The Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies (16 page)

Normally, the cells throughout your body behave in an orderly fashion, growing, dividing, and dying according to schedule (replicating more quickly when you’re young and slowing down to replace only worn-out or dying cells as you reach adulthood).

In most cases, if a cell’s DNA is damaged, the cell will repair the damage or die. But if the cell survives with a specific mutation, it becomes cancerous. Cancerous cells don’t die the way normal cells do; instead, they outlive normal cells and create millions of new cancer cells, which can create tumors and invade other areas of the body, a process called
metastasis.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1.4 million Americans were diagnosed with cancer—and 565,000 Americans died—in 2008. Cancer accounts for one in four deaths and claims more than 1,500 lives a day.

Nonmelanoma skin cancer is by far the most common type of cancer in the United States, with more than a million new diagnoses each year (about half of all cancer diagnoses combined). After skin cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancers, in order of prevalence, are lung, prostate, and colorectal (in men), and breast, lung, and colorectal (in women).

Cancers of the breast and female reproductive system (including the cervix, uterus, and ovaries) kill about 69,000 women every year. Breast cancer accounts for more than one in four cancers diagnosed in American women.

Conventional medical treatment often involves surgical removal of the tumor and other affected tissues, radiation, and chemotherapy (treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells and stop tumor proliferation). In the case of hormone-dependent cancers (prostate cancer in men, breast and reproductive cancers in women), patients may be given hormonal therapies. The side effects of chemotherapy drugs include intense nausea and fatigue; hormonal therapies can increase the risk of other cancers and circulatory and liver problems.

Here are some herbal options, which in many cases can be used in conjunction with conventional treatments:

Humans are growing increasingly susceptible to several diseases that, although well known and well researched, remain mysterious. Researchers and doctors can identify the symptoms and even predict the people who are the greatest risk of developing them, yet are at a loss as to explain exactly what causes them—or why they’re becoming so widespread.

Autoimmune disorders are characterized by an abnormal immune response—the body mistakes its own tissues as a threat and attacks them—and can affect any part of the body, including the heart, skin, and endocrine and digestive systems. Some of the most well known are lupus, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), celiac disease, and type 1 diabetes; other diseases that may be linked to autoimmunity include multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.

Autoimmune disorders are the third most common kind of disease in the United States, right behind cancer and heart disease.

Chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS, was once dismissed as psychosomatic “yuppie flu.” CFS is now recognized as a serious health problem that affects more than a million Americans—and it is four times more common in women than men. Symptoms include overwhelming exhaustion, persistent muscle and joint pain, sleep disturbances, headaches, and impaired concentration and memory.

Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread pain, abnormal pain processing (sensitivity to things other people wouldn’t find painful), fatigue, sleep disturbances, and psychological problems. It affects more than 5 million Americans, mostly women (the ratio of women to men is seven to one).

Conventional treatments for autoimmune disorders include pain medications and drugs that treat specific symptoms (i.e., swelling or skin rashes), such as corticosteroids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Conventional therapies for CFS include immunomodulating drugs, antivirals, antidepressants, and antianxiety medications. Fibromyalgia is generally treated with NSAIDs, opioids, antidepressants, and muscle relaxants.

Many natural remedies can be used in conjunction with these drugs, although people with autoimmune disorders should avoid taking herbs that stimulate immunity. Safe herbal therapies include:

Herbal remedies are perfect for treating the aches and pains that all people experience at one time or another. Unlike the drugs prescribed by conventional medicine, which typically attack a specific bodily function—inflammation, for example—with a synthetic and single-purpose drug, the medicinal constituents of herbs typically work synergistically, meaning they generally don’t have the side effects of pharmaceuticals.

Injuries to the body can take many forms: a contusion or sprain, inflammation from arthritis or tendinitis, a sore back or an aching head brought on by stress. All have one thing in common: irriation or damage to the body’s tissues.

Say you’re running toward home plate, savoring your imminent triumph (and composing your victory speech in your head) when—wham!—you hit the dirt.

Maybe you pulled a muscle? Or twisted an ankle? Either way, you’ve done some damage. If the fall was sudden enough, you’ve probably torn some muscle (or tendon or ligament) fibers, triggering an almost immediate response in your body. Nerves send a pain message to your brain, which in turn tells you to stop what you were doing lest things get any worse. Blood is quickly sent to the injury site, carrying the body’s defensive foot soldiers (white blood cells) and stabilizing the area until help arrives. It’s the inflammatory response in action.

Now, say you’re sitting in your favorite chair, watching the evening news, when you feel an ache in your knee. It’s been there for awhile, so long that you hardly notice it anymore. That ache is also the result of inflammation, which in this case is occurring as a result of an old injury. There’s no emergency here, no microbial intruders to destroy, but your body is reacting to this trauma in the same way it would to any other: with inflammation.

Although it’s the source of countless health problems, inflammation can be a good thing. In inflammation, the body sends blood to the site of some kind of trauma to protect itself from infection or further injury. Signs of inflammation include pain, redness, warmth, and swelling (edema). If the inflammation is happening in a joint or muscle, you’ll also experience stiffness and some loss of function.

