Snake oil products that customers want to buy.

[NightAngel]

I tried the Zinc stuff that's supposed to help stop/prevent colds. Did nothing for me but I know people who swear by it.

Herbal remedies aren't all baloney- but the drug companies certainly would like you to think so. Many of those "useless" herbs were the base for the now completely chemicalized drugs they sell.
Examples:
Ephedra= Pseudoephedrine
Valerian= Valume

[Naaman]

Without wanting to get too bogged down in this sort of disscussion I'm going to have to disagree with you NightAngel.

Whilst a lot of drugs started off as herbally based modern pharmaceutical techniques are able to isolate the active ingredients and develop manufacturing processes to extract or replicate with a high degree of accuraacy (strength wise) - your pill will always contain Zmilligrams of mystery ingredient. Herbal remedies production methods are a little less rigourous and don't take into account the natural variations between individual plants

Another point that gets overlooked (sometimes exploited) is that herbal remedies are often classed as food supplements and are therefore out of the regulatory bodies remit. No testing is required (pharmaceutical products often require 4-6 years of testing), no double blind clinical trials to verify that it actually works and often poor or even dangerous advice from the vendors.

Last week the suppplement Kava-Kava hit the news over here as it has been found to cause major liver problems, if it had gone through proper testing this sort of information would have been found out

[AFpheonix]

That's not to say that herbal remedies don't do any good, however.
It does mean that they should be more regulated, and that people should be more aware of what they're taking.

There are studies that show that zinc does help shorten the duration of cold symptoms compared to placebo, but it's not a huge margin. There's similar studies out for other supplements, too.

The problem comes in when people just go and take stuff without being under a doctor's care and advice, especially if they're taking other prescription meds that can interact with herbal supplements.

[Banrion]

The other thing similar to that are the people that have to have the brand name version of a product instead of a generic. Typically if they're wanting a brand name of a narcotic, I pretty much figure that they're going to sell the stuff. The FDA doesn't let generics come out willy-nilly without having the companies prove that their medication has the same amount of active ingredient, the same efficacy, and time release as the original product.

I must respectfully disagree on this one. While the active ingredient is the same, often the buffers used in the brand name vs generic is different. This is what causes me and my mother problems. Unfortunately we have no way to know if the generic is using the problem buffer until we try it, and then swell up. We have been told that the pharmacies don't really get a non-active ingredients list. We still don't even know what the mystery buffer is that makes us swell, but it is obviously cheaper than the standard buffer used in brand name scripts since we typically have problems with the generics.

[NightAngel]

I'd like to clarify one thing.

Yes, I understand the problems that can come with herbal remedies. Just as their are problems with pills. I spent years learning about herbs, mixing them, using them, effects, side- effects, etc. I know what I'm doing basically. Alot of people don't and yes, they can make themselves sick with some of them. Yet, they can also make themselves sick with pills when they're too lazy or stupid to read the instructions or decide, "Hey, if one pill is this good then three must be da bomb."

I'm not going to argue which is better/worse. I use both truthfully.

(And, before anyone asks- the answer is no. DO NOT PM me asking for an herbal mix to help with X ailment. I won't respond- I only mix for close friends and family and I'm not going to attempt to instuct a proper herbal mix in a PM. Sorry.)

[skeptic53]

That's not to say that herbal remedies don't do any good, however.
It does mean that they should be more regulated, and that people should be more aware of what they're taking.

I agree. There are many herbal or supplement-type products that do work (melatonin comes to mind). It is a total rip that the alt-med industry lobbies (read: bribes) Congress to keep them completely unregulated. A local TV station bought stuff at a big chain called "Gee 'n See", quite a bit of the stuff had no measurable amount of active product. Other stuff had been spiked with prescription meds, e.g. valerian root that had opiate and generic valium in it.

"Natural" is a tremendous scam, people equate it with "healthy". They forget that hemlock, poison ivy, rattlesnake venom, etc are all "natural".

