OpheliaBummps is the winner of last weeks NAME
THAT HERB Challenge!! Well Done Janet! You have won
the chance to have the ENTIRE CLUB over to your
place, and be our guide for our 1st annual Herbal nature
hike! (supplying everyone with herbal tea and scones is
optional) lol...<br><br>Rick

Hi Doreen....Please e-mail me Re: your Garlic Press
Subscription<br><br>Thanks<br><br>Rick<br><br>the_cyberlord@yahoo

I market a product called Osteokenetics...made
with glucosomine and a combination of other herbs. I
am not at home at the moment, or I would be more
specific. It is wonderful for repairing tissues, joints and
ligaments and provides a greater range of movement. People
who have suffered for years with joint pain due to
injuries or arthritis have used it and experienced relief
for the first time in years, as well as the newly
injured. Feel free to email me, or leave me your email if
interested.<br>Have a good day....Darla

Hello im2bz2cstr8<br>My company has a product
that is awesome for muscules,tendons and supporting
tissue. It is a therapeutic grade essential oil. It is
the only company in North America that I've seen that
has the AFNOR standard. Basically Tested by French
Gov't to have all the constituents in the right amounts
and be of the highest grade organically grown and
distilled quality. If it's not AFNOR standard it's taking a
chance. The oil will aid your bodies muscular system by
providing the proper support material to speed the healing
process. It worked absolute wonders for me. I pulled a
groin muscle giving my nieces a piggy back ride. I went
home and applied 3 drops of oil on location (neat) and
in less than 10 seconds the pain and discomfort was
gone! I could still feel that something wasn't quite
right, but wow what an improvement. This Oil is
relatively inexpensive. Email me your address if you'd like
more information or some oil. There is a 30day $ back
guarantee from the company.<br>Good Luck<br>Brad

Hello im2bz2cstr8<br>My company has a product
that is awesome for muscules,tendons and supporting
tissue. It is a therapeutic grade essential oil. It is
the only company in North America that I've seen that
has the AFNOR standard. Basically Tested by French
Gov't to have all the constituents in the right amounts
and be of the highest grade organically grown and
distilled quality. If it's not AFNOR standard it's taking a
chance. The oil will aid your bodies muscular system by
providing the proper support material to speed the healing
process. It worked absolute wonders for me. I pulled a
groin muscle giving my nieces a piggy back ride. I went
home and applied 3 drops of oil on location (neat) and
in less than 10 seconds the pain and discomfort was
gone! I could still feel that something wasn't quite
right, but wow what an improvement. This Oil is
relatively inexpensive. Email me your address if you'd like
more information or some oil. There is a 30day $ back
guarantee from the company.

Sorry that last post was so rushed; I really am a
big wiener about lightning. When I was a kid, I used
to run around the house when a storm approached,
unplugging everything-- not just the TV set-- EVERYTHING!
Clocks, the fridge, lamps, you name it. It really annoyed
my mother after a while... Shutting down the
computer in an electric storm is my last concession to
that little girl who still cowers inside me when the
lightning flashes and the thunder booms.<br><br>Anyway, I
think I may have misspelled "SKULLCAP". And "Baikal".
Or did the letter "k" disappear off my keyboard when
the storm hit?<br><br>Also, there are other kinds of
Skullcap, like Hyssop Skullcap (S.integrifolia), which I've
seen in another book I've just now looked
at.<br><br>(Just in case that was the correct guess for the NTH
contest.)<br><br>Janet

I'd have to guess one of the (lobelia's )& probably the greater but I'm unsure

There are 2 types of goldenrod(Canada) which I
assume you have,being in Canada-American indians used
root for burns,flower tea for fevers & snake
bite,crushed flowers chewed for sore throat,seeds eaten as
survival food. Does cause allergies in some people
although most allergies attributed to it are due to
ragweed pollen. -Peterson field guides-Medicinal plants

Looks and sounds a lot like Scullcap (Scutellaria
lateriflora). <br>The constituent "Scutallarin" was a tipoff, I
must admit.<br>I've looked it up in Deni Bown's
Encyclopedia of Herbs and found that the Baical scullcap, (S.
baicalensis) is sometimes given to calm a fetus in pregnant
women, (I wouldn't risk it!) so I opted for the
lateriflora (sic)because that's not to be given in
pregnancy.<br><br>Getting offline now, as there's a big bad thunder and
lightning storm on my doorstep, or so it feels
like.<br><br>Janet

I have a couple of guesses here: my first choice
is Creeping Bellflower which doesn't really list all
those benefits just a good remedy for whooping cough,
but it remotely resembles also another species,
lesser broomrape whose tender underground stems make a
good asparagus substitute as well.

