Thank you so much for checking out this blog. I hope to give you reasons to come back every week. As a medicine hunter, I spend my time investigating natural remedies. This work puts me in rainforests, mountains, deserts, and other wild and remote regions all over our spectacular planet. In the course of my travels, I encounter  medicinal plants for every need, plus unusual people, exotic locales, strange foods and bizarre customs.

I believe that trade in medicinal plants can promote human health and environmental and cultural sustainability in native areas. In between trips researching nature’s healing treasures, I speak all over the world, and appear on TV regularly, where I promote the message of natural healing. I have a wife I love, several close and wonderful friends, a happy dog, a beautiful home I visit on occasion, and global travel.

In the course of medicine hunting I have come to love and appreciate the remaining wild and largely undeveloped places in the world. The times I have spent with great healers have opened my mind and heart to a broader understanding of true healing, the human spirit, and the precious medicinal treasures of nature. In this blog, which I offer with great sincerity, I would like to share what I have found.

A Kathmandu Cure – How I Became Really Hooked on Plants

Do not drink out of Indian rivers! Wherever in the foothills of the Himalayas you may be, however seemingly pristine the environment, however cool and refreshing the water might feel as it swirls around your knees, do not afford yourself a long, thirst-quenching drink. At a remote section of the Gautam Ganga river, I had done exactly that. The cold Himalayan water was apparently a running cocktail of potent pathogenic microbes.

The microbes in the river water invaded my body like a battalion of gladiators, hacking and plundering from sinew to bone. I felt as though my digestive tract had been beaten with a brick bat, and my brain felt as though it had been cleaved with a wood-splitting wedge. I visited the toilet over fifty times the next morning, the beginning of a ten day siege that caused me to drop 35 pounds (amazing weight loss plan), and endure violent diarrhea with fever and chills.

Ayurveda Saves My Life

A rickshaw driver pedaled me through funky Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, into the winding alleys of Indrachowk, the oldest section of the city. We arrived at a modest one story faded brown cement building off of a small back street where Doctor Bajracharya maintained a practice. A slender, kind-looking man with alert eyes greeted me, Doctor Bajracharya. I told him that I was very sick, and in need of help, describing drinking from the river, the diarrhea, fever, chills, weight loss.

One of Nepal’s most distinguished natural doctors, Bajracharya practiced the 5,000 year old system of Ayurveda, the oldest medicinal system in the world. Ayurveda lies heavily on the use of medicinal plants to treat health disorders of all types. He asked me to lie down on a simple wooden examination table, laid a palm on the center of my abdomen, and paid close attention to my gurgling intestines. After a couple of minutes, Doctor Bajracharya withdrew his hand. “I will give you something that will stop this problem.”

Doctor Bajracharya disappeared into an anteroom for about ten minutes, and emerged with a small paper bag filled with a chocolate colored powder, and an envelope containing brown pellets that resembled rabbit turds. “Here is what you must do. Every meal, three times a day,” he poked the air with three slender fingers for emphasis “before you eat, mix a heaping teaspoon of this powder in a glass of water and drink it. Take three of these pills at the same time. Do this for nine days, and this problem will not come back. You will be completely rid of it.” I asked about the ingredients in the powder. “This contains burned conch shell, powdered very finely, and many different spices which grow around these mountains.” And the pellets?  “All herbs and spices, a very old formula. This is powerful for healing the digestive organs.”

Praying that the remedies might improve my condition even a little, I slowly made my way on unstable legs to the Blue Tibetan restaurant off Durbar Square, to take my first doses of the ayurvedic remedies and eat some lunch. Once seated, I opened the bag of powder and sniffed it. The mixture smelled aromatic and bitter, and that was no real surprise. Certain aromatic spices and bitter herbs are traditionally used to relieve gastrointestinal disorders. I mixed a heaping teaspoon of the powder into a glass of water and selected three pellets. Popping the pellets into my mouth, I chased them down with the bitter drink, knocking back the herbal sediment at the bottom of the glass. 

By early evening, after two doses of the ayurvedic remedies from Doctor Bajracharya, the diarrhea which had been my ruination for ten days stopped completely. My fever subsided, and my guts stopped quivering. That night I enjoyed eight hours of restful, uninterrupted sleep. When I awoke the next morning, I was weak and as skinny as a Red Cross relief poster child, but the diarrhea was gone, my temperature was normal, and I had some energy.

