Why you should try natural remedies

[Guest guest]

Nature's Healing Power

In a special preview of her new book, Miracle Cures, USA WEEKEND columnist Carper documents scientifically why it makes sense to try natural remedies. An award-winning journalist, she has written 20 books and is a leading authority on health and nutrition.o natural remedies in health-food and drug stores really work? Is there scientific evidence behind them? Can they cure minor and even serious illnesses? My investigation of more than 200 so-called natural cures revealed 21 that I would try myself and recommend to others, on the basis of mounting scientific evidence, here and abroad, longtime successful use and dramatic case histories.

Open up the cures basket for details on the healing powers of herbs, vitamins and other natural remedies.

In a special Q & A, Carper tells about the surprising science behind her new book, Miracle Cures.

And don't forget to read our herbal safety tips.

In Europe, doctors widely prescribe scientifically tested, government-approved natural medicines in place of pharmaceuticals. But Americans are shortchanged by a lack of knowledge about natural remedies, mainly because our medical establishment and government rules discourage their use. Federal law prohibits specific therapeutic claims. Even well-researched remedies, approved as pharmaceutical-quality drugs in other nations, can't be labeled with complete medical information in this country. Nevertheless, more Americans, including doctors, are trying natural remedies, and leading scientists are validating some of them. The big questions: Which remedies are most apt to work? Which ones should you look into trying? Here are the 21 natural medicines I examine in Miracle Cures (Harper, $25). Specifics on benefits, doses, possible interactions and side effects are detailed in the book.

Migraine Cure: Why suffer with migraines (23 million Americans do) or treat them with expensive drugs when an herb can make the headaches disappear? Daily doses of feverfew, a member of the daisy family, can prevent migraines and reduce their severity, according to British research and countless case histories. In a study published in the prestigious British Medical Journal, migraine sufferers taking feverfew capsules for six months were relatively free of headaches; migraines tripled in those taking a fake capsule. Another test found feverfew reduced migraine incidence by 25 percent and dramatically cut symptoms, compared with a dummy pill. Tucker, an internist in West Palm Beach, Fla., says he has "virtually wiped out the need to treat migraines in my patient population by telling them to try feverfew." Its most likely anti-migraine agent: parthenolide, listed on the label.

Heart Energizer: If you have heart problems, you should know about coenzyme Q-10, a vitamin-like substance used around the world to treat congestive heart failure and other cardiac problems. Pioneering research by Karl Folkers at the University of Texas discovered that heart patients have severe deficiencies of coQ-10 and that taking supplements produced improvement in three-fourths of those with congestive heart failure. Large studies in Japan and Italy find improvement in about 80 percent of heart failure patients on coQ-10. Medical journals have published about 50 articles on coQ-10 as a treatment for cardiovascular disease. Research suggests high doses of coQ-10 re-energize heart cells and strengthen heart function. Increasingly, doctors use coQ-10 with conventional treatments. Sole, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and noted heart researcher, recently was surprised when a patient who had refused a pacemaker recovered anyway. To Sole's amazement, the patient's long-deteriorating heart condition "remarkably reversed itself" within four months. The patient confessed he had been taking coQ-10. Intrigued, Sole has begun a large investigation of coQ-10 in heart patients.

Superb Antidepressant: If you complained of depression in Germany, your doctor would be seven times more likely to prescribe the herbal remedy St. 's wort (also known as hypericum) than the pharmaceutical Prozac widely dispensed in the United States. About 25 well-conducted studies, most done in Germany, have found St. 's wort often relieves depression as effectively as antidepressant pharmaceuticals, without unpleasant side effects. In a recent German review of 3,250 depressed patients and their physicians, 80 percent reported improvement or freedom from symptoms after taking St. 's wort for four weeks. A report last year in the British Medical Journal declared St. 's wort equal to conventional antidepressants in relieving mild to moderate depression, and relatively free of side effects. Studies show mild reversible side effects from St. 's wort occur in less than 1 percent to 10 percent of patients, compared with 36 percent for prescription antidepressants.

Unique Memory Pill: The astonishing fact is that we all have access to a plant medicine, ginkgo biloba, that can help protect our brains from deteriorating with age. It is approved in Germany to treat failing memory and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. More than 50 rigorous scientific studies confirm that this extract, derived from the leaves of the ginkgo tree, is an effective treatment for diminished memory and concentration, increased absentmindedness, confusion, depression, dizziness and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Turan Itil, clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University Medical Center and an international authority on dementia, has tested ginkgo extract on about 300 patients with significant memory disturbances and is convinced that it can stop or slow the progression of age-related memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. He takes ginkgo to protect his memory, as do his wife and "most of my friends over age 65." In tests of brain wave activity, Itil found ginkgo equaled anti-dementia drugs approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Research suggests that ginkgo may work by increasing blood circulation and glucose (sugar) metabolism in the brain. An important plus: Unlike prescription drugs, ginkgo has few and very mild side effects. Jerry Cott, a psychopharmacologist at the National Institute of Mental Health, insists that his mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, be given 240 milligrams of ginkgo extract daily. He believes it has dramatically slowed his mother's memory loss and the progression of her other symptoms. "She has not gotten a smidgen worse in four years," Cott says, "which I think is pretty remarkable, and so do her other doctors."

