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la_belle_laideHaku's blood work is nigh perfect! His liver values are perfectly normal, which is a first. Because he's on phenobarb, his liver is constantly overworked, and his values have always been elevated. But this time, everything is within range. (His thyroid is still a little low, but that's not a huge concern yet – might have to up the thyroid meds in the future.)
The normal liver values are, without question, down to the milk thistle supplements I've got him on. Yes, and the vet confirmed that and told me to keep both dogs on them. I remember a few years ago someone or other was asking me about liver health and I was like, "Oh, milk thistle" and then someone else came in yelling about me being a "stupid fluffy bunny" and to stop trying to mess up real medicine or something.
Uhh, yeah. These days, doctors and vets are prescribing milk thistle for everything from liver cleansing to hepatitis. In fact, one of my brothers has hepatitis and had lesions on his liver. His doctor wrote a prescription for milk thistle. Actually, they sell it as an allopathic medicine now under a different name - Silmaryn, I think. When Sano went into liver failure a few years ago because of the prednisone, they put him on that. His liver was fine after a round of it, but it bugged me because it cost a hundred bucks, and I can get it at the store for about twenty.
It's no secret that I enjoy being correct (who doesn't?) especially in the face of ridicule. And, hell, even when people are politely dissenting, I still like being right. There is really something about that "nyah nyah, I was right!" that I never quite outgrew. Also, I enjoy being ahead of the curve on things like this.
Herbs and natural stuff can be dangerous if you don't know wtf you're doing, that's true. But I've found over the years that I'll look into some kind of natural, herbal treatment for something, start using it, get good results, and then hear about it a few years later. I cross reference everything I try (and everything I try on my dogs and birds, too,) with everything else they're on, and all of their conditions. (I do this with food, too. Like, neither of my dogs' blood clots really well, so I could never give them turmeric.) I think doctors are held back from even looking into these treatments because, you know, CYA. "Oh, my doctor told me to try milk thistle and then I DIED." I think because of that, they don't often bother to find out sometimes.
I'm always really perplexed when people get pissed off about the use of herbs and supplements, and when they say it can't possibly work. That's really weird, because everything you put into your body causes a chemical reaction. I can't imagine how people don't know that in this day and age. It's not like there are evil humours in your blood or something; this is all chemistry. Understanding that things go into your body and react with other molecules causing your body to do different things, umm, that's grade school stuff. Everyone knows that certain foods are healthy and you need the vitamins and minerals you get from them. All "medicine" comes from some chemical that's found naturally (usually tweaked beyond recognition, but still.) Aspirin comes from willow bark. Even more obvious, you eat a poisoned berry, you get sick. So, why is it so hard to believe that the opposite must be true: you can eat some kind of plant material and it makes you well. Something that doesn't come from a pharmacy with a little piece of signed paper would, in fact, also cause a chemical reaction in your body. Thinking that it wouldn't just isn't even logic. IDGI.
With that said, there is no current scientific theory to back up how acupuncture works – and yet there's no question that it does work. Now you are talking about something close to "humours" and such in the body, because acupuncture relies on qi flow, systems of energy, and various fluids. Yet Chinese medicine and Tao were talking about anatomy and quantum physics 3000 years ago, when western "science" was still talking about demon possession. In some ways, science is only catching up to them now. "Oh, wow, it looks like atoms are most stable with eight valence electrons!" "Uh huh, really? Yeah, we call that the Bagua."
Also, allopathic medicine is really slow in catching up to the idea that the body is connected to itself. That, yanno, if you have something going on in one part of your body, you might want to take a look at the other parts, too. House—you know, on TV?--is actually a holistic doctor.
And, like him, I can't help feeling smug once in a while.
Hurray for people who know what time it is. :)
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no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 07:48 pm (UTC)If you go here for episode names, and then look an episode up by title on YouTube, it'll probably be there. Hasbro has been really nice about not issuing DMCA notices -- it's almost as if they actually want people to watch the show!
"Dan Vs" is also a lot of fun.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-18 07:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-18 02:28 pm (UTC)Western medicine is good for really acute things, is what I think. But when it comes to chronic ailments that begin with imbalances in the body, I don't think allopathic medicine does well at all. I do think we need both - just less of one and more of the other. :)