Medical Advice Online
We at Kitchen Witch have been pondering the amount of
medical related questions we receive each week. Whether big or small, we’ve
noticed folks love to take their ponderings and perplexities to social media to
gather advice.
Sure, all of us find asking online easier than going to the
doctor or pharmacy, with a click of a button and a few words the folk we have
here in our community will offer a variety of opinions and personal experiences
out of the goodness of their hearts.
What we want to make sure is happening is that the seekers
of advice understand that none of the Admins of Kitchen Witch are medically
trained specialist and we cannot presume our members are either.
We fear the scenario where a natural remedy is suggested but
the advisor has no idea about the interactions with other medications or the
seekers medical history and something goes wrong. As witches, pagans, and
believers in “harm none” we cannot stand the idea of harming people, medically
or emotionally.
Kitchen Witch
School of Natural Witchery offers the following for the protection of all that
come here:-
For advisors…
There’s nothing wrong with your opinion or your personal experience, we welcome
conversation after all but please be mindful. Without intending to, even the
best and most well-intentioned advice can be really harmful if you don’t have
all the details. Offer your opinion and personal experience by all means but
also please if you want to help someone whose is suffering from a medical
condition, advise them to go to the medical professionals, their local pharmacy
and/or physician. These people are the best, most qualified people to give them
the help they need and prescribe or administer appropriate medication. This
could save them and you a lot of heartache!
To those seeking…
please visit your pharmacy and/or physician to seek medical advice before
making a decision on natural remedies.
We’ve turned to the NHS website for our British community
Herbal medicines are those with active ingredients made from
plant parts, such as leaves, roots and flowers. But being “natural” doesn’t
necessarily mean they’re safe to take.
Herbal medicines, just like conventional medicines, will
have an effect on the body and can be potentially harmful if not used correctly.
They should therefore be used with the same care and respect as conventional
medicines.
Please be aware of the following:
- They
may cause problems if you’re taking other medicines. They could result in
reduced or enhanced effects of the medicine(s), including potential side
effects.
- You
may experience a bad reaction of side effects after taking a herbal
medicine.
- Not
all herbal medicines are regulated. Remedies specially prepared for
individuals do not need a license and those manufactured outside of your
country of residence may not be subject to regulation.
- Evidence
for the effectiveness of herbal medicines is generally limited. Although
some people find them helpful, in many cases their use tends to based on
traditional use rather than scientific research.
Some groups of people should be particularly wary about
herbal medicines and should consult a GP or pharmacist before hand. These
groups include:
- People
taking other medicines
- People
with serious health conditions, such as heart, liver or kidney disease
- People
due to have surgery
- Pregnant
or breastfeeding women
- The
elderly
- Children
If you’ve gathered some advice online, checked with your
pharmacist or GP and still fancy the herbal medicine avenue, look about for a
traditional herbal registration (THR) on the product packaging.
This means the medicine complies with quality standards
relating to safety and manufacturing, and it provides information about how and
when to use it.
But you should be aware that:
- THR
products are intended for conditions that can be self-medicated and don’t
require medical supervision, such as coughs, colds, or general aches and
pains.
- Using
THR products for more serious conditions could be harmful, especially if
it means you’re delaying seeking medical advice.
- Claims
made for THR products are based on traditional usage and not on evidence
of the product’s effectiveness.
- A
THR mark doesn’t mean the product is completely safe for everyone to take.
You often find the THR registered products in local health
shops, pharmacies and supermarkets.
The risk of going online and buying medicines or creating
your own from the herbs in your back garden is that you could be ingesting
things that could be substandard and contaminated. The ones online may be
copies of licensed medicines, but made in unlicensed factories with no quality
control. They may contain banned ingredients and toxic substances. For those of
us in the UK you can find a list of banned and restricted herbal ingredients on
the GOV.UK website.
For our friends across the pond, we would like to offer you
some sources online to check out and find out more about supplements,
pharmaceuticals and the latest research.
• Herbs for Health magazine
•U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(For drug information)
•Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
(For dietary supplement information)
•Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
•National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
•NSF International
•NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
•United States Pharmacopeia
Information gathered together by Starlitenergies.
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