Nikki writes:

>Unsupervised sanction of recommending herbs is not a professional act.

It's a very strange world we live in, when an IBCLC who has lots of
knowledge and education about herbs is not allowed to recommend say,
fenugreek, to increase milk supply, or sage to decrease it, while my
oncologist can make the totally uninformed statement that it is fine for me
to "try any herbal treatment I like" for hot flashes as all herbal
treatments are "perfectly safe."  Of course, if you'd been there, you would
know that when he says "perfectly safe" what he really means is "totally
ineffective -- they don't work at all, but be my guest if the placebo effect
will make you happy."

There are people (like Nikki and others) who recognize that herbs, like
prescription drugs, can have negative side effects, can interact with
prescription drugs, and can be overdosed on, and therefore only people who
truly are knowledgeable about herbs should be recommending them.

And then there are people (like my oncologist, and many others) who think
that herbs are "harmless" -- whether or not they believe that they work to
cure the condition they are recommended for.

Kathy Dettwyler

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