I recently attended 2 days of Contiuing Education on Chinese Herbology.  It was exciting to spend 2 full days doing what I love the most–studying the Alternative Medicines I practice.  My brain feels fed, and I am reinspired.  It is professionally satisfying to hear the language of Chinese Medicine for two entire days.  There is an extremely yummy quality to the experience.

Anyway, the great new thing I learned was that the origins to many of the Western drug medications is the synthesized chemical copying of an herb.  The fascinating thing is that the negative side effects of the drugs were always the exact overkill of the original intention of the herb.  For instance if the herb stops diarrhea, the negative drug side effect was constipation.  This was a consistant reaction.  The upshot of it all was that herbs are a much better choice to treat initial stage diseases, chronic pain, and preventive situations.

Western Medicine and its therapies, including all the drug therapies is definitely the appropriate choice for acute conditions, life and death situations, and advanced diseases.  No other medicine works as fast or as strongly in those situations.  We all need it then.

Alternative Medicines are the best choice for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, treating chronic pain and minor injuries, and preventing disease.  One of the great things about Chinese Pulse Diagnosis is that it can diagnose conditions before the symptoms show up, and conversely can tell that a condition is over and has run it`s course before the symptom goes away.  Like having a bit of a crystal ball, the patient and doctor are able to fend off conditions before they grow into something serious.

The inspiration and original reason I studied so hard to be an Alternative Medicine Woman is to remain healthy, to offer my patients a pathway to remain healthy, and to minimize the more advanced conditions we may have to face, the toxic substances our bodies would have to handle if we go for drug therapy or surgery, to maintain a radiant vitality, ageless beauty, and the best life possib le for our entire lives.

Can you tell I am re-inspired?  I love the medicine and the constant growing of the knowledge of it.  The master practitioners who stay the course in their chosen interests are deeply inspiring and ever so exciting to learn from.  I feel very grateful for my chosen direction….