medical herbalism vs orthodox medicine

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MEDICAL HERBALISM VS. ORTHODOX MEDICINE

FOR OPTIMUM PATIENT CARE & TO REDUCE COSTS – THERE IS A BETTER

WAY!

Morwenna Given discusses

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MORWENNA GIVENBA MA (Oxon) BSC BHG mOHA RH

Who am I?

I am a Medical Herbalist practising in downtown Toronto treating a variety of disease from

constipation to cancer

• www.medicusherbis.com

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Why this subject?

DRU’S STORY

PLEASE NOTE IT IS ADVISED, THAT ANY PLANTS MENTIONED IN THIS TALK ARE ONLY USED UNDER

PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE. BOTANICAL MEDICINE AS SUPPLIED BY A PROFESSIONAL IS NOT AVAILABLE OVER

THE RETAIL COUNTER.

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What is?

• Orthodox medicine – a form of medical therapy• Practiced by someone who has completed med school &

hospital training with emphasis on surgery & synthetic drugs

• Herbal medicine - a form of medical therapy• practised by someone who has completed med school &

clinical training with emphasis on phytotherapeutics, biochemistry and pharmacology, a 6 yr. training program

• Both operate on an evidence based model

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SMILE !

My patient contract contains the words:“I may recommend walks, movies, laughter as well as specific herbs and nutritional therapies. “

This is apparently now acceptable!

It is evidence based!!!

• “ Laughter & therapy could go a long way for the heart” European Society of Cardiology

20ll study on endothelial function & laughter13/09/2011 ©

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Oops!!

• HERBAL MEDICINE VS.• COMMERCIAL MEDICINE

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WHY HAVE WE COME TO THIS POSITION?

• CURRENT ORTHODOX MEDICAL STRUCTURE IS ONLY @ 50 YEARS OLD

• HISTORICAL ANAMOLY

• 2 KEY CHANGES IN THE recent TIME PERIOD• BIG PHARMA

• SOCIAL (OHIP) MEDICINE13/09/2011 ©

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MEDICINE IN THE PAST

• 50,000 YRS AGO – ONLY HERBAL MEDICINE

• 2,000 YEARS AGO - HERBAL MEDICINE & SURGERY

• 1,000 YEARS AGO - IN THE WEST MEDICINE CONTROLLED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Unani & Chinese herbal medicine flourished in the east13/09/2011

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NOTHING NEW!

• Roman-era shipwreck reveals ancient medical secrets – Daily Telegraph/Reuters headline

• A first-aid kit found on a 2,000-year-old shipwreck has provided a remarkable insight into the medicines concocted by ancient physicians to cure sailors of dysentery and other ailments.

• Parsley, yarrow, hibiscus, alfalfa, chestnuts13/09/2011 ©

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MEDICINE IN THE PAST (2)

• 100 YEARS (1900) AGO MEDICAL HERBALISTS AND SURGEONS WORKED TOGETHER treating PRIMARILY WAR INJURIES & BACTERIAL DISEASE

• 100 YEARS AGO BACTERIAL DISEASE began to be CONTROLLED DUE to SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY & PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS in the west

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MORTALITY 1900

TOP 3 CAUSES OF DEATHPNEUMONIA, TB, DIAHORREA

LIFE EXPECTANCY 56 YRS

SOURCE: CDC.ORG

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SO WHAT CHANGED 1900-PRESENT?

• POLITICAL RISE OF SCIENTIFIC ORTHODOX MEDICINE

• POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL RISE OF BIG PHARMA

• THE FAILURE OF HERBALISTS prior to 1940 UNDERSTAND THE NEED TO CHANGE

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MORTALITY 2000

• Top 3 causes of mortality • CVS, cancer, car accidents• Life expectancy 81 yrs. @ 25 years later than

1900• No change in 60 YRS for TOP CAUSES OF

MORTALITY - CVS & CANCER

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Current medical construct:

• Big Pharma, Big Government, Academia, Orthodox medicine• Linked together in a financial and power based

web with • NO ACCOUNTABILITY & POOR RESULTS• RESULT The patient suffers & we pay via

inflated taxes/costs for poor results• Medical Herbalists now operate on a low cost

scientific model 13/09/2011 ©

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FIGHTING THE LAST WAR

• DISEASE MODEL HAS CHANGED FROM ACUTE TO CHRONIC. The medical model has not changed.

• THE MEDICAL PROBLEMS OF A CHANGING POPULATION & DISEASE CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY THE CURRENT MEDICAL

CONSTRUCT13/09/2011 ©

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JANUS

• 1950-2011 Death primarily due to cancer, diabetes, CVS - diseases of excess

• THIS REPRESENTS A MAJOR SHIFT FROM ACUTE TO CHRONIC DISEASE OF THE PAST

• THIS REPRESENTS A CONTROLLING OF BACTERIAL DISEASE TOGETHER WITH IMPROVEMENTS IN SURGERY AND PUBLIC HEALTH/HYGIENE.