Even though I had used various herbs for years- ginger for colds and sore throat, ginseng for mental enhancement, hot chilies to decongest- I was completely surprised by the effectiveness of the natural remedies I had been given. This devastating sickness, and the remarkable natural cure I experienced, propelled me into the world of natural medicines, from rainforests to mountains, and from shamans to laboratories. Plant medicines are the most widely used medicines on earth, and it will be my privilege to share them with you.

Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany courses at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide.  His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com 

Q: What are the drugs that have been mentioned in connection with Jackson’s death and how do they work?
A: Propofol (Diprovan): A powerful intravenous sedative — not a DEA controlled substance — was found on the premises. It is used by anesthesiologists to put a patient to sleep before general anesthesia and surgery, or alone in a surgical suite for an elective procedure such as a colonoscopy or biopsy. Only small doses are necessary to be effective, and it can easily be misused by an untrained health professional leading to a respiratory arrest.

Narcotics: Demoral, Percocet, Vicodan — there are varied reports of prescriptions for these being found. All can lead a patient to stop breathing or sustain a cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac arrest if overdosed — especially if used in combination. These are controlled substances and prescriptions are subject to DEA review. Misuse can lead to loss of license or criminal prosecution.

Sedatives: A prescription for Xanax was reportedly found. This can also lead to supressed breathing.

Q: What are the questions about substandard care that surrounded Jackson’s death?
A: Excess prescriptions of narcotics and sedatives. When he stopped breathing, no opiate antagonist (narcan) was given to reverse the effects of narcotics. The doctor in residence did not coordinate the 911 call. CPR was done on the bed without a backboard, rather than on the floor where more force could be administered to the heart. No defibrillator was available, and no mouth-to-mouth breathing was reportedly given.

Q: Why is there a delay in getting the autopsy results?
A: The initial autopsy apparently showed no structural damage to the heart to explain his death. There is speculation that prescription drugs contributed to or caused Jackson’s sudden death, and initial toxicology reports may soon be ready. More extensive reports take longer because they look at blood and hair to quantify the exact amounts and combinations that could have led to his death. This will include a microscopic examination of the brain itself, which could show the effects of drugs and help determine the exact cause of death.

Dr. Marc Siegel is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a FOX News medical contributor and writes a health column for the LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of “False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear“ and “Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic.” Read more at www.doctorsiegel.com

About a month ago, during a routine obstetrical visit with one of my patients, she surprised me by telling me she found out she was having a baby boy. At first, I thought she meant that during an ultrasound, the technician had told her the sex of the child. But she said “No,” that a girlfriend of hers had recommended a new kit she could buy on the Internet — which allegedly is 99.9 percent accurate in determining the sex of the baby, and that for $275, she could test herself at home, and send it off to the company for the results.

At first, I was taken aback because I hadn’t heard of any such kit. But more importantly, I was upset that she did not share this information with me prior to doing the test so that I could advise her on whether or not taking this test was a good idea.

I always have a problem with people worrying too much about the sex of their unborn child. I guess I can understand it to some extent for families who want to plan ahead, who want to know whether or not to paint the room pink or blue, or to think about things like circumcision. But with all the potential problems and challenges women face in creating and carrying a child to term, it’s unfortunate that sometimes people get side-tracked with insignificant details — and it strikes a nerve with me, because it brings up the topic of sex selection.

Today I read a story about six mothers in New York City who are suing Acu-Gen Biolab Inc., makers of the Baby Gender Mentor test, because their test results proved wrong at the birth of their children! I guess they felt the company had committed fraud. I tried to reach the company today to ask them some questions, but no one wanted to speak with me.

Looking at their Web site, I couldn’t gather a lot of information, but I began to understand what the “science” is behind their test kit.

For years, in the medical community, we have known that fetal cells circulate freely in the maternal bloodstream. Many geneticists have looked at the possibility of studying these fetal cells in the maternal circulation for the purpose of testing for genetic disorders like Down syndrome. But none of the data has proven it to be a good alternative for genetic testing. Yet this company has been promoting this technology to patients directly as a “safe, quick and easy way to determine the sex of your baby.”

