Must herbs and medication be in opposition to one another?

Must herbs and medication be in opposition to one another? Must medication always have the last say in Western society? As in many scenarios, the answer is, "it depends."

Much of it depends on the patient. Much depends on the doctor. And from there, it completely depends on the doctor-patient relationship.

Throughout my 20 years dealing with CKD, or chronic kidney disease, none of the many doctors I have seen have agreed to alternative medicine. And by that I mean herbs, whether in pill form or tea form. Some things I have approached them with have been kindly researched by the hospital pharmacist, while other suggestions of mine have been (just as kindly) laughed out of the room. (Let's just say the doctor who did that is very lucky I like her so much and that we have such a great rapport!) A few vitamins have been approved here and there over the years. My doctors and pharmacist (the entire support team) are concerned about drug/herb/etc interactions because there has not been 'enough' research.

I have met a few people who indicated that their doctors do not forbid anything. It is because of these people that I post the following information on Brahmi, or more commonly known (in my circles, anyway) as Gotu Kola. I had no idea that it has so many wonderful healing aspects, even according to WHO - the World Health Organization.

Rather than reiterate the whole thing here, I will give credit where credit is due and enable you to click on this link for The Collector's Cup, which is an excellent site.

Remember to check with your doctor first if this is something that you are interested in, even though you can get it in tea form.

May good health come to us all and remain so, for with that we can do so much!

Kidney Failure & Acupuncture

How does natural Chinese medicine work in relation to serious health conditions like stage 3 renal failure?

According to kidneyfailureweb.com, acupuncture can actually improve renal function, even once it gets to stage 3. The author of the article does include the caveat that this should not be considered the only treatment, however. Still, this is good news, if accurate!

I am not certain of the credentials of this site, and am currently on a 'live chat' with them, trying to find out. The person is too busy trying to find out about me to bother answering my question about the site's validity, which is quite bothersome. The "About Us" page simply explains how helpful the site is to users. It is only as useful as it is credible. Still waiting. When I switched pages I lost the first person. Starting over with a new automatic chat.

They are in the US and Australia. There is an option to speak to an 'expert.' I have yet to reach anyone, 10 minutes later. But then again, it is just after 6 a.m. It is an automated pop-up block asking how they can help you. Although I did have a live person, once, asking for my information, before I accidentally lost them by switching pages within their site.

At any rate, the information sounds promising, and the website does look legitimate. I had hoped to find out more information before passing it on to my readers. But you can check it out and discern for yourselves.

In the end, it is really all about how our individual bodies respond to things, anyway, I've realized.

Enjoy this day - rain or shine, windy or still - it is another day to breathe in deeply the wonders of the earth and exhale the worries of yesterday.