• BUT WE ARE NOW DEALING WITH VIRUSES ( MUTATION ) AND LIFESTYLE DISEASES OF EXCESS

• WE NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY WE APPROACH DISEASE AND PHYSICAL DYSBIOSIS IN CANADA ESPECIALLY WITH AN AGING POPULATION

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THE CHANGING FACE OF MEDICINE FROM ACUTE TO CHRONIC.

• " The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease " Thomas Edison

• WHAT IS THE CONSTANT IN THE LAST 50,000 YEARS AND WHERE ARE WE TODAY?

• PLANTS remain AS PRIMARY MEDICINE FOR HUMANS world wide

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SOLUTION !

• PLANTS ARE MULT FACETED AND MULTI FACTORIAL OPERATING ON BIOCHEMICAL PATHWAYS WE ARE ONLY BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND capable of treating CHRONIC DISEASE WITH NO SIDE EFFECTS.

• ' Everything man needs to maintain good health can be found in nature - the true task of science is to find these things ' Paracelsus

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NOTHING NEW!

• Jacqui’s Grandfather:

I am old fashioned enough to believe that 80% of the drugs and compounds in use today could be advantageously substituted by other more simple vegetable products provided us by Nature. 1937

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CHRONIC DISEASE

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Cancer, Diabetes type 2, Arthritis, IBS, Alzheimer'sAnxiety, hypertension, auto immune conditions & so on.

All principally caused by environmental issues.

• WHAT IS THE PRINCIPAL CAUSE OF THESE ISSUES? Alcohol, smoking, diet, no exercise

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Environmental aetiologies

• “If we go down the same path and do nothing more – with people becoming less and less physically active and relying more and more

on highly processed and energy dense foods, the problem is only going to get worse”

Martin Wiseman as reported in www.medscape .com Sept 9 2011

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How is chronic disease treated?

• The socialised model has been built on the surgical skill of the physician using drugs for acute short term care

• and DRUGS but• There are no efficacious drugs for the ‘environment’. Antibiotics no

longer work

no curative drugs for the chronic long term diseases Surgical skills have limited relevance for chronic disease

• Surgery is brilliant for hip replacement but a complete waste if the diet for bone health is ignored.

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DRUGS“ Physicians pour drugs of which they know little to cure diseases

of which they know less, into patients of which they know nothing “ Voltaire

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Current Treatments - DRUGS

• Create further disease – suppress symptoms

• 3 drug classes for discussion :

• Statins, bisphosphonates, proton pump inhibitors

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CYNARUS SCOLYMUSan alternative to

• Statins:

• Mechanism of action• Inhibit proper functioning of the liver, pancreas and

the immune system• Known to increase the risk of diabetes and auto

immune disease• Failure to reduce mortality due to heart disease• Major Side effects – 30% impaired muscle activity

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URTICA DIOICAan alternative to

• Bisphosphonates:

• Mechanism of action• Impact on bone is highly negative leading to

bone fractures aggravating the diseases of old age

• Shown to be potentially carcinogenic• Side effects – FDA now reviewing

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ALTHEA OFFICINALIS radixan alternative to

• Proton pump inhibitors:

• Mechanism of action• Inhibits a principle mechanism of the body’s

defence system• Inhibits optimum function of the digestive

tract• Side effects

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Plants

WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PLANTS WHICH DO ALL THESE ACTIONS i.e. cholesterol inhibition, anti acid, bone protection WITHOUT SIDE EFFECTS

• MH ESTABLISHES /treats THE CAUSE. DOES NOT SUPPRESS THE SYMPTOM

• MH TREATS INDIVIDUALLY & WHOLISTICALLY

• PLANTS CAN RESOLVE THE CAUSES WITH NO SIDE EFFECTS AND AT A FRACTION OF THE COST for long term use.

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The patient is the priority

–WOULD IT NOT BE BETTER FOR PATIENTS Through an INTEGRATIVE MODEL TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE BEST MEDICINE FOR THEIR MEDICAL PROBLEMS?

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WHAT IS INTEGRATION?

• MD has limited effectiveness, no drugs in the kit bag for longterm disease, focuses on location of disease, vertical integration of profession versus homeostasis and energy.

