Herbal Therapy in MS

[NHE]

A Review of Herbal Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis.
Adv Pharm Bull. 2018 Nov;8(4):575-590.

• Multiple sclerosis is a complex autoimmune disorder which characterized by demyelination and axonal loss in the central nervous system (CNS). Several evidences indicate that some new drugs and stem cell therapy have opened a new horizon for multiple sclerosis treatment, but current therapies are partially effective or not safe in the long term. Recently, herbal therapies represent a promising therapeutic approach for multiple sclerosis disease. Here, we consider the potential benefits of some herbal compounds on different aspects of multiple sclerosis disease. The medicinal plants and their derivatives; Ginkgo biloba, Zingiber officinale, Curcuma longa, Hypericum perforatum, Valeriana officinalis, Vaccinium macrocarpon, Nigella sativa,Piper methysticum, Crocus sativus, Panax ginseng, Boswellia papyrifera, Vitis vinifera, Gastrodia elata, Camellia sinensis, Oenothera biennis, MS14 and Cannabis sativa have been informed to have several therapeutic effects in MS patients.

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[ElliotB]

"herbal therapies represent a promising therapeutic approach for multiple sclerosis disease"


Frankly at this point in time, herbal therapies are likely the best option of any therapy. They are for the most part quite safe, have impressive track records spanning thousands of years, are inexpensive, easy to acquire and take without worry about side effects for the most part. Even marijuana has been used medicinally for thousands of years and has an excellent track record of successes.

Perhaps some day in the future, likely the distant future, there will be a modern medical option that really works, but for right now...

[jimmylegs]

afaic plants will always be most significant in terms of their preventive/long term maintenance/essential nutrient content first, important phytonutrient content second (subjective ranking may change depending whether or not these are presently or will in future be considered essential), and reactive/short term therapeutic/medicinal properties third. i'm not keen on the idea of relying heavily on plants' medicinal qualities to address challenges without first ruling out a possible essential nutrient contribution.

[ElliotB]

I concur. Herbal therapy is just one simple nutritional component of an aggressive food based nutritional treatment plan. So many foods have been found to have beneficial health effects in some way, BUT the fact is that there is no one superfood that does everything, so variety is the key to treating yourself nutritionally. The internet makes it easy to research food nutrition and find sources worldwide (most if not all high nutrition foods/supplements are NOT typically available at your local supermarket).

I think it is important to know that many of the nutrients in specific foods are often available in supplement form which allows you to get more of those nutrients in higher concentrations than would be possible if you were relying on eating the individual foods.

I like your Japanese approach to food consumption, eating a large variety of foods on a daily basis that you have posted about previously.

[jimmylegs]

so great right?? by no means perfect but i really do like the idea of targeting 5 foods from each of 6 groups daily. certain of the 6 groups definitely boost the overall nutrient density in that system.
in comparison, even the most current western food guide would allow the determined to wilfully misinterpret the guidelines and convince themselves they were following a healthy pattern.