Medicinal plants and other healing stuffs blah, blah, blah, blah

This is sambong. I planted this in our garden about a year ago.
This is boiled and taken as tea. According
to studies sambong is used to treat kidney stones, rheumatism,
hypertension etc. It is  a natural diuretics so its good for
ridding the body of toxins, cholesterol, salt and other bad stuff.
drink a lot of water when taking sambong tea, double
the recommended 8 glasses. Lagundi is a DOH approved
endorsed  herbal medicine.

I am now in my early forties and have now started to feel little pains and aches, old age catching up. I had been unkind to my body during my younger years. I used to smoke and drink a lot, activities that do a lot of damage to the body.

I quit the bad habits when I was in my early 30's and like the preacher always tells us, there will be consequences to everything we do. This I do not think of when I was young (who does that). 

I am now more prone to asthma attacks and rheumatism. Truth to tell I get tired of doctors because most of the time they prescribe the same medicines (sometimes different brands) over and over again and there's also the issue of liver damage with painkillers. 

This is lagundi. Traditionally it is used to
treat coughs and asthma. This is also boiled
and taken as tea. Pharmaceuticals now
process and manufacture lagundi cough
syrups. But why buy when you can get it straight
from your garden.

Anyway, I am now into herbs and leaves. Of course before doing any of these stuffs, I asked the doctors opinion and she said "it's okay." It is important to seek the doctor's advice because herbs and leaves may contain substances that may work against some (maintenance) medicines. 


Doctors have different opinions about herbs and leaves.There are those who are okay with it and there are those who are not enthusiastic with the idea. Many may not know it,  there is a law sponsored by Barrio Doctor Senator Juan Flavier that promotes traditional and alternative medicine known as the alternative medicine act of 199. 

Each to his own, I say. 

The main reason why many Filipinos prefer traditional medicines is because MEDICAL SERVICES HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES IS EXPENSIVE AND THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO COHERENT HEALTH SERVICE PROGRAM FOR IT'S CITIZENS EXCEPT GIVING AWAY ONE-TIME-USE-HEALTH-CARDS THAT ARE PRINTED WITH PICTURES OF POLITICIANS...DAMN IT!

(Sigh) Anyway....  

There are many kinds traditional and alternative medicines and some of them can easily be identified and be dismissed as quacks because they are not scientific and are simply insane. It is easy to identify quacks: they rely on spirits, voodoo and magical incantations and they use supernatural hardwares like stones, booklets, talisman, relics etc. Some of them even call on God and sometimes they even wear priestly robes and expensive polo shirts and sing praise and worship songs and then asks for money and donations. Herbs and leaves or herbology on the other hand, though traditional and alternative, is different.

This is gynura precumbens.  It has many names
like longevity spinach, cholesterol spinach, asitaba in Filipino, etc.
Good for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure etc.

In the past, herbologists used intuition, and observation to identify medicinal plants. One way could be by observing animals.  And through the years, they have identified plants that cure specific illnesses and some have even mastered the art of mixing herbs, barks etc. to make formulas add to that the development of a system for dosages and dispensing of the formulas. They also collated testimonials for references and as the basis for the effectiveness of their medicines.

Though their methods are not as reliable as the modern scientific method, it cannot be denied that there is at least, in principle, a modicum of science in their art.  

Now we have institutes that study traditional medicines (especially herbology) and are now starting to implement programs that will make traditional and alternative medicines complimentary to modern medicine especially in poor like countries like the Philippines. 

Just keep in mind that though some plants may contain anti-cancer properties, herbal medicines cannot cure cancer or AIDS the way they are erroneously being advertised nor can they help in trauma cases like gunshot wounds in the head or being hit by a car. In trauma cases it is best to call 911-11-11 and you'll get a pizza. (Now, tell me what is wrong with this country he...)

This is crap...gotta find something more stimulating to do like...hmmmm...talking about going to the pool!