Access Your Health: Access Issues

This post was inspired by a conversation I had at The Room Upstairs’ Open Mic.  I am going to break it up into three posts:  Issues of Access; Mainstream Solutions; and Enduring Solutions.

 

The feeling of empowerment that accompanies control over one’s health is the reason I chose to embark on the study of herbal medicine.  If you, your baby, child, spouse, relative or friend were sick and did not have the means to consult with a doctor, then what do you do?  

I have had some foul experiences with a particular branch of doctors that treat me like crap.  Here’s how it goes:  I have chronic bronchitis.  Some days are better than others.  On a day when I feel like I’m going to die, I call and cough my way through booking a doctor’s appointment.  Oh, there aren’t any appointments available for a week?  Okay, well screw it, sign me up for the next available appointment. 

A week later, I’m still feeling like garbage but on the day of the visit, I’m having a relatively good day.  I go to the appointment.  Though I try desperately to convince the doctor of my dormant symptoms, he assures me that nothing “should be” wrong with me because he can’t hear anything in my lungs.  Obviously, I only went to the doctor because I didn’t want to go to work (note to reader: Please note my sarcasm).   

 He throws me an Rx like he throws a dog a bone and sends me on my way.  Not all doctors are like this, thank God, but it will be a cold day in hell before I ever visit a doctor for my bronchitis again.  Raise your hand if you have ever had a similar experience.

Have you heard of essential oils?  Someone I know told me a story of how some ladies had gotten her really excited about essential oils.  She had been looking for a way to incorporate natural remedies into her health regimen and it seemed like these ladies had all the answers.  After all, these neo-Avon reps had done away with all the pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter and otherwise, from their medicine cabinets!  “Amazing!” she said.  “Sign me up!  Oh wait, what does it cost?”  

Sadly, as amazing as essential oils are, most people are not willing to spend hundreds of dollars every month toward little bottles of oil.  If you’re not familiar with the essential oil multi-level-marketing (MLM) schemes, there are two large competitors, whose names I won’t mention.  To be clear, I think that these companies put out a good product, but the cost bites.  When it comes to essential oils, cost limits access for most people.

My goal is to facilitate access to botanical medicine.  

Herbal medicine is referred to as the people’s medicine because it works and it is cost effective.

Photo courtesy of National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution

There are a few reasons that people are turning to natural remedies:

• Empowerment/Independence
• Lack of trust in FDA
• Intolerance to adverse side effects in pharmaceuticals
• Recently discovered toxins in pharmaceuticals
• Deep concerns about toxins in chemical medicines
• Recognition of value in centuries-old botanical use
• Inconvenience of doctor’s visits (Dufault, et al., 2004) 

Not to be ignored are the reasons that some people have not turned to natural remedies:

• Lack of access

o   Not having the know-how

o   Not knowing who to ask about how-to

• Failure to achieve results in the past

o   Bad product

o   Improper use

o   Wrong product selected

•  Misinformation

o   Warning labels on natural supplement products are rarely borne from scientific research

• Disbelief

o   Your uncle Sam will never, ever allow us to say that “dietary supplements” have the power to prevent, treat, or cure anything – regardless of supporting scientific evidence.

Well, there it is: Botanical medicine access issues.  I hope you have enjoyed the first part of Access Your Health. 

Next up: Mainstream Solutions (and why they suck).

Dufault, R., Hassell, R., Rushing, J., McCutcheon, G., Shepard, M., & Keinath, A. (2004). Revival of Herbalism and Its Roots in Medicine. Journal of Agromedicine, 9(2), 407-415.

access. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved December 13, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/access

 

Reflection and Perseverance

At this point in the year in southern West Virginia, many of the plants go dormant.  I would really like to go dormant too, but like so many other people, instead of getting the rest I’d like to get, my life is taking on an accelerated pace.  In the midst of all the events pressing toward the New Year, I am taking some time to reflect on what I’ve learned this fall as I anticipate the coming of Spring and Summer.

To Persevere

In September, when I started my degree program, I signed up for an independent study course.  For this course, I sketched a plan to make medicinal plants more accessible to my community.  Southern West Virginia is bountiful with a full palette of medicinal plants, so I am surprised to find out that the task I’ve set for myself is far more challenging than I expected. 