I don’t know what federal regulation this business has been operating under. It would be nice to see what kind of guidelines they’re using, because the last time I checked, medical laboratories need to be licensed and laboratory tests must be ordered by physicians.

Finally, what are the ethics behind such a business? Are women going to use this alleged test to decide that they might want to terminate a pregnancy because now they know the baby is not the sex they wanted? It sounds like a stretch — but you’d be surprised…

Are mothers who get faulty test results going to think that their babies were switched at birth in the hospital? And what about these women that are suing?

This case is a perfect example of wasted dollars, a perfect example of unsubstantiated medical testing, and a perfect example of the types of businesses that need to be scrutinized in this country if we’re going to see any effective health care reform.

The first step is to reduce outdoor seasonal “triggers” by identifying the plants and flowers that will cause you discomfort. Get tested to choose the “right” plants, shrubs and flowers that are better for you. By knowing your allergies you can also plan ahead and modify your gardening schedule. This involves having the knowledge regarding peak periods throughout the day to the culprit allergens as well as staying tuned to learn the pollen count in your town or city.

Pollen counts from the previous day are available for main cities via the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) as well as in local newspapers and with the daily weather reports on radio and TV. The Web site for the National Allergy Bureau is www.aaaai.org/nab.

You may need to adjust your planting and/or gardening activities as seasonal symptoms such as itchiness of the eyes, nose and throat, sneezing may be worse on windy, dry, sunny and clear days may be associated with greater airborne pollens as wet, cloudy and windless days can see a reduction in outdoor plant pollens.

Colorful flowers:
Plants with bright, showy flowers are better for people who have allergies. Their pollen is large and because they are pollinated by insects, the pollen is seldom airborne. Plants that cause allergies usually have flowers that are small and insignificant looking and have no color for attracting nectar.

The following trees, shrubs, and plants have been found to be BETTER for people with allergies:

If you are considering adding trees to your landscape, you should AVOID planting the following:

Dr. Clifford W. Bassett is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Long Island College Hospital and on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine. He is the current vice chair for public education committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. No information in this blog is intended as medical advice to any reader or intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition.

The National Institutes of Health recently published an interesting study in the “BMJ,” where they approached 1,200 internists and rheumatologists about what they called “placebo treatments,” where patient expectations rather than an expected physiological response was the rationale for the treatment. Only 679 physicians responded, which limited the conclusions, along with the design of the study itself, as this type of survey is a weak form of science. Nevertheless, the results were disturbing – about half of the responding doctors indicated they prescribed these kind of treatments on a regular basis, and more than 60 perecent believed there was no ethical problem in doing so. It has long been known that cures and responses to treatment can be affected by a patient’s mental attitude and expectation, and that healing itself involves suggestion as well as chemical intervention.

But I find these results deeply disturbing for the following reasons:

1) Most of those surveyed were not using sugar pills or harmless salt water, they were using medicines with potential side effects. These included over-the-counter analgesics (41percent), vitamins (38 percent), sedatives (13 percent), and antibiotics (13 percent).

2) More than 90 percent of upper respiratory infections are viral, yet physicians are knowingly prescribing antibiotics to meet patient expectation.

3) Patients are fueled to ask for pills because of advertising, the Internet and a culture of instant gratification.

4) Physicians are motivated to provide a quick fix rather than a more elaborate explanation which could eliminate the need or urge for the treatment. A study published in the “Annals of Family Medicine” published in 2005 concluded that physicians only spend 55 percent of their time in face-to-face patient care. In this environment of 5 to 10 minute office visits, it is often easier for doctors to provide a quick placebo treatment rather than a more elaborate diagnosis and explanation.

5) This is a survey of doctors, but it is highly doubtful to me that patients would be satisfied with this approach. I suspect that a similar survey of patients would reveal that less than 10 percent of patients believe that it is okay for placebo treatments to be given for deceptive reasons, with false expectations. I suspect that most patients would like an interaction with their doctor to be completely honest and based on full disclosure.

Do my readers agree?

VIDEO: Watch Dr. Siegel Talk About The Placebo Problem

Dr. Marc Siegel is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a FOX News Medical Contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of “False Alarm: the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear” and “Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic”. Read more at www.doctorsiegel.com