Please provide more information on Golden Rod. I
have not found it in any of the herbal books I've
checked into and have lots of it growing out back. What
is it used for? What parts are used? When do you
harvest? Thank you.<br><br>Wings

I sprained my right knee 5 weeks ago, and because
I was putting most of my weight on the left knee,
which is now very pained, too. Rest seems to be the
only help, but I need to climb the stairs several
times a day to get to the kitchen..any
suggestions?Plaese...I once heard of making a lettuce poultice for
broken bones, but was told nothing's broken Thanks

I  would like welcome all the new members of "The
Herbal Choice" club! Please introduce yourself (via a
posting) if you have not done so already, as the rest of
us would love to hear from you.<br><br>I hope you
all will have fun here and have a chance to meet new
friends who also share an interest in herbs. Please post
lot's of  Herbal talk, questions, replies and advice on
Herbal topics. As well, feel free to post pictures of
your beautiful Herb gardens. There is an album called
"Members Herbal Pics”, this is where you post your photos.
I know alot of you must be very proud of your
herbal gardens and want to show them off. I know I
do!<br><br>Be sure to join in the "NAME THAT HERB Challenge",
posted every Monday, this is a game where I post a
picture of an herb, give hints about its growing habitats
and its medicinal properties.  Then club members try
to guess what it is.Very popular activity here at
The Herbal Choice and a lot of fun.<br><br>Also, as a
fellow club member that shares an interest in Medicinal
herbs and their incredible healing qualities, I invite
you to sign up TODAY for MY FREE e-newsletter, "The
Garlic Press". Where in addition to information on
Medicinal Herbs, and Great Recipes and Culinary Tips.You
will receive my own personal quirky commentaries, and
link suggestions to the internets finest Herbal and
Culinary related websites. <br><br>So hey why not sign up
for your free subscription today!... I promise you it
won't hurt a bit
<a href=http://www.goodfoodideas.freeservers.com
target=new>http://www.goodfoodideas.freeservers.com</a> <br><br>Once
again,<br>Welcome To The Herbal
Choice<br><br>Rick<br><a href=http://ca.clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/theherbalchoice
target=new>http://ca.clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/theherbalchoice</a><br>the_cyberlord@\
yahoo.com

Here is this weeks NTH Challenge....Good luck
everyone.<br><br>This herb, is a powerful medicinal herb, it is used in
alternative medicine as an anti-inflammatory, abortifacient,
antispasmodic, slightly astringent, emmenagogue, febrifuge,
nervine, sedative and strongly tonic. Some valuable
constituents found in the plant are Scutellarin, Catalpol,
other Volatile oils, bitter iridoids and Tannins.
Scientific studies are proving this to be a valuable plant
in many areas for mental disorders.<br><br>Have
fun....<br><br>Rick

Can't slip one by anyone can I ?? Lol... For many
years I had thought that "Golden Rod" was simply a
nasty and obtrusive weed. But alas.... once again I am
surprised to find that mother nature has supplied yet
another natural cure through out our back yards and
gardens.<br><br>Congratulations to edjesharp, for being the first member to
correctly answer last weeks NTH
Challenge!<br><br>Way-da-go!<br><br>Rick

is there a topical compress that can be made for
bad bumps and bruises. (ie a big knot in the shin
from getting hit with a baseball)<br><br>or some other
sort of herbal remedy ? <br><br>would love to know : )

thanks for the anatomy lesson Rick.  I learned something today...