All of this is good, of course, unless that inflammatory process gets stuck in the “on” position. This can be caused by a few things: Maybe you’re perpetuating the damage by continuing to do the things that cause the injury in the first place, or you’re developing a chronic condition, like arthritis or bursitis, in which the inflammation is doing nothing but creating more inflammation. Ongoing inflammation can cause any number of problems, but in the case of everyday aches and pains it usually means swelling and discomfort that never go away. It can also mean damage to the tissues in the area, including cartilage and bone.

Herbs generally contain hundreds of ingredients, called
phytochemicals,
many of which have proven pharmacological benefits in treating general aches and pains.

Phytochemicals are most often produced by a plant as a form of self-preservation. Some act like the chemical equivalent of spines on a cactus, defending the plant from the animals, insects, and microbes that otherwise might eat it (or give it a deadly disease). Others protect the plant against environmental stresses like extreme temperatures or drought.

Luckily, phytochemicals can help people, too. Over the millennia, we’ve discovered plants whose phytochemicals work as antimicrobial agents, astringents, anti-inflammatories, and anesthetics, all of which can help people deal with aches and pains.

Although they often contain powerful ingredients, herbs are generally considered a gentler form of healing than the pharmaceuticals and procedures of conventional medicine. That’s because the side effects of most herbal remedies are rare—and much less troubling than their conventional medicine counterparts.

Conventional treatment for most aches and pains typically involves over-the-counter (OTC) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, naproxen (Aleve), and ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil), and the pain reliever acetaminophen (Tylenol). Some people also use prescription NSAIDs such as celecoxib (Celebrex) to manage chronic pain. But NSAIDs can have serious effects, including stomach bleeding and increased risk of a heart attack. High doses of acetaminophen can lead to liver toxicity.

In cases that involve chronic inflammation in or around a joint (such as bursitis or tendinitis) and don’t respond to these drugs, a doctor might prescribe a more powerful anti-inflammatory, such as a corticosteroid (steroidal drug), which can be injected directly into the joint or surrounding area. But while corticosteroids can relieve pain, they can also cause serious side effects, including headaches, elevated blood pressure, muscle weakness, impaired wound healing, ulcers, and psychiatric disturbances. Moreover, steroid drugs can actually damage cartilage and weaken tendons and muscles. This can be especially problematic if the injection was made into a weight-bearing joint, such as the ankle or knee.

Arthritis, bursitis, and tendinitis are three conditions that share a common culprit: inflammation. When they settle into your joints or other tissues, these conditions can run the gamut from annoying to crippling.

Bursitis is inflammation of the
bursae,
which are small, fluid-filled sacs that keep the bones, tendons, and muscles around your joints cushioned and thus keep the joints moving smoothly. Bursae are also located between bones and other structures (like muscles and skin) that move against the bone. If a bursa becomes inflamed, generally because of overuse or repetitive strain, that movement becomes painful.

Arthritis is the number one cause of disability in the United States. Although arthritis is quite common in seniors—roughly half of everyone over sixty-five has been diagnosed with it—it’s not strictly an old-person’s disease. Almost two-thirds of the 46 million Americans with diagnosed arthritis are younger than sixty-five.

Arthritis encompasses more than 100 different conditions, but osteoarthritis is the most common, typically striking people who put excessive strain on their joints, have had a joint injury (or joint malformation), are overweight, or have a family history of the disease.

Technically speaking, osteoarthritis isn’t caused by inflammation; it comes from physical wear and tear. However, because osteoarthritis includes joint pain, swelling, and loss of function—all symptoms of inflammation—it’s is generally lumped in with the rest.

Tendinitis (or tendonitis) is an inflammation in the tendon, which is the fibrous, cord-like material that joins muscle to bone. It’s caused by repetitive strain or injury—think tennis elbow and swimmer’s shoulder—but it’s not reserved for athletes: Painting or shoveling also can trigger it, as can using incorrect posture or neglecting to stretch before activity.

Tendinitis produces pain just outside the affected joint. Adults over forty are more susceptible, because tendons become less flexible and more injury-prone as you age.

The “itis” conditions are typically treated with OTC or prescription medicines such as NSAIDs. But there are several herbs that can treat pain, stiffness, and inflammation without the side effects.

Whether it’s an ache in the lower back or a twinge in the neck, back pain is the most widespread orthopedic condition in the United States, affecting about 80 percent of people.

Back pain is really not a condition—it’s a symptom of an underlying problem in the muscles, nerves, and/or bones of the spine. In many cases, it’s a sign of a mechanical problem, such as muscle tension: Maybe you’ve put undue strain on your back by lifting a heavy object improperly, suddenly twisting your back or neck, or maintaining poor posture for a long time while sitting or standing.

Another mechanical problem is a condition known as intervertebral disk degeneration, which is breakdown of the disks located between the bones, or vertebrae, of your spine. Back pain can also be the result of an injury or a condition like scoliosis (a curvature of the spine) or arthritis.