I would like to respond to the editorial (“FDA must be popping pills: Yellow Jacket ban nonsensical,” ODE, Oct. 22) and accompanying column (“The paralyzing truth about beauty,” ODE, Oct. 22) by Kathryn Petersen.
I would like to first ask the (respective) authors a question: Do either of you know any herbalists? You must not, otherwise you wouldn’t have allowed the falsehoods about herbs to be printed.
In Petersen’s column, she erroneously compares Botox, a preparation made from botulinus toxin, a bacteria, with ma huang (ephedra sinesis), a plant and medicinal herb, putting them both in a category she terms “miracle drugs.”
Her first mistake is to think of herbs as “drugs.” Herbs are not drugs — they are natural, botanical, living beings, that, when harvested ethically and used properly as medicine for healing or prevention, have many beneficial effects.
Drugs are human-created substances; things like television, gasoline, alcohol and Prozac are drugs and, as we know, can be highly addictive. Drugs, especially pharmaceutical drugs, can have, and in fact, frequently do have, unwanted and unhealthy “side effects.” If herbalists do their jobs correctly, the overall effects of the herb(s) they prescribe will match their clients’ needs perfectly, without any “side effects.”
“Once thought of as a miracle weight loss drug” — traditionally, ma huang is an effective decongestant, antihistamine and stimulant, and is useful for some types of asthma. I do not advocate nor have I ever advocated (because I do not agree with most ideas surrounding the need for weight loss) the use of ephedra for dieting or weight loss.
If Petersen had taken the time to do a more thorough search, she would have found accurate, indisputable data that clearly refutes the FDA and the AMA’s false accusations that herbs like ephedra are dangerous and unsafe. Check out the American Herbalist Guild’s Web site for starters.
I wonder if Petersen and her editor are aware of the tens of thousands of people who are killed each year by iatrogenic (look it up) illnesses, misuse of Tylenol and other preventable mistakes? Compare those statistics with how many deaths occur annually from herbs, not deaths from some specious “supplement” that may or may not contain the herbs listed on the ingredient label.
Taking the FDA and the medical establishment to task is beyond the scope of this letter, but to continue to mindlessly parrot the falsehoods spewed by these power-driven institutions is irresponsible, misleading, and seriously marred what was otherwise a fine editorial and column.
As a practicing clinical herbalist, I simply cannot let damaging misperceptions about herbs and herbalism go unrefuted. Every time another lie about herbs is printed, my job becomes that much more difficult.
If you are going to present an informed opinion, please do your homework first. And if you’re going to write about herbs, try consulting with your friendly, local, neighborhood herbalist. I’m sure any of us would be happy to help inform you and guide you through the disinformation trail on the truth about herbs.