"The part can never be well unless the whole is well” Socrates

• MH innovative and clinically validated, harmonious and synergistic model ( ying/yang ) significantly improves patient outcome

• MH provides the links between the diagnosis, the surgery, the path lab, the treatment and refining the protocol as well as dealing with the environment & homeostasis & prevention

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CURRENT Medical CONDITIONS

• Let us look at 2 diseases which would benefit from an integrated medical model

•CANCER & DIABETES

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WORLD CANCER RESEARCH FUND

• 2.8 MILLION CANCER CASES COULD BE PREVENTED

• ‘ The policy of relying on identifying and treating these cases when they occur is simply not a sustainable solution in any country’

• Martin Wiseman Project Director FRCP FRCPath September 2011

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PREVENTION

• CANCER IS A PREVENTABLE DISEASEProf. B Aggwhal MD Anderson Cancer CentreUniversity of Texas

• MASTECTOMY OFFERS NO SURVIVAL ADVANTAGE IN YOUNG WOMEN

Dr. U Mahood Fellow radiation oncology Univ. of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre

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Cancer

• NO NEW DRUGS IN 30YRS• Cancer drug costs can be $7,000 plus a shot• Radiation & Drugs do not cure the cause they

destroy the body. They may delay.• Jones in 1895 and Peters in 2005 both observed:

Surgical removal of the primary tumour activates cancer

• In Ontario: the absence of adequate Pathology reports – sausage machine approach

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ANTI CANCER PLANTS

How can I help:• The pathogenesis of cancer is relatively well

understood.• At a simple level there are 27 pathways• We have plants which inhibit everyone of

these pathways all evidence based• Curcuma longa, Boswellia, Scentella asiatica,

Tannacetum, Polygonum cuspidatum, Thuja

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Diabetes

The Ontario physicians contract bountyFailure to distinguish between insulin resistance and diabetesUniversal application of Statins which can cause diabetesFailure to educate the patientType 2 is an environmental disease arising almost solely out of an inappropriate diet

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ANTI DIABETIC PLANTS

• The pathogenesis of diabetes type 2 is relatively well known

• At a simple level it is the excess ingestion of sugars and the exhaustion of the pancreas/adrenal glands in the body

• We have plants which can regenerate the pancreas and adrenal glands and inhibit sugars

• Gymnyma, Galega oficinalis, Pterocarpus marsupium, Trigonella

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Benefits of Medical Herbalism

• MEDICAL HERBALISTS INCORPORATE:• TESTS, RESEARCH, DIET, EXERCISE,

INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OF ORTHODOX APPROACH. No commercial interests & conflicts of interest. TRAINING IN PHARMACOLOGY; LOW COST

• MD’S DO NOT FOCUS MANY ISSUES THAT ARE NEEDED FOR GOOD HEALTH.

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Summary cost

• Breast cancer – No evidence of disease• MH cost @$6,000• Diabetes type 2 - No longer diabetic• MH cost @$400• Orthodox costs start at $2,500 & $14,000• And are ongoing for life

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We need to grasp the nettle of costs

• WE NEED TO INTEGRATE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PATIENT & REDUCE COSTS:

• Ontario population expected to grow by 30% but the budget by 1.5%:

• TRIALs IN THE UK: MH saved 75% drug costs 45% consultant time

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CURRENT COSTS

• MH/MD should be integrated to reduce these costs and lower your taxes of which:

• 66% SPENT ON HEALTH FROM INCOME TAX revenues

• 44% SPENT ON HEALTH FROM TOTAL REVENUES – Ontario budget data

• 35-42% of all monies are spent on drugs – refusal of department to disclose $ -WHY?

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RECAP

• There are no cost effective synthetic drugs for chronic diseases. Many drugs create further dysbiosis i.e. increased cost

• There is no clarity in the government data

• Is our health budget going to grow by 30%?• NO!

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Health budget Issues

10% is spent on health prevention - it is not prevention BUT early diagnosisE.g. improving colorectal screening - that is treating disease after it has started. There is no program to inform the public that one principal cause is eating too much red meat.

Early detection is not the same as prevention

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HEALTH BUDGET ISSUES

• The focus is on disease e.g. breast cancer/HIV But not but the fastest growing diseases thyroid cancer /diabetes

• Diabetes affects 10% of the population growing exponentially. But no mention of prevention or separation of insulin resistance vs. diabetes type 2 diagnosis to help the patient resolve the problem

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HEALTH Issues – 2

• There is no provision for assessing the effectiveness of drugs against other modalities or polypharmacy or programs

• No reduction in disease or mortality or efficacy

• No drug performance review• There is a huge disconnect between health

and treatment of disease

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PRACTICAL STEPS

• We need to educate both our physicians and our patients

• We need to practise prevention not early diagnosis

• We need to monitor the costs/effectiveness of drugs/ use:

• E.g. Galega oficinalis instead of Metformin because the former does not inhibit B12.