[TYFSOK]

Here in Japan, these little brown bottles of "energy drink" are all the rage. Supposedly, one bottle packs enough energy to get you through half a day of grueling work. I used to drink one every now and then, but it doesn't do anything for me.

I stopped drinking them when I had learned enough Japanese to read the label, and found out that one of the main ingredients is nicotine!

The last one I had was "Final Fantasy XII Potion," which didn't have nicotine, but did have royal jelly and a lot of herbal stuff. And it restored 100 hit points per bottle -- more, if you've leveled up some.

[Silvercat]

http://www.together.net/~rjstan/

Don't EVER take colloidal silver again!

"There is a documented case in which a woman did not turn gray until five years after she stopped taking the drug."

That's awesome! Where can I get some? ... now I just have to find something to turn my hair permanentaly white, grow fur, and get an eyeball transplant from a cat, and I'll look just like my online persona.

[Dreamstalker]

The last one I had was "Final Fantasy XII Potion," which didn't have nicotine, but did have royal jelly and a lot of herbal stuff. And it restored 100 hit points per bottle -- more, if you've leveled up some.

JList.com had that stuff awhile ago...I wanted to try it, but it sold out before I could order even one.

[Seanette]

Here in Japan, these little brown bottles of "energy drink" are all the rage. Supposedly, one bottle packs enough energy to get you through half a day of grueling work. I used to drink one every now and then, but it doesn't do anything for me.

I stopped drinking them when I had learned enough Japanese to read the label, and found out that one of the main ingredients is nicotine!

Would you be so kind as to tell those of us who wish to remain nicotine-free what brands to avoid? Many thanks for the heads-up!

[Dark Psion]

That's one of the more interresting things I've learned at pharmacy, when people stop by for sleep aids, the Pharmacist usualy recomends they take an allergy med since most of them will knock you right out becuase of the diphenydramine in it. Sleep aids are all about marketing and not thier chemistry.

Speaking of the diet/energy pill fads, why do people really seriously think they work, or work in the "miracle" sense? If there WAS a pill out there that instantly caused you to lose weight and develop an amazing sex life, would it NEED advertized? at 2am? on dead TV channels?

Maybe that's why my allergies haven't bothered me since I started using Tylenol's Simply Sleep

As to herbal remadies, I do get people asking for certain herbs in the greenhouse, but I usually point out that the remedy may be a processed version or only a certain part of the plant. There are plants that where only a part is poisonous. Also, I tell them about an elderly couple that got into herbal remedies and took Foxglove and died.

Foxglove's botanical name is Digitalis purpurea.

As too fads, a few years ago women were buying and using shampoos and conditioners for horses.

[Mr. Rager!]

Let's not forget the power of suggestion. It's actually a remarkable power. If you believe in something enough, it just might work.

[Ree]

As too fads, a few years ago women were buying and using shampoos and conditioners for horses.

They still are, in our area. It stands to reason that a product designed to make horse hair shiny and strong would probably do the same for human hair.

Also, the hoof hardener is popular for use on nails, and udder cream for hands. (Shania Twain started the "bag balm" fad when she said in an interview that she used it as a moisturizer. For a while we couldn't keep it on the shelf.)

Actually, when I was on holidays, I took a huge jar of udder cream to Bekki because she does cross stitch and her hands get very dry and cracked, and this stuff allows her to moisturize and then get right back to work with the thread and it doesn't mark it up.

[Ringtail Z28]

Would you be so kind as to tell those of us who wish to remain nicotine-free what brands to avoid? Many thanks for the heads-up!

Hell, that nicotine drink is probably illegal here in the states. Or at least not able to be sold to anyone under the legal smoking age, kinda like the nicotine gum and patch.

[Crosshair]

Hell, that nicotine drink is probably illegal here in the states. Or at least not able to be sold to anyone under the legal smoking age, kinda like the nicotine gum and patch.

Yet they give little kids their time released dose of synthetic cocaine (Ritalin) at lunch time.