Turning to Granny’s remedies

Press, 6 April 1981, Page 12

Turning to Granny’s remedies

Would you accept a herbal remedy for an ailment, rather’ than a modern wonder drug? And how would you react if your doctor consulted a volume of folkmedicine rather than a re-search-paper on the latest medical breakthrough? Already, thousands of patients are having to accept the fact that many doctors are beginning to think that Granny’s age-old remedies and ancient cures are just the thing for many modern illnesses.

For instance, modern medical scientists are now looking afresh at Granny’s claims that oil of clarysage, rosemary, and lavender can help rheumatism, that lily-of-the-valley can strengthen the heart, that marjoram is good for both insomnia and asthmas, and that coriander can help indigestion. Says one expert: “After years of dismissing such remedies as old wives’ tales, modern research is revealing that many of these cures actually have a sound scientific basis.”

It is part of a dramatic swing back to methods which for decades have been condemned, scorned or ignored by medical text books. As well as herbalism — the basis of cures handed down through families — these methods also include homeo-

pathy, faith healing, acupuncture’and chiropractic. As one leading medical expert said: “We always used to think that we must’have a scientific explanation forevery thing — and if we didn’t know the explanation, we couldn’t accept the cure. Now there is a trend towards acceptance of methods which we do not understand — and which appear to defy logical explanation. All we know is that they often work!” In America, 500 doctors have now joined the Society for Holistic Medicine whichinvestigates old-fashioned and unconventional medical treatments.

Says a spokesman: “Doctors have tended to treat the mind and body as quite separate — but we believe they are interwoven, and treatment should take account of both.”

The society reports a “terrific response” from doctors, and says its numbers are growing daily. In Britain, holistic medicine — 'usually called alternative medicine — has a growing number of practitioners. Now their ranks are being swelled by qualified doctors who are extending their normal range of treatment to include some of the “alternative” skills.

Dr Michael Howitt Wilson, who recently gave up his general practice in Surrey to

become a full-time chiropractor, explains: “It is a method of treatment that is essential to health and yet the. general public as-a whole has not been able to benefit from it. .“Although I am happy to work outside Britain’s National Health Service, I believe that chiropractic should be part of it.” The fastest-growing of the fringe medicines is acupuncture, which involves sticking small needles into various parts of the body to release a vital energy called “chi.” The place in which the needles are inserted needs have no apparent connection with the patient’s complaint. . A growing number of doctors have also come to accept that faith healing works, though how and why remains a mystery. Homeopathy is now generally recognised by medical authorities. For instance, the Queen consults a doctor who practises homeopathy. It works on the principle of “like cures like” — a homeopath will prescribed small doses of a medicine which creates exactly the same symptoms from which the patient is suffering. Yet it often relieves the problem. A chiropractor is basically involved with the physical manipulation of bones and joints to relieve tension.

Today, a huge trade has sprung’ up around herbal remedies — many of which have been around for centuries. But why are those oldfashioned remedies succeeding when the west spends 1000 billion dollars on orthodox medicine every year? Explains a leading acupuncturist: “After the enormous progress made in medicine in the middle part of the century, people had come to expect that science would soon find an answer to every problem and a cure for every illness. “Now they are realising that medicine does not have, all the answers, so they are starting to look elsewhere. Alternative medicine is emerging from the shadow of the quacks and con-men, and it is making a new reputation for itself.” But he added that patients should always check the credentials and qualifications of anyone from whom they seek medical help./l