Catarrh is mucus made by the skin of your
digestive and breathing passages, and is little understood
for something so common. It results from anything
that irritates or inflames the skin, which responds by
trying to lubricate and protect itself.<br><br>Catarrh
causes an irritating continuous clearing of the throat,
the feeling of a lump at the back of the tongue, a
tickly, dry cough and other throat symptoms. Up to around
20% of the population suffer with this condition,
which may also be related to snoring, enlarged tonsils
and nose blockage. <br><br><br>Rick

hehe,,,I guess we all need to brush up on our latin...Those $50 words confuse me
too, and Im too lazy to go dig out my dictionary.

<<upper respiratory catarrh, whether acute
or chronic&gt;&gt;<br><br>OK, this is slightly
tangential, but related nonetheless. What exactly IS catarrh?
Is that one of those medical words that have passed
into archaism (like ague)or is it still used? And
where else in the body does it happen? What are its
effects? I've heard the word, but not often.<br><br>Janet

This is funny but true.<br><br>A SHORT HISTORY OF
MEDICINE:<br><br>" Doctor, I have an ear ache."<br><br>2000 B.C. -
"HERE, EAT THIS ROOT."<br>1000 B.C. - "THAT ROOT IS
HEATHEN, SAY THIS PRAYER."<br>1850 A.D. - "THAT PRAYER IS
SUPERSTITION, DRINK THIS POTION."<br>1940 A.D. - "THAT POTION
IS SNAKE OIL, SWALLOW THIS PILL."<br>1985 A.D. -
"THAT PILL IS INEFFECTIVE, TAKE THIS
ANTIBIOTIC."<br>2000A.D. - "THAT ANTIBIOTIC IS ARTIFICIAL. HERE, EAT THIS
ROOT!!"

Solidago/Goldenrod<br>Wings

Sweet Goldenrod

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to
all club members and avid players of the NTH
challenge, for not having this up and running yesterday as
per our regular schedule. But as the late great "JL"
once said...."Life is what happens, while you're busy
making other plans". <br><br>So with out further ado...
here we go....This weeks NAME THAT HERB Challenge ( I
must confess, I was surprised to discover that this is
indeed a VERY helpful medicinal herb)<br><br>This herb,
exhibits anti-catarrhal, anti-inflammatory,
anti-microbial, astringent, diaphoretic, carminative, and
diuretic properties. It is perhaps the first plant to
think of for upper respiratory catarrh, whether acute
or chronic. It may also be used in combination with
other herbs in the treatment of influenza. <br><br>Well
Good luck everyone....<br><br>Rick

HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY!!! TO ALL OF THE HERBAL
CHOICES' AMERICAN MEMBERS!!<br><br>To help you enjoy your
day to the fullest I have compiled a list of, "Seven
rules to a successful BBQ Party. (The following is an
excerpt from last weeks "The Garlic Press") <br><br>1)
Never eat potato salad thats been sitting in direct
sunlight for more than 6 hours.<br><br>2) Never take the
cooks last beer<br><br>3) Never request that the hosts
dog be your partner in The <br>Three Legged Race. The
dogs extra legs are of NO advantage (trust
me)<br><br>4) Never take the cooks "second" last beer<br><br>5)
Have something nice to say about the cooks apron, he
probably got it as a gift from his 6 year old niece, 35
years ago, and if it says "Kiss the Cook", DON'T! He's
hot, cranky and probably thirsty. (review rules 2 & 4)
<br><br>6) If you are asked to supply fireworks for the
celebrations, you had better bring more than those hand held
sparkler thingies and ye old "burning school
house".<br><br>7) Oh, and be nice....to the cook, he's sweatin' it
out, so you don't have to!<br><br>Once again, I wish
you all a SAFE AND HAPPY, 4TH OF JULY <br>Take care
everyone, eat and herb well, and stay healthy!<br><br>Rick
aka_the cyberlord<br><br>If you would like to subscribe
to The Garlic Press, my free bi-monthly newsletter,
simply visit my home page at
<a href=http://www.goodfoodideas.freeservers.com
target=new>http://www.goodfoodideas.freeservers.com</a>

You are very welcome...Thought it would help or at least get people to think...

