Before we go any further you need to know that you should never take a natural remedy for any illness or disease without first consulting your doctor.

Doing so could put your life or a loved one's in danger because while there are many legitimate natural remedies to a variety of maladies there are also plenty that have no value whatsoever and some can even end up causing serious health problems.

With that said there are two main reasons that people try a natural cure for an illness. The first is that the standard treatments either have not worked or the side effects are too severe to continue with the treatment.

The second reason is some people are very much against taking any modern medicines because they believe that they cause more harm than good and prefer to heal themselves naturally through the use of herbs, bark, roots, etc.

You might be surprised to know that many medicines we have today are based on those very roots and plants. It's just that the raw ingredients have been refined and concentrated to a high degree or the active ingredients have been able to be synthesized to allow for cheaper more reliable medicine production.

No matter which group you belong to there is hope for treating certain sicknesses with natural remedies as many of these have been time tested over thousands of years and have been proven to work.

Of course, there is no real natural cure for many serious illnesses despite what some people claim and that is why it is imperative to work with your doctor if you plan to try a natural remedy yourself.

Many doctors today are being trained in the use of natural remedies and you will find that most are open to alternative treatments as long as they stay involved in your treatment so they can monitor your health.

For the most part natural remedies are safe but they are not regulated by the FDA like prescription medications so you want to be sure and do some research and talk to your doctor before taking anything.

Even though these products are not regulated and often harmless in small quantities there are many that can produce unpleasant side effects as well as real health problems if taken in large doses.

There is also a risk of adverse interactions with any prescription drugs you are taking so at the risk of sounding like a broken record, always check with your doctor first and as a general rule children and pregnant or nursing mothers should avoid using any natural remedies.

When purchasing any over the counter remedies you want to be sure you buy from a reputable manufacturer as quality of ingredients and potencies can vary widely and some unscrupulous makers will have such low levels of an active ingredient in their products to save money that the product is virtually worthless from a health perspective.

Just like anything else in life using a little common sense and doing some research will steer you clear of the quacks and charlatans out there and guide you along the path to getting better quickly and naturally.

Oh and don't forget... always check with your doctor!

For more information about natural remedies please visit About Natural Remedies

Oller's story one of transformation Houston Chronicle, United States - Oct 31, 2008 That took him to Cardo's Sprout Farm in Ponder, a small organic farm that supplies wheatgrass for Jupiter House, a downtown Denton coffeehouse, ...

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