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(More customer reviews)Rosemary Gladstar has a winner with HERBAL HEALING FOR WOMEN. She begins with a simple premise--women have needs different from men. Women, cannot escape the calendar, the seasons, and nature in general. Men don't experience menses, bear children, or go through menopause. Herbs that ease the pain women know first hand can only be seen as Goddess-sends if you will.
Because men and women are different, not all the herbs that work for men will work for women--and vice versa. Unfortunately, not too many "herbalists" clearly acknowledge this in their various books. In many herbal books and manuals you have to dig to find the information specific for age and sex, but Gladstar has arranged the female part in logical categories associated with the various phases of a woman's life.
For example, Black Cohash (Cimicifuga Racemosa), Linseed oil, and Isoflavins contain phytoestrogens and are used in Europe to alleviate the symtoms of menopause. Since the side effects of some of the regularly prescribed synthetic estrogens derived from mare's urine are not only acquired in despicable ways (ask PETA) but are dangerous to your health (don't belive me? read the little piece of paper that comes with your prescription) you might consider alternatives. I have and am here to say that some of the unhappy consequences I experienced from the over-the-counter drug are a thing of the past.
As part of my Master's Degree program (I am a sociologist-demographer), I studied mortality, morbidity, and biostatistics at Georgetown University and learned how to read biomedical research. I have maintained a personal interest in, and spent the last 30 years keeping up with, medical studies about women's issues. So, I am not ignorant of the strengths and shortcomings of various drugs used to deal with women's "complaints." The bad news is this--all synthetic drugs have bad side effects. Sometimes they are worse than what ails you. Synthetics simply aren't as good as the original, and as Gladstar points out, you even have to be careful where the original is involved.
For example, the current evidence for HRT with estrogens made from mare's urine is conflicted. Unfortunately, for ages and ages, males were the only medical subjects in scientific studies. So, it will take awhile to find out just how effective and/or damaging therapies like HRT are. In the interim, my daughter's midwife recommended herbs known to women through the ages and I am taking these to deal with the symptoms of menopause.
Ms. Gladstar discusses the clinical reseach associated with each of the herbs listed in her book, including those of interest to me at this phase in my life. Thank goodness, she doesn't limit herself to research conducted in the U.S. And, unlike the European herbalists, she includes herbs known and used by American Indian women.
I have a number of favorites, many I've known about since I was a child. I will never forget discovering the cure for warts from a little classmate in 4th grade. I rushed home to tell my mother because my sister suffered from warts (all over her hands). Mom had tried everything, but this procedure worked. I tried it years later on a horse that broke out with warts all over his body--they are caused by a virus--and he survived the virus and lost all his warts. My little friend was only nine years old, and had an amazing knowledge of home remedies. Of course we know these are just old wives tales.
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