Thanks for the article!<br>I am passing it on to
all of my customers. It gives us a clear picture of
yet another way the public is being duped.....all for
the sake of greed....the pharmaceuticals and the
doctors have such a stronghold on the poor unsuspecting
public. Time to get the word out. Thanks again!<br>Darla

Most important, their drugs enjoy l7-year (or
longer) patent protection. <br>Once a drug is patented
and given a brand name, no one else may sell it,
<br>and the company is free to charge whatever the market
will bear without <br>fear of competition from
generics. No wonder drug companies fight to extend <br>the
life of their patents and to obtain new patents for
old drugs. That can <br>be done merely by proposing a
new use or a different dosage form, or by
<br>combining two old drugs into a single new pill. The
anti-diabetes drug <br>Glucophage XR, for example, is
Bristol-Myers Squibb's newly patented <br>once-daily
replacement for the twice-daily Glucophage, whose patent
expired <br>last fall. <br><br>The drug companies devote
enormous sums to promoting their interests. They <br>have
the largest lobby in Washington, and contribute
copiously to political <br>campaigns. Half the FDA's budget
for the evaluation of new drugs now comes <br>from
drug company users' fees, making the agency dependent
on the industry <br>it regulates -- an obvious
conflict of interest. The industry also spends
<br>lavishly to influence doctors, who write the
prescriptions, and medical <br>researchers, who test the drugs.
<br><br>Last year drug companies spent more than $8 billion
and employed 83,000 <br>sales representatives to woo
doctors. They provided them with gifts, meals <br>and
trips, as well as another $8 billion worth of free drug
samples. The <br>companies fund and thereby influence much
of the continuing medical <br>education doctors need
to renew their licenses, and they handsomely support
<br>the scientific meetings of medical societies, where
they hawk their wares <br>and often sponsor their own
programs. <br><br>The companies also want to influence
researchers who test drugs in human <br>subjects.
Increasingly, they are entering into financial arrangements
with <br>academic medical centers and their faculties,
arrangements that threaten <br>the objectivity and credibility
of clinical research. A growing number of <br>drug
trials are being managed by investor-owned businesses
that are even <br>more beholden to the drug companies
because the companies are their only <br>clients.
<br><br>Furthermore, in their contracts with academic researchers,
drug companies <br>now often insist on controlling how
the research is done and reported, and <br>whether
the results will even be published at all. Recently,
there have <br>been several widely publicized instances
of drug companies suppressing <br>research results
that were not favorable to their drugs.
<br><br>Prescription drugs are not like discretionary consumer
products. For <br>millions of patients, they are necessary
to health and even survival. Yet, <br>the drug
companies often behave as though their only responsibility
is to <br>their shareholders. <br><br>It's time to
take a hard look at the pharmaceutical industry and
hold it <br>accountable. This is particularly urgent
now, given the move to add a drug <br>benefit to
Medicare. The industry would like to see such a benefit
without <br>any new regulation, but that would cause drug
prices to rise even faster <br>and hand the companies
yet another windfall. Future policy on this and
<br>other matters related to prescription drugs should be
based on a thorough <br>understanding of the industry's
behavior, best achieved through in-depth <br>congressional
hearings. We can't think of a more urgent investigative
<br>assignment for the Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor and <br>Pensions. <br><br>Marcia Angell is a
senior lecturer and Arnold S. Relman is professor
<br>emeritus at Harvard Medical School. Both are former
editors-in-chief of the <br>New England Journal of Medicine.
<br><br>© 2001 The Washington Post Company

