What Is A Home Remedy?
Home Remedies - Facts or Quacks?
Myths and legends often have their basis in a grain of truth. So I wondered if home remedies, alternative treatments, and folklore cures might also be based on truth. First, let's try to define the phrase home remedy.
There's No Place Like Home
The name itself proclaims that a home remedy is, well, a remedy that's administered at home! Prescription drugs are often given at home as remedies, so we need to dig a little deeper. When you think of home remedy, don't you think of some sort of cure or treatment that's outside mainstream modern medicine? Me too. Let's take a look at some choices.
The Holistic View
The dictionary defined holistic medicine as an approach to medical care that emphasizes the study of all aspects of a person's health, including physical, psychological, social, economic, and cultural factors. The holistic definition is very broad and could apply to many medical approaches.
Peaches & Herbs?
Many people associate herbs with home remedies. The definition for herbal remedy is a plant, or plant part, or an extract or mixture of these used to prevent, alleviate, or cure disease called also herbal medicine. That sounds like a good definition, although home remedies tend to encompass more than herbal remedies. What's next?
Folk Medicine
Folk medicine is defined as traditional medicine especially as practiced by people isolated from modern medical services, and usually involving the use of plant-derived remedies on an empirical basis. Now we're getting somewhere! The old-timers practiced medicine not based entirely on plants when modern medicine wasn't available. Let's dig a little deeper into the dictionary.
Home At Last
Finally we find the dictionary's definition of home remedy: a simply prepared medication or tonic often of unproven effectiveness administered without prescription or professional supervision. So - it is a remedy prepared outside the realm of modern medicine, it's not limited to herbs, but unproven effectiveness? I disagree. I can prove that some of the simplest home remedies have led to some of our greatest medical breakthroughs (but that's another article).
Is That Your Final Answer?
Based on the research above, let's agree to define a home remedy as follows:
An experienced-based or even accidental remedy or cure prepared by common folk from herbs, plants, or other available ingredients when modern medical help was unavailable (or hadn't been devised yet).
That's my answer, and I'm sticking to it!
Doug Smith is a Chemical Engineer and the webmaster of http://www.SuperHomeRemedies.com. You get free & natural remedies for fungus, lice, acid reflux, cold sores, yeast & more. Stay up to date with our Natural Remedies News
Copyright 2005 by Doug Smith. You may reuse this copyrighted article provided no content is changed - other than line length - and the author's box is intact. All links must be active hyperlinks or made active.
 Google News Updated : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:07:30 GMT A pair of Coens might as well be one at Toronto - Reuters
Reuters - By Janet Guttsman TORONTO (Reuters) - There is a reason they are called the Coen Bros., and not Joel Coen and Ethan Coen: they might as well be one person. Pitt Rocks to Madonna The Coens’ Funny Bones Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:13:38 GMT Rejuvenated Federer Overpowers Djokovic to Reach Final - New York Times
New York Times - By LIZ ROBBINS Roger Federer was acing like old times - up the middle, out wide, serving up even more frustration for the snarling Novak Djokovic. Federer tames Djokovic to reach final Federer rolls into another US Open final Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:19:52 GMT Obama and McCain to Make Joint Sept. 11 Visit to Ground Zero - Washington Post
Washington Post - By Michael D. Shear COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- John McCain and Barack Obama announced today that they will visit Ground Zero in New York on Thursday to mark the seventh anniversary of the 9-11 attacks that brought down the Twin Towers. McCain's new cast of thousands, all unknown Liking McCain pick, but not McCain Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:48:49 GMT Rosetta spacecraft takes asteroid photos - United Press International
United Press International - PARIS, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The Rosetta spacecraft has captured images of an asteroid in orbit more than 220 million miles from Earth, a European Space Agency official says. European space probe completes asteroid fly by Spacecraft flies by remote asteroid, camera stops Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:33:25 GMT Mozilla updates Firefox 3.1 with Alpha 2 build - Computerworld
Computerworld - By Gregg Keizer September 6, 2008 (Computerworld) Mozilla Corp. on Friday launched the second alpha of Firefox 3.1, adding new video support and boosting the speed of some JavaScript computations. Chrome's JavaScript challenge to Silverlight NetSuite Says Chrome-optimized Apps Are Flying Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:15:17 GMT Stunner - Alex Smith listed as doubtful - San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle - The 49ers just called and said quarterback Alex Smith is "doubtful" for tomorrow's season-opener against the visiting Cardinals. 49ers QB Smith doubtful for Sunday Alex Smith injures shoulder, doubtful for Sunday Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:20:25 GMT US Jobless Rate Climbs Past 6%, Highest Since ’03 - New York Times New York Times - By LOUIS UCHITELLE The unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, its highest level in five years, pushing the troubles of American workers to the center of the political debate as the presidential campaign enters its final weeks. Jobless rate at 5-year high Unemployment, mortgage delinquencies soar in worrisome sign for ... Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:04:03 GMT Add RSS Feeds To My Web Pages |
PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... Last week the media circus surrounding the flu vaccine reached... Read More Home Remedies - Facts or Quacks?That's what I recently asked... Read More Knee pain after running? Wake up with a backache? Twist... Read More Bedwetting also known as nocturnal Enuresis is a common problem... Read More Dandelions are not weeds! They are wild vegetables. In Greek... Read More There are immediate benefits for quitting smoking. Within eight hours... Read More If you have acid reflux or heartburn, using natural remedies... Read More There are two main types of arthritis: inflammatory arthritis and... Read More Shamanic healing is one of the vast numbers of healing... Read More The term 'alternative medicine' that is so commonly used today... Read More Find Out How to Reduce and Eliminate Chronic Back Pain... Read More If you have asthma, do not take or use psyllium.... Read More For many years high blood pressure has been defined based... Read More Everyone at some point in time has experienced some form... Read More Fibromyalgia is a mysterious disease that is effecting more and... Read More Your FUTURE is NOT in a doctor's office or a... Read More A visualization session is an hour-long conversation with your subconscious... Read More Do you know the top ten causes for death? You... Read More Stress caused by the day-to-day issues of home life and... Read More Organic fresh made juices have cleansing and laxative action, which... Read More Smell is a specialised chemical sense. It is interesting to... Read More What is health?Is health the absence of disease? Is health... Read More You probably are very familiar with the benefits you get... Read More Perhaps a little eclipsed by the world-wide success of Rooibos,... Read More The Origin of AromatherapySince the beginning ? from the time... Read More
Adsense
websites
Flu Vaccine Hysteria
How Dirty Dishes And Stale Bread Saved The World
Which to Use When: Ice or Heat?
