Stress has been recognized as the major contributor to many neuroses and cardio-vascular problems. Scientists say that one in three people suffer from a nervous disorder or other form of stress-related disease. We must remember to establish boundaries for ourselves to maintain a healthy balance of work and play. Moderation is the key. Are we operating within our physical and intellectual limits? Have we succumbed to weakness and vulnerability? Or have we learned to accumulate and sustain reserves of our energy? We must all learn to tap into our reservoirs of strength and energy and keep them effective for as long as we can. How?
To maintain our health and conserve our energy, we must identify and eliminate the bad habits we practice that deplete them. First, we can temper our use of over-the-counter chemical preparations which are widely and readily available in drug stores. Taken over the years, they rob us of our strength, poison us, and destroy our internal organs.
Chemical drugs such as sedatives and stimulants may give us initial relief, but for a short time only. The body’s response to them often varies or changes. The little pill you popped a few months ago to take the edge off or put you to sleep may now make you nervous, dizzy, or prone to insomnia or cause other adverse side effects.
Prescription drugs used to treat illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, and diabetes should not be used for the long term, but only in the heat of our illness or during our recovery, and always under the supervision of a physician. If you become concerned about the amount of medicine you are taking or the duration of a course of drug therapy, ask your doctor about herbal alternatives.
Several years ago I read an article, “Doctors Are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S., Causing 250,000 Deaths Every Year.” It was published 26 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies
in the largest and the most respected medical journal in the world, the Journal of the American Medical Association. 7
I remember getting a feeling of desperation after reading this article. None of the wire services picked up this story; the news media let it slip by. Perhaps the publishers decided that an article documenting the tragedy of the traditional medical paradigm of the United States might cause several million readers to rise up and ask questions.
When I mentioned this article to one of my friends, a journalist and breast cancer survivor, she said, “I think that this number, 250,000, is even higher now.” The author, Dr. Barbara Starfield of the John Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, described how the U.S. health-care system may contribute to poor health. The figure, 250,000 deaths per year, is comprised of so-called iatrogenic cases! This term is defined as “induced in a patient by a physician’s activity, manner or therapy.”
Another analysis concluded that consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings with 116 million extra physician visits, 17 million extra prescriptions, 17 million hospitalizations, 3 million long-term hospital admissions, 199,000 additional deaths, and $77 billion in extra costs. However, evidence from a few studies indicated that as many as 20 to 30 percent of patients receive inappropriate care. The poor performance of the United States was recently confirmed by the World Health Organization, which used different data and ranked the United States 15th among 25 industrialized countries in healthcare. In any case 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes constitute the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Shocking news, isn’t it?
We know that every doctor graduating from medical school takes the Hippocratic Oath to treat people no matter what. Doctors make a sacred promise “to do no harm,” but statistics show that doctors and hospitals do make mistakes. Another report that I found shocking was from the Institute of Medicine. It showed that medical mistakes are a common and potentially life-threatening risk.
Dr. Joseph Mercola, from the Optimal Wellness Center in Shaumburg, Illinois, had this to say about it in his newsletter: “It is an intolerable situation, especially when it’s taking place in the United States, which leads the world in medical advances.”8
A Healthy Spirit Lives in a Healthy Body @ 27
So what are we waiting for? Our ancestors survived by being smart and keeping themselves healthy with help from Mother Nature. Most of us come into this world as healthy human beings. Our bodies are designed to maintain the best in us. We are built to be solid, strong, and energetic. We can keep our bodies free of toxins and cleanse our systems periodically with herbs such as burdock, chamomile, dandelion, and garlic. Our natural resources, such as the sun, earth, and Nature, provide us with optimal energy. Thus we are perfectly capable to self-heal when we are sick or injured.
We are intended to live a long and healthy life, but only on one condition: we must take our health into our hands and maintain the knowledge of how to do that. We are our own best friends. So take good care of your best friend. By knowing the curative and preventative qualities of herbs and plants, we can safely treat our ailments and prevent further diseases, weaknesses, or hopelessness from wreaking havoc in our lives.
We must take control of our health while we are still healthy. Medical research organizations are not proponents of preventative medicine because their work is based on illness.
“There is no money to be made from healthy people.” This statement is excerpted
