By helping to maintain health, to treat disability aggravated ailments, and to reduce exposure to drug side effects, people with physical disabilities, such as spinal cord injury (SCI) or multiple sclerosis (MS), can benefit greatly from herbal medicine. Many herbs have become so popular that they should no longer be considered alternative medicine.

Years ago, a friend shared with me his herbal health regimen in which he prevented spinal cord injury (SCI) related urinary tract  echinacea: herbal medicine for spinal cord injury (SCI), multiple sclerosis (MS), and physical disability infections (UTI’s) by taking cranberry extract. If he started to get the flu or catch a cold, he took echinacea, and when he had the blues, he consumed St. John’s Wort. At that time, my inclinations as a scientist kept me from embracing such remedies because they were based in tradition not modern science.

My friend was right on target, once again demonstrating why our biomedical experts should listen to healthcare consumers with disabilities. Specifically, research has now shown that cranberry prevents UTI’s by keeping bacteria from adhering to the bladder lining. Likewise, scientists have determined that echinacea, a Native American medicinal plant, can fight bacterial and viral infections, while St. John’s wort, an ancient herbal remedy, is as effective as antidepressant drugs

Although people with disabilities have benefited greatly from modern medicine’s advances, they, like millions of other Americans, are concerned about the adverse consequences of technology-based medicine and desire healthcare with a more naturalistic, holistic perspective. As a result, there has been an explosion in the growth of herbal products, which only decade ago were relegated to natural food stores and are now displayed prominently in pharmacies and grocery stores. With more than a third of Americans using herbal products, this grass roots, consumer-driven movement is changing the face of the nation’s health care.

Although conventional medicine often has botanical connections, herbal medicine is based on a fundamentally different philosophy. Essentially, it relies on natural substances of infinite complexity to address a broad sweep of bodily experiences. In contrast, pharmaceutically-manufactured chemicals target specific disease symptoms and are more likely to produce side effects because they lack the complexity of the natural product that provides buffering for a slower and more diffuse action.

Overall, herbal medicine’s holistic focus supports wellness by enhancing the body’s inherent healing potential.  Because it targets the causes of diseases and not merely symptoms, herbal medicine is more health-promoting instead of disease-killing.

Due to their traditional use over the ages, herbal remedies exist for virtually all ailments, including those that often affect people with spinal cord dysfunction (SCD), including spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis. Although proponents and critics may debate their effectiveness, in many cases when scientists have actually tested herbal remedies, they work as well as the comparable pharmaceutical drug.

Written by Laurance Johnston, Ph.D.