Some days I wonder whether I am in over my head.  So, what if I am?  The feeling of being overwhelmed is not new to me.  I’ve been forced to persevere in the past when I didn’t think I could, and I came out ahead, so I’m moving forward with this.  Besides, I have valuable supporters in this endeavor from my school and my community, which is something to be thankful for, and would be a shame to waste. Lastly, I think that it is more difficult to live with being a quitter and a regretter than it is to persevere. 

Feedback

 As my independent study is largely an assessment, a huge part of the project depends on the feedback that I get.  So here is some of the feedback that I have gotten so far and some ideas I have to make use of the feedback:

1.       Survival plants – Someone I spoke with recently mentioned that he’d like to learn more about how medicinal plants can be applied in a survivalist setting.  I really like this angle because it gets at the heart of what I believe to be the purpose of turning to botanical medicine:  Having the knowledge and power to heal ourselves and our children, the way our ancestors did in the absence of a… sweet and loving government to care for us the way Uncle Sam cares for us (end sarcasm font). 

2.       Workshops – The same person who spoke of survival techniques also asked me if I had considered giving workshops.  This is a great idea.  I am still trying to gather people in my community who might be interested in learning how to use medicinal plants, so I am considering preparations for a workshop in the summer.  I think it would be neat to arrange a camping trip with survivalist experts and enthusiasts, including botanical medicine as one of the topics covered in a survival situation. 

*An important factor that I was reminded of in this scenario is to inform people that I am not a medical doctor, but I am just sharing information on plants that have been used in the past (see my post on “Health Creation”), and to be certain of plant identification.  

                                                             (Photo courtesy of Sierra Dawn, Northern California)

3.       Ethnobotanicals – A lot of people with an interest in forest botanicals also expressed interest in “ceremonial” plants.  I would like to get some more feedback on this subject before deciding on where to go with this.  From where I stand, psychoactive plants are a solid reminder to any non-believer in the power of plants: If plants are so impotent, then how about chomping down on a Psilocybin or Amanita or two on your way to work?  No?  Okay.  That’s what I thought.

4.  More ginseng! – One person shared my blogpost, The Delicate Relationship of American Ginseng and American Humans with his Facebook group and brought a lot of traffic to my blog, and I am thankful for that.  Rick, thank you!  Lots of people are interested in American ginseng right now, which could mean that I should spend more time writing about American ginseng use and stewardship.  Most people sell their ginseng, albeit indirectly, to the Chinese.  By hunting and selling ginseng, they earn extra income, and I appreciate that.  I would still love to see people use their ginseng more, because in my own personal experience, it has some really great effects on life-satisfaction!  I plan on writing more about ginseng stewardship, preparation and use, and possibly even develop a few products made from ginseng. 
 

5.       Ginseng as a potted plant?  A friend of mine asked me if I knew where he could get a ginseng plant!  I had never thought of keeping ginseng as an indoor potted plant before, but since he mentioned it, it seemed awesome to me!  I would love to have one sitting in the corner of a room somewhere, just for novelty’s sake.  I wonder if others are interested in something like that and if it might be worth my time to endeavor in selling potted ginseng plants.  I have no idea, but I plan on looking into it this winter.

Unexpected Paths: Places my degree program has taken me that I did not forsee

1.       Community garden – This is our community garden in the winter.  It’s covered in snow, but isn’t it awesome?  I've come to my community at a very interesting time, where artists are taking their talents to the street and people are coming together to revitalize our town.  I’m meeting with the gardener in a few days to hear what her vision is for this community garden in the Spring.  I can’t wait to be a part of this.  I want to incorporate a medicinal section somewhere in there.

2.       Products – I made three health & beauty products from natural, edible products that I am very happy with.  The first thing I made was a throat spray when I was suffering through bronchitis.  It is strong, so when I spray it in the back of my throat, it felt like it was scratch and itch that I couldn’t get to otherwise. 

I also made a sugar scrub that I am hooked on now.  I crave baths now because of it. 

Lastly, I made a body butter with a very strong chocolate-mint smell.  It smells just like an Andes mint.  I wish I could show you the effect that it has on those who smell it.  The simplest way to describe its effect: it makes everybody happy!  I need to order some little sample containers so I can share this stuff with people.  I swear, it is so much better than the stuff in retail stores. 

3.       Blog – This blog.  For years, I’ve wanted to start a blog, but I could never commit to a topic. When it occurred to me to spin a blog from my degree program, I got very excited at the prospect of reaching out to people about medicinal plants.  I still hope to gain more participation from my readers, but it’s encouraging to know that readers are out there!    Thank you for reading.

