| Home Remedies - Facts or Quacks? | | | | as little white pills of acetylsalicylic |
| | | | acid. Perhaps you know it by its more common |
| That's what I recently asked myself. Myths | | | | name... |
| and legends often have their basis in a grain | | | | |
| of truth. Are home remedies based on truth | | | | Introducing The Miracle Drug - Aspirin! |
| too? A little research provided this unusual | | | | |
| perspective on one of our most | | | | That's right - centuries of chewing on willow |
| frequently-used medicines. | | | | bark led to the creation of one of our most |
| | | | widely-used medicines: aspirin. Once the |
| Are We Barking Up The Wrong Tree? | | | | amazing curative abilities of the active |
| | | | ingredient in willow bark were recognized, |
| Not if it's a willow tree! Chewing on willow | | | | ways were found to mass-produce it as a cheap |
| bark to reduce fever and inflammation dates | | | | yet effective product. |
| back to the time of Hippocrates (400 BC). | | | | |
| Willow bark was used as a medicine in China | | | | Originally hailed as a wonder drug, aspirin |
| and Europe for centuries because of its | | | | was found to have multiple medical uses. It |
| ability to relieve pain and lower fever. | | | | serves as a pain reliever, fever reducer, |
| Early American settlers even found Native | | | | reduces inflammation, and even acts to thin |
| Americans gathering bark from willow trees to | | | | the blood to help prevent heart attacks. |
| treat the same conditions. | | | | That's a lot of power in seemingly ordinary |
| | | | willow tree bark. |
| What's So Special About Willow Bark? | | | | |
| | | | Amazingly, this was not a discovery by a |
| Willow trees, including the white, black, | | | | single person. As we had discussed above, |
| purple and violet species, contain a chemical | | | | many groups of people around the world were |
| called salicin. Chewing or pulping this bark | | | | using this home remedy (or even cave remedy!) |
| releases the salicin. Once the bark is | | | | for thousands of years. This is definitely |
| ingested, the body converts the salicin from | | | | one home remedy I would classify as a fact, |
| the willow bark into salicylic acid. | | | | not a quack. |
| Salicylic acid is still used today to treat | | | | |
| fevers, decrease inflammation, and even help | | | | It makes me wonder though: how many trees did |
| heart disease. | | | | they have to chew on before they found the |
| | | | right one? |
| There's no need to gnaw on a tree like a | | | | |
| beaver every time you have a headache. Nor is | | | | You can find free home remedies using the |
| it necessary for drug companies to plant, | | | | resources below. They might not be miracle |
| grow, and harvest groves of willow trees and | | | | drugs, but they can help you avoid the cost |
| remove the bark. Today salicylic acid is | | | | and embarrassment of common illnesses. |
| produced synthetically in chemical factories | | | | |