Prescription for Profit <br><br>By Marcia Angell
and Arnold S. Relman <br>Washington Post
<br>Wednesday, June 20, 2001; Page A27 <br><br>Few Americans
appreciate the full scope and consequences of the
<br>pharmaceutical industry's hold on our health care system.
Prescription drug <br>costs are rising at an unsustainable
rate -- 19 percent per year -- and <br>will soon
exceed payments to doctors as the largest item on the
health bill <br>after hospital costs. <br><br>The drug
companies maintain that this is the price of success. They
portray <br>their industry as a highly risky one in a
competitive market -- just able <br>to cover its enormous
research and development costs but managing
<br>nonetheless to deliver a stream of innovative drugs in the
public interest. <br><br>Here are the facts. The
pharmaceutical giants spend two or three times as <br>much on
marketing and administration as they do on R&D, and their
profits <br>are about twice their R&D costs. To cite a
typical example, last year <br>GlaxoSmithKline spent 37
percent of its revenues on marketing and
<br>administration and only 14 percent on R&D, while making a 28
percent <br>profit. Overall, the pharmaceutical industry
is by far the most profitable <br>in the United
States. <br><br>As for being innovative: Yes, the
industry has brought important new drugs <br>to market
over the past few decades, but many of them stemmed
from basic <br>research at the National Institutes of
Health or in academic laboratories <br>supported by the
NIH. Others were first developed by smaller biotech
<br>companies and then licensed to the large companies. It was
recently <br>reported that only two of Bristol-Myers
Squibb's top 10 drugs were <br>discovered in-house.
Moreover, the number of innovative drugs reaching the
<br>market has actually declined in the past five years.
<br><br>The pharmaceutical giants are now putting a major
part of their resources <br>into the development and
marketing of "me-too" drugs -- variants of drugs
<br>already on the market. Among many examples, Claritin is
one of a number of <br>similar antihistamines; Zoloft
is like many other antidepressants; and <br>Zocor is
just one of a family of cholesterol-lowering drugs.
"Me-too" drugs <br>are relatively easy to develop but
require massive promotion campaigns to <br>attract
consumers to a particular brand and persuade physicians to
<br>prescribe one instead of another. Hence, the huge marketing
budgets. <br><br>Far from being an exemplar of the free
market, the pharmaceutical industry <br>enjoys many
government protections and subsidies. In addition to
benefiting <br>from publicly funded research, drug companies
have low tax rates, because <br>they can deduct their
marketing expenses as well as their research and
<br>development costs.

Greetings,<br><br>I never thought about pineapple
weed as a medicinal herb but glad you asked. Believe
it or not, according to the Peterson Field Guide for
Eastern/Central Med. Plants and Herbs this little "weed" actually
can help with menstrual discomfort(one for the womb!)
and also with flatulance(should give some to my
hubby, LOL). We all know know men looooove to share
their bodily functions with the ones they love
most(&lt;grin&gt;, :), LOL). It is also good for colds and stomach
aches. It appears to have soothing and calming qualities
much like chamomile. <br><br>Most of my "female" herbs
are standardized extracts(Chastetree(tincture), black
cohosh and evening primrose oil), but I have tried
motherwort leaf(dried and made into a tea)for cramps and it
worked ok. There is also a website that offers
information on Amazon Rainforest herbs,
<a href=http://naturalmedicine.amazonherb.net/
target=new>http://naturalmedicine.amazonherb.net/</a> and they list a "Woman's
Cycle Combination" that
includes Abuta, Suma(which they SWEAR is a great woman's
herb just by itself), Mulungu, Passion Flower(I
already have used this as a sleep aid with Kava and
Hops), Lemon Balm(which I also grow and put in salads,
tea and have made a lemonade like drink with), Jatoba
and Espinheira Santa.<br><br>They say this particular
combination is helpful for the requirements of a woman's
cycle. It naturally relieves, PMS(very important, mine
has gotten worse since I became peri-menopausal),
mood swings, low energy, cramps, bloating even breast
tenderness if that is a problem. Helps with libido also and
dryness(so it would be helpful for peri, full menopausal and
post menopausal women as well). Also releives
cystitis, bladder infections UTI's; soothes labor and post
childbirth pains. Also iron rich and rich in hormpone
precursers to help keep estrogen/progesterone in balance,
thus good for gals like me. Can be used throughout the
month and increased just before menses to help with
PMS.<br><br>I also found checked out Meadowsweet and it's
leaves and flowering tops dried and made into a tea is
leaves are helpful for cramps as it is a another natural
aspirin-like pain reliever.<br><br>Hope this
helps.<br><br>Blessings<br>Lakeladyg