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Jeff Jones wrote: > > At 08:47 AM 6/28/97 -0400, you wrote: > >Sue Maltais wrote: > >> > >> Did anyone see 20/20 last night? They did a report on an herb > called > >> St. John's Wort that is having great success in helping people with > mild > >> to moderate depression. I can't remember the Drs. name but he's > written a > >> book on it, and Dr. Tim Johnson was quite enthused about it. > >> > >> Sue, in Mass. > >Sue, > > I've been watching this thread develop for a short time and have > decided to > throw my 02 cents and opinions into the ring. > > To begin, I freely admit that I have so many opinions that some are > bound > to be wrong. My intent with this message is to hold them up for > consideration. Throughout this message I am addressing ideas, not > people. > This is, by no means a flame directed at anyone. > > As far as I know, I am healthy, other than an incident that occurred > three > weeks ago when the front tire on my bicycle blew and I lost control > and > took a spill. The result was an abrupt acceptance of ill health as a > number of ribs were fractured. > > I have been taking St. John's Wort for months as a result of reading > information disseminated from my health food store. I didn't rush out > immediately, but, rather, looked for more information. I found Earl > Mindell's Herb Bible and other sources that described St. John's Wort. > There is a rather large body on knowledge in the naturopath community > that > is, in my view, generally ignored by most mainstream doctors. Having > corroborated the flyer from the health food store, I decided to try > ST. > John's Wort. I found, almost immediately, a lessening of the negative > feelings I seem to embrace every Sunday afternoon when I have time on > my > hands. I'm not aware of any side affects and firmly believe that the > St. > John's Wort had no bearing on the breaking of my ribs. :-}) At the > same > time, I also admit that I don't know if there are and side affects. > > As I look at this designer disease called Parkinsons, it strikes me > that > everyone has their very own unique set of bodily attributes and > therefore > everyone reacts differently to the different inputs introduced. It > also > seems to me that at different times, a person's body reacts to the > same > input in different ways. It becomes each person's, in my view, very > own > responsibility to monitor what's happening. The important thing, in > my > view, it to never give up and to try anything, within reason that > comes > along. I guess using leeches to let blood is something I'd not want > to do, > for example, but dependind on the problem..... > > I firmly believe (this the controversial portion of this message. > :-}) > ), that, virtually all doctors truly wish the best for their patients, > however, it's my very own personal view that few doctors receive a lot > of > training in the area of preventative medicine, or health. I don't > think > that health is much studied. I believe that dis-ease is the focus of > the > majority of a doctor's training so it's no wonder that the first line > of > defense is to prescribe medications that mask symptoms rather than > address > the root cause of the disease in question. It's certainly true that > there > are many natural chemicals that are harmful, witness the nightshade > family, > but I also firmly believe that, there are many natural chemicals that > contribute to health rather than masking symptoms. I find it > difficult to > believe that an artificial chemical can be used by my finely tuned > body to > built health. What it needs is the amino acids, minerals, vitamins > etc. > that occur in the correct proportions, one to another, to build > health. > > Don't get me wrong, there absolutely are viable uses for the > artificial > drugs that mask symptoms and I use them when needed. My ribs can > attest to > this. What I am saying is that it is each person's responsibility to > choose to work toward building health and how to do it. > > I am *extremely* distrustful of the news media because I've read > quotes > which state that they can change the opinions of the nation by the way > the > "news" is reported. I believe that, long ago, many of the media > organizations departed from objectively reporting facts to selectively > reporting "news" that generates money for their investors. I think > that > it's entirely correct to view information tendered by these > organizations > with a jaundiced eye, but at the same time, I think it's our > responsibility > to research the information conveyed to determine for ourselves what > we > should do with it. > > Bottom line, one ought not to close one's mind to something because > it's > new to them or there's a lot of media hype, or well-meaning folks who > have > a narrowly focused education poo-poo it. Take the time to reasearch > and > consider the "something" before rejecting it. > > Thus endth my 02 cents. > > Jeff Jones, part time CG for Becky > [log in to unmask] Jeff- I don't disagree with you for the most part. I don't think that the issue is health vs. disease though. If St. John's Wort is indeed effective I presume that it is working like a drug. Good controlled studies are needed. If it is effective with minimal side effects I support its use. My posting was one of caution. I support research into the usefulness of the substance. Charlie -- ********************************************************** CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D. MADISON, WISCONSIN **********************************************************