Cholesterol Buster: Little known outside research circles is a mighty cholesterol-fighter developed at the University of Florida College of Medicine. A patented blend of grapefruit fiber and guar gum, the yellowish powder has dramatically cut cholesterol in almost everyone who has taken it, even when cholesterol-lowering pharmaceuticals failed. More exciting, the grapefruit fiber, known as ProFibe, actually cleared clogged arteries in some people and in pigs, whose cardiovascular system is similar to humans'. Medical professor J. Cerda, developer of ProFibe, asserts that if a pharmaceutical drug promised the same benefits as the grapefruit fiber without serious side effects (liver damage is a risk of most cholesterol drugs), everyone would call it a miracle cure. "So why not try grapefruit fiber first and, if it doesn't work, then go on to the potent, more risky pharmaceuticals?" Cerda asks. "There's nothing to lose."

Arthritis Fighter: If you have osteoarthritis, as most older people do, your typical choices are anti-inflammatory drugs to kill the pain and joint replacement as a last resort. But there is another choice: Research abroad shows that a natural substance called glucosamine may stop the underlying cause of osteoarthritis -- cartilage destruction -- and even stimulate the regrowth of cartilage. Italian studies documented regrowth in just 30 days. Another study, of German and Italian patients, found that glucosamine sulfate suppressed pain as well as ibuprofen did. American doctors increasingly are trying glucosamine, sometimes combined with the natural substance chondroitin. Some patients have improved so much that they have avoided joint replacement. Amal Das, an orthopedic surgeon in North Carolina, has documented reversal of osteoarthritis -- cartilage regrowth -- in some patients using natural remedies. Any side effects of glucosamine, especially when compared with the bleeding ulcers caused by conventional anti-inflammatories, are mild. So even if glucosamine doesn't help, no harm is done. Crippled by arthritis and in extreme pain, a Washington, D.C., lawyer was told by two orthopedic surgeons she must have hip replacement surgery or never walk again. She rejected surgery and two years ago started taking glucosamine-chondroitin supplements. Today she plays tennis, hikes five miles and takes no painkillers.

ST. JOHN'S WORT FOR DEPRESSION: After a physical trauma, Dante of California became severely depressed, even suicidal. She took antidepressants, but had side effects and felt "drugged." Last year, psychiatrist Harold Bloomfield slowly and carefully helped her switch to St. 's wort. "It gave me my life back," she says. Photo by Strick for USA WEEKEND

CELERY SEED FOR GOUT: For two decades, A. Duke, Ph.D., of land, a world authority on healing herbs and author of The Green Pharmacy, sought a natural cure for his gout. He found it last year in celery seed extract, which he takes instead of prescription drugs. As yet, the science behind this cure is limited.

FEVERFEW FOR MIGRAINES: For 20 years, Theresa Colonna of Pennsylvania tried every drug possible to cure weekly migraines, including beta blockers and injections of sumatriptan. Since taking daily standardized feverfew pills at a cost of about $10 a month, she has not had a migraine for an entire year.

GLUCOSAMINE FOR ARTHRITIS: This natural substance is known to help adults with osteoarthritis. It also looks promising for juvenile arthritis. Mollie Hauck, 7, of Oregon was only 3 when diagnosed with the crippling illness. Glucosamine relieved the pain and improved mobility, her parents say.

BEE POLLEN FOR ALLERGIES: Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, used bee pollen to beat allergies during cherry blossom time in Washington, D.C. (Avoid if allergic to bee stings.) He advocates more funding for alternative research.

GRAPEFRUIT FIBER FOR CHOLESTEROL: A low-fat diet and exercise didn't reduce Chicago lawyer Joan Levin's cholesterol. She took ProFibe daily, and in a month her cholesterol dropped from 295 to 208. A year later, it's even lower.

Note:The remedies noted here are widely available at health-food and drug stores except these two: Grapefuit fiber, 1-800-756-3999, HTTP://WWW.PROFIBE.COM/ and Peppermint Oil, 1-800-252-0275.

Carper wrote the best-selling book, Stop Aging Now! Her latest book, Miracle Cures, arrives in bookstores and libraries this month.