Help needed please - re herbal medicine

[anonymous]

I hope you dont mind me posting on your site, but I am hoping that some of you may be able to assist me in some research for my dissertation.
I am a final year student on the Bsc Hons course of Phytotherapy (Medical Herbalism) at the college of Phytotherapy in the UK. I also have a five year old daughter with cystic fibrosis, which has lead me to chose the title "Is there a role for herbal medicine in the management of cystic fibrosis?" for my dissertation. I have been a user of the cf forum on the UK for about a year and a half, and have recieved several replies to my questionaire from fellow users, but have decided to expand the range of questioning to hopefully gather further information which will allow me to make a more detailed study. The questionaire forms a part of the primary research for the dissertation, and I am also conducting a small series of case histories for patients with cf who have either been treated by myself through the our training clinic, or who have detailed records from treatment of professional herbalists elsewhere. I would be very grateful if anyone is willing to assist me on either of these matters. I assure complete confidentiality, no personal details will be revealed and no names used in the final written work. In addition no personal details will be stored on any computer system beyond my own personal computer for the duration of the research, and will be deleted upon completion.
I have found that herbal medicine has drastically improved my daughters health, and I feel that it may prove to offer a valuable addition to the regular CF medical regime. I would be really grateful if anyone could send me a reply to my e mail address emma@manicorganic.org please include the answers in the body of the e mail, and not as an attaatchment, as my computer is slightly tempermental and often refuses to open files!
Thank you very much
Emma Salmon el Gamal

Medical Herbalism dissertation Patient questionaire

1. Name
2. Age
3. Weight
4. Area of country
5. Medications taken.
6. Exercise / physiotherapy done
7. General state of health
8. any complications of CF (ie diabetes, arthritis, etc)
9. Lung function (if known)

10. Have you used OTC (over the counter - self bought) herbal products, and what were they/
11. What did you purchase them for? (ie, digestive aid, immune enhancing, etc)
12. how long did you take them for?
13. Did you notice any general or specific improvement? (ie, less infections, more fluid mucous, etc) Can you quantify any of the improvements? (ie, if prev had infection every month, then not for 3 months, changes in lung function, etc)
14. Did you notice any deterioration or negative side effects?
15. Any other comments regarding OTC herbal products?
16. do you take any other supplements, ie fish oils, acidophillus, which are not part of your prescribed CF medication, and how do you feel that they help you?

17. Have you ever recieved treatment from a herbalist?
18. Was there a particular aspect of your health which led to the visit, or was it to improve your general health?
19. Can you provide details of the prescription which you recieved?
20. Can you describe any changes to your health relating to the treatment, giving specific examples?

21. If you have considered visiting a herbalist, but have not done so, what are the main reasons for this? eg Cost, Finding a qualified herbalist near to your home, Concerns about drug interactions, Concerns regarding the medical qualifications of the practitioner.

 

[Faust]

Hey is this emma/emmie off of the meeting place CF forum in England? I remember her requesting very similar info on that site. If so, how ya doin emma?

 

[anonymous]

Yes Sean It is me!!! just expanding my enquiry to get as many as poss!!!!
Karen, I am using a variety of herbal tinctures, which I mix according to what she is and what shehas at the time, but the most common regular stuff is high potency turmeric extracts and fish oils, acidophillus and bromelain (as tablet supplements) and tinctures/juices/ aromatic waters in a mix which contains lots of garlic, goldenseal, echinacea (angustafolia not purpurea when an infection present) fennel, chamomile, inula, thyme/oregano
Others I rotate in use are Marrubium, Tabebuia, plantago, slippery elm, psyllum seed, Astragalus, ginger, Withania, St Johns wort, milk thistle and others I cant quite remember but they are in the cupboard!! It all depends upon what we are dealing with
basically the idea is to boost the immune system and disinfect the lungs to avoid infection, plus herbs supplements which reduce systemic inflammation and liquify mucus. Hydrastis (goldenseal) is helpful as a fantastic antimicrobial and bitter (increasing bile production and excretion) plus has also been shown to help regenerate pancreatic tissue. some are to reduce symptoms of bloating and wind and generally care for the digestive system.
Jasmine was only diagnosed just over a year ago after suffering from malabsorbtion since 4 months. She hasnt really been too chesty, despite having common double delta F580 but she has been on anti infective and lung support herbs since 1 1/2, plus stuff to help her digestive symptoms (didnt take her to doctor til 3 !/2 yrs as had been told I was paranoid and there was nothing wrong with her beyond toddler diarrohea and 'bad temper at night' by my health visitor) her lung function is 115% and she has no signs of any problem in spleen, liver etc, and no signs of abnormal blood sugars etc. Since diagnosis and creon she has gained weight and is now heavier for her height than she should be, and has grown about 15cm! She is a very healthy little girl, who doesnt need conventional physio beyond an active week of dance, swim and horse riding. her diet is as organic as possible, not too heavy on the carbs, but concentrating on whole grain ones. We avoid processed food tho occasional visits to MacDonalds are not 'forbidden' and cake and chocolates again occasionally. We try to give alot of Omega3 containing foods, lots oily fish, avocado, olives. She likes fruit smoothies, so we get alot of vitamins from there.
hope this helps,
love
emma xxx

 

[anonymous]

Its been a matter of trial and error. Generally as I tend to buy fairly high strength tinctures from my supplier (have just changed to a wonderful supplier in Wales who makes alot of his stuff by original and organic methods, and sources herbs from their indiginous areas where the chemical constituents seem to be in the most beneficial proportions, ie chamomile from Romania, rose from the Lebanon, etc) It means that I dont have to use high doses and am able to put 5 or 6 herbs into one tincture preparation at a time. The supplements like fish oils and turmeric are all seperate. Saw you were intersted in Glutathione. Am just about to order some as the results look positive (have been reading some scientific papers for the dissertation, so again time will tell how that pans out.
Thanks for your interest, I understand that it is quite difficult to get proffesional herbal advice in the USA due to the medical legislation, tho you can buy most things over the counter. We have a trainee doctor on our course at the moment from Texas who is hoping to combine the two disciplines, so maybe time will change things. There is alot of regulation going through in Europe at the moment which will give us similar status to doctors, which is great, and will sift out the dodgy practitioners with no qualifications. Think most people dont realise that we have to study medicine for 4 years to qualify , they think we just go round hugging trees and wearing macrame sandles!!!
any questions would be happy to try to help, tho of course each individual has different physiology and needs. also cant promise to be too reliant on answering quickly as am 6 months pregnant and only have 3 months to finish my coursework and dissertation before the baby comes!
love
emma xxsx