• We need to address the environmental issues13/09/2011 ©

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Shift the focus

• WE NEED TO SHIFT THE FOCUS OF MEDICINE FROM THE current ORTHODOX MODEL TO THE PATIENT AND A more HOLISTIC MODEL

• Focus on prevention. There is only allocation for early detection which is NOT prevention

• We need to recognize the limitations of conventional medicine in the face of the changing face of disease

• We need to address cause not consequence• IS THIS NEW? no - Eli Jones 190013/09/2011 ©

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2011 & BEYOND

• INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE – continues to be practised by the Chinese, over 2,000 years, to great effect

• INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE STARTING IN THE • UK & US. Examples include: MH Clinics in Dermatology, Cancer, Family practise

• But sadly not here in Ontario – quite the reverse

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Government Failures

• We need the government to recognise the consequences of their actions and the waste/increased costs they cause.

• E.g. Vitamin D testing.

• Ontario is known to be generally deficient in Vitamin D(3)• Yet the provincial government has made this cost outside of

OHIP

• This is not a money saving action – this action causes more disease and cost

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What is Vitamin D

• Vitamin D is poorly understood ; currently 8 forms identified - most common form known as Vitamin D3

• Pathogenesis of cancer, hypertension, MS, auto immune, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, pulmonary disease, Crohn's, diabetes, thyroid function, blood clotting, liver function

• Critical to normal immune function, absorption of phosphorous/ calcium in bones and muscles, insulin

• Grant W, et.al. An estimate of the economic burden and premature deaths due to vitamin D deficiency in Canada », Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, volume 54, Issue 8, p. 1172-1181, août 2010.

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THYROID TEST

• The standard blood test only covers TSH but you cannot evaluate thyroid function without considering T3/T4

• ( P. 1303 Merck Manual 18th ed.) This is hugely important in Ontario: lack of iodine in the soils,

bromine in grains, the fastest growing cancer. This policy promotes disease .

• MH can resolve subclinical thyroid issues whereas MD can’t. The Thyroid governs all metabolic actions in the body with implications for heart, liver, kidney functions as well as the HPA/pineal gland and is implicated in all chronic disease

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Diseases of the future

• In the western world these are most likely to be viral & auto immune e.g. MS , Fibromyalgia

• Single action drugs cannot deal with this type of disease

• Surgery does not resolve the problem;• Plants can and do resolve many of these

conditions, at low cost and high effectiveness

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POLICY CHANGE

• Drugs should be prescribed on the basis of need not a formulaic based approach

• We need to stop the mass vaccination approach; All it does is contribute to big Pharma’s profits as the viruses mutate long before you get a vaccine & they depress the immune system

• We need to integrate MH/MD to maximise benefit to the patient and lower the cost to the tax payer

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CORRUPTION

• MANY DRUGS ARE BASED ON FDA APPROVAL BUT

• THE FDA FINDS US DRUG RESEARCH FIRM FAKES DOCS – REUTERS JULY 26 2011

• THE FDA IS TRYING TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF NON INDEPENDENT doctors

• THE RELATIONSHIP OF DOCTORS AND BIG PHARM/FUNDING IS NOT always DISCLOSED

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Added pressures

• In 2008, the FDA took a bold step of limiting the percentage of a panel’s members with financial conflicts of interested to 13 per cent. Now, though, it turns out that the FDA’s leader, Margaret Hamburg, has hinted she may row back on this decision. There’s talk that conflict of interest restrictions is leading to a dearth of relevant experts which, in turn, is slowing new product approvals.

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GENETICS

• Much of the thrust of the new research is in individual genetics – patentability – rich revenues – ( Chicago court ref ) – unknown consequences – limited applicability

• Ignores causes of disease

• MH already IN A FAR CHEAPER FORMAT treats individually in a physiological & wholistic way

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EXPANDING DISEASE

• “Basically, more and more people are being diagnosed with 'conditions' that require treatment. The broadening of the definitions of disease is questioned in a recent article in the British Medical Journal. It turns out that the panels that set such criteria are usually riddled with doctors who have significant conflicts of interest.”

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references

• Lenzer J. FDA is criticised for hinting it may loosen conflict of interest rules. 2011;343:d5070

• 2. Lenzer J. Doctors join protest over change to FDA rules on conflict of interest. 2011;343:d5269

• 3. Lenzer J, et al. Naming names: is there an (unbiased) doctor in the house? BMJ 2008; 337:a930

• Other references supplied on request. See also www.pubmed/cdc.org./www.ontario.gov.ca

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Integrate for a better way

• Can a MH do everything – no• Can a MD do everything – no

Together we are greater than the sum of the parts

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t

THANKYOU FOR LISTENING

Thank you for listening to me

WWW.medicusherbis.com

MORWENNA GIVEN WWW.MEDICUSHERBIS.COM

13/09/2011