasn't and just take a stab at it.....I took the wrong stab. So, extremely glad to have it behind me. I made a 96%. I'm all ready to start studying for my 9th test now. I have my study guide and book ready to take with me to work tonight. DH has been getting his greenthumb busy. We have lots of potted plants; most of them useful. We obtained a huge aloe plant from a friend of our DD's, who is moving out of state and lots of pineapple's. Starting to fill all our empty pots with whatever we think is good and setting up a little area for this little special garden. I want herbs!!!! My comfrey, aloe, roses and a few others are part of this little garden. Gotta keep it going. Just drained and bottled a comfrey tincture I had started a few weeks ago and I'm wanting to start one with blackberry roots for loose bowels.....mainly because I have a huge supply of it, attacking me in the garden.

 

[nath5212]

World first clinical trial supports use of Kava to treat anxiety

A world-first completed clinical study by an Australian team has found Kava, a medicinal South Pacific plant, significantly reduced the symptoms of people suffering anxiety.

The study, led by the University of Melbourne and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, revealed Kava could be an alternative treatment to pharmaceutical products for the hundreds of thousands of Australians who suffer from Generalised Anxiety Disorders (GAD)

Lead researcher, Dr Jerome Sarris from Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, said GAD is a complex condition that significantly affected peoples day-today lives. Existing medications have a modest clinical effect and new effective options were needed for patients with anxiety.
Based on previous work we have recognised that plant based medicines may be a viable treatment for patients with chronic anxiety. In this study we've been able to show that Kava offers a potential natural alternative for the treatment of chronic clinical anxiety. Unlike some other options it has less risk of dependency and less potential for side effects, he said.
....
(more at linked article)

hxiety

The only negative thing I see in the article is that "the study was funded by the NHMRC and Integria Healthcare who manufacture MediHerb and Thompsons Kava products." Nevertheless, JCD is a respected peer-reviewed journal, and I think the findings can be trusted.

More on Kava , which appears to dispute the U Melbourne claim that theirs was a "world-first completed clinical study." The Cochrane review alone included 11 clinical trials. The Cochrane review concluded that:

Compared with placebo, kava extract appears to be an effective symptomatic treatment option for anxiety. The data available from the reviewed studies suggest that kava is relatively safe for short-term treatment (1 to 24 weeks), although more information is required.

kava is relatively safe for short-term treatment !

 

[rhoda_bruce]

My current textbook is called The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook (a home manual), by James Green. A group I have 'liked' on facebook, highly recommended it and I wasn't yet studying from it, but I ran in my room, located it and was glad I had it because my last textbook was boring me to death. Well, if anyone one wants a good herbal healing book, I think that might be the one to order. I have only just started and I think quite a lot of it. In the very first chapter you are getting detailed instructions on making a tincture with dandelion. I'm going to assume that this is a hands on book.
As far as herbal healing goes, I believe almost any of the books I have read, thus far (with the exception of the last), could lead someone in the right direction toward healthier food choices, remedies for ailments and tonics to strengthen systems. Each book had recipe after recipe of tinctures, salves, wines, vinegars, poultices, plasters and herbal steams. If someone wanted to learn just from this book or that book, there were remedies in plenty.
I"m glad I have them all, but just thought I'd throw that out there for ya'll consideration....you can attempt to make your own medicines with just a single book and get really good with the language and reasonings behind each herb, without going thru the expense I have gone thru.
Also, as a lot of you know, I have lost 4 immediate family members in 18 months (I was lucky enough to have grandparents until I was 46). Well my DD is in residence at my maternal grandparent's house and for some reason took the sliding doors off of the pantry. They were in 3 sections and one of the sections came to my house. DH started using it to hang things from and its just propped up in my living room, looking rather stupid, if you ask me. So, for a long time I have wanted a spice cabinet to beat all spice cabinets.....because of my studies really. Well, for about the 5th time I went shopping online and found nothing that excited me then I happened to look at the 'door.' Well, I put 2 and 2 together.....I have a door I can't get rid of because of my love for the origional owners and I have a need for a cabinet. I'm all pumped up. I even believe I can tackle it by myself. I only need the shelves to be about 7 inches deep (so I can see everything easily) and the door is about 17 inches wide and 7 feet high. I know I have the studs to form the cabinet and I can make it in place, in a corner to eliminate some of the supplies I'd need otherwise. I figure I can make a small cabinet 7 ft high, about 2 ft wide and I'd only need to use a small strip of panelling on each side, where the door will meet. I'll probably keep the origional color on the door, but freshen it up a bit and have the cabinet to match my home walls. I can have dried herbs on shallow shelves, in baby food jars. I can have a shelf slightly higher for quart sized bottles, I can have tinctures, vinegars and wines in. I can keep dried herbs in tins for teas on another shelf. Anyway, ya'll get my drift. I'm thinking of a very tiny cubbard for my remedies. As of right now, I have a few remedies scattered at various locations, which could potentially cause a problem.

 

[baymule]

Sounds like problem solved. The door will remind you of your grandparents and will be useful in your herbal storage. Instead of making a shallow cabinet, maybe make it twice as deep. Keep the shelf depth the same and hang the wire shelves you can get at walmart on the inside of the door. Then you'll still have shallow shelves, but twice the storage!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Well, I think you would call the doors 'louvered.' Mainly made with slats. The color wouldn't really be my first choice, but I'll think of something. As far as I can see, I can probably have at least 7 or 8 shelves.......thats a good bit of healing right there. On a 2 foot shelf, I'm pretty sure, if I zigzag the bottles, I can fit at least 7 quarts.....mind you, thats only for the shelves that need tinctures. A few of my herbs will probably be dried for spices or teas or to have on standby for emergency poultices. But you right. I could go slightly deeper. I still want it failrly shallow, so I don't have my current problem with the spices I'm now using in the kitchen. Sometimes I have to pull almost all my herbs out to find one single jar. I really lack organization in my cullinary spices. I do have the small white shelves and it did help to an extent, but it didn't do it to the extent I would have hoped. Also, the smallest spice containers will fall out of the door shelves if I close or open too fast. Its smart, but not perfect. A lot of my healing herbs happen to be cullinary.
Last night Daddy called me over to look over some mail and pay a few things and organize some statements he had received and he was coughing, so I told him he needed to do something about it and we began talking about meds and on his own, he said that he would just see if he has some honey.....I was so proud of him. He read,"Raw Honey, 2011" and I said, that is because I didn't harvest last year with DH's heart attack. So he took a TBLS. I guess the apple don't fall too far from the tree, but in this case I think he just learned a thing or 2 from living 50 years with Momma.