4.       Appalachian Ginseng Festival – Rick Lengyel is trying to put together the first Appalachian American Ginseng Festival.  I hope to have the opportunity to help make this dream come true and reach out to the festival's attendants on the stewardship of ginseng.  It is an amazing plant, and I’m glad that so many people are getting excited about it. I want to do what I can to ensure that everybody who digs is planting seeds as well!  

Next Steps

1.       At the end of next week, I have a meeting at MUIH with my program director, the school’s gardener, and a recent MS graduate that I’m sure will turn out to be an excellent mentor, and whose field work I hope to be a part of.  I’m going there to discuss with them how I can assist with some of their projects, and to pick their brains to see if they have any ideas to help me in my research.  I can’t wait to work with them and then apply what I learn from their work, in my own setting.

2.       Garden Internship – I signed up for a garden internship so that I can learn the ins-and-outs of cultivating and tending to a medicinal garden.  Isn’t that exciting? It is one thing to write assignment after assignment, but to actually practice with "hands on" is where the magic happens.

3.       Dispensary Internship – I also am signing up for a dispensary internship so I can get some hands-on experience with good manufacturing procedures (GMP), quality assurance, and whatever else comes along with handling medicinal herbs in a dispensary.  Also, another very useful skill that I look forward to gaining. I’ll start work in the dispensary in the summer.  I can't wait to write about this experience.

4.       Sports Medicine – I sent out messages to a few academic scholars in this area and I heard back from one man, a Ph.D who says that he would like to chat about my research over Christmas break.  From what I can tell, he is into health and medicine as it applies to athletes.  I am curious to see what he has to say about my research and hopefully he has some ideas about how I can apply my degree program here in southern West Virginia!

5.       I am honored to have been asked to help organize the community garden volunteers.  One very important part of my research is reaching out to the community.  This gives me the opportunity to talk to some people about plants in real-time – another opportunity to be very thankful for.

6.       Garden Harvest – I have yet to discuss this with the other community gardeners, but I would love to plant some sort of recipe in the community garden that can be converted into a product that would be useful to those who are interested in the process.  I would love to gather people at harvest time, dig up the ingredients, and as a group, make a tincture or salve or something that everyone can take home and use.  For this, I’d really like some feedback about what people might want a natural remedy for.  I think that this might be an effective way to gain interest in herbal medicine.

7.        Future classes – This past semester was focused on combining traditional and evidence-based knowledge while learning a new framework for integrative health care that focuses on wellness and “supporting human resilience.”  This being the aim, I am happy to report that the program did an excellent job instilling these objectives.  Next semester, in addition to my independent study I’ll be taking a course called Home Use: Living in Harmony with the Seasons and Herbal Pharmacy: Evaluating and Manufacturing Quality Herbal Products.  Building on this semester, next semester’s focus is to deepen our understanding of using plants for medicine, once again using traditional and scientific knowledge.  We will be making medicine and justifying our medicine-making decisions with scientific research.  This should make for some blog posts that might be more interesting for readers. 

Final Reflection

I want to include a few photos from one of my recent trips up my  favorite mountain to put some Goldenseal rootstock from United Plant Savers into the ground.  I hope they grow!  Anyway, here are some photos from the trip. 

 Digging holes.  There has got to be a more efficient way to do this. It is so much fun to carry a shovel up a cliff.  Can you imagine?  :)

 I'm not sure about the soil condition that I buried these roots in, so I buried them in various conditions.  We shall see next spring whether any of them thrive!  I'll be sure to update

.

 I found these weird, thorny tomato things all over the field.  I'm trying to identify them, and I actually came across something called the "Thorny Tomato."  Since I have gone back to this field, the fruits have yellowed.  They never turned red, so whatever these are, they are green when they are green in their prime.  I am not 100% certain of the identification, so I have not eaten one yet!  Anyone know what this is?

 This milkweed is so pretty.  I played around with some of the seed pods, and the fluffy white hairs feel so silky!  When you pull the seeds out, the pattern is so pretty, I should have gotten pictures of pulling the seeds out, but regrettably, did not.

So that's it for now.  This winter I'll be writing some more about ginseng and preparing for some interesting posts in January!  Please feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, or suggestions.