Ay yai yai I just read an article posted in my news feed, listing wonderful herbs for lung health. The article was apparently written by an expert with a whole bunch of letters after his name. One might think to trust this person. But I noticed a couple of things right away that bothered me. The first thing was this author used common names of herbs without also citing the Latin name. This is a problem because there are many common names that overlap. He even illustrated this inadvertently by saying that Plantain Leaf is the same plant from which those banana like fruit grows! Not so, and any responsible herbalist would know that. The other problem I have is with his lack of safety warnings about the herbs. Articles like his perpetuate the idea that all herbs are safe to use for everybody and nothing could be further from the truth! All herbs should be treated like medicine. For instance, he cavalierly states that lobelia should be in everyones medicine cabinet. My research of lobelia is that it is an herb that should be used with great caution. My opinion is bolstered by The University of Maryland Medical Department who did research on lobelia and included the following in the article, Lobelia is a potentially toxic herb. It can be safely used in small doses (particularly homeopathic doses), but moderate-to-large doses may cause side effects ranging from dry mouth and nausea to convulsions and even coma (see Precautions section). You should use lobelia only under the supervision of your health care provider. My point is, suspect any article on herbs that does not include Latin names and safety precautions, remember that all herbs are medicine and do your own research as well as check with a responsible herbalist and your doctor before consuming herbs for medicinal purposes. Source: Lobelia | University of Maryland Medical Center umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/lobelia#ixzz3HM0SruAJ University of Maryland Medical Center Follow us: @UMMC on Twitter | MedCenter on Facebook
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:12:40 +0000
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