About Child Bedwetting
The Truth About Dandelions!
What are Some Benefits For Quitting Smoking?
Acid Reflux and Heartburn Natural Remedies Part II
Inflammatory Arthritis: Alternative Treatments
Shamanic Healing & Soul Retrieval
Alternative Medicine vs Conventional Medicine - Part 1
Complementary Therapy The Route To Better Back Health
Using Psyllium For Relieving Constipation
Hypertension, An Alternative Approach
Healing Heartburn Holistically
Alternative Fibromyalgia Therapies
The Future of Healing...
What Happens During a Pain Relief Visualization Session
Discover The Missing Key to Improving Your Health
How to Stop Hair Pulling With Hypnosis
Organic Juices for Constipation
The Sense of Smell and Emotional Response
Health in the Self
Eating Junk Food -- The Hidden Price
The Honeybush Miracle
Evolution of Aromatherapy
Affordable and Reliable Web Hosting Starting at $4.49/Month
Healing the Elements
The Nature Elementals, most commonly known as Faeries, are the... Read More
Self Hypnosis CD Recordings
The purpose of this article is not to offer an... Read More
Reflexology
Reflexology, an ancient art practiced by early Egyptians. Reflexology is... Read More
Iridology: A Natural Health 101 Article
What It IsIridology is the art of discovering weaknesses in... Read More
Fun is a Powerful Alternative Medicine - Just Dont Confuse it with Funny
You're familiar with the phrase, "there's the rub," meaning "there... Read More
Magnetic Energy and DNA
Magnetic energy has been in use for reducing pain and... Read More
Medical Massage
What is MEDICAL MASSAGE? Medical Massage is sometimes defined as... Read More
Cold Laser Therapy: Hope for Arthritis
Having had the rare, first-hand opportunity to observe cold laser... Read More
Independent Research Proves Effectiveness of Magnotherapy Wristbands
"Magnetic bracelets reduce the pain of osteoarthritis." Those are the... Read More
Hypnotherapy ? Does It Really Work?
Okay, so some of you are familiar with hypnotherapy. You've... Read More
Natural Health
Natural Health is a form of alternative lifestyle whereby individuals... Read More
Taking Control of Your Health & Well-being
Taking Control of Your Health & Well-being ... Read More
Reversing Macular Degeneration: Without Drugs Or Surgery
I would like to report some anecdotal research findings that... Read More
Alternative and Complementary Medicine: Old Medicine, New Synergies
The terms alternative medicine and complementary medicine are often wrongly... Read More
Fibromyalgia Pain: How Using Visualizations May Bring You Relief
There are many theories about what causes fibromyalgia. One is... Read More
Becoming A Certified Reflexologist
Reflexology is something I've used and loved since I was... Read More
Fixing it with Hypnosis
There are many fears and misunderstandings about the use of... Read More
Magnetic Therapy, How And Why Magnets Effect The Body
Have you ever read or have been told that "it... Read More
Natural Healing For The Body
Back-to-Nature AromatherapyBack-to-nature is a new health initiative by people living... Read More
Foot Reflexology and Detoxification
Do you know why the rich and famous spend thousands... Read More
Why You Should Use Fruits for Constipation
Fruits are made by nature and are a perfect food.... Read More
Anal Warts Treatment (Finally, a Medicine for Anal Warts Which Removes Them Completely!)
Anal warts treatmentAnal warts, otherwise known as genital warts or... Read More
Food Combining for Indigestion
I'd like to share with you some basic food combining... Read More
Laughter and Your Health
Alternative medicine: jokes and humor for your healthWhen thinking about... Read More
Demystifying Hands On Healing
While hands-on healing is probably the easiest of skills to... Read More
Alternative Medicine |