Therapeutic applied in traditional medicine

Therapeutic Practices

Several forms of treatment are applied in traditional medicine. Hundreds of medicinal plants, minerals and animal parts form the basic drugs used by the practitioners. These ingredients are processed and mixed in different combinations to make about 300 medicines in the form of pills, tablets, syrups, powders and lotions. Other treatments include dietary and behavioural advice. There are also so-called surgical procedures that include gtar (blood letting), bsregs (cauterisation by lerbal compounds), gser facos (acupuncture by a golden needle), tshug (cauterisation with instruments of different materials), dugs (applying heat or cold to parts of the body), byugs-pa (medicated oil massage), sman-chu (stone-heated bath), fsha-chu (bath at a hot spring) and turn (vapour treatment).

Herbal in Bhutan: The Land of Medicinal Herbs.

The Land of Medicinal Herbs.

One of the ancient names for Bhutan was Menjung – ‘the Land of Medicinal Herbs’.

The Himalayan Buddhist system of medicine is called So-ba Rig-pa and is practised in many countries today. Because it originally developed in ancient Tibet, it is commonly known as Tibetan medicine.

It is believed that at the beginning of time, the art of healing was a prerogative of the gods. It wasn't until Kashiraja Dewadas, an ancient Indian king, went to heaven to learn medicine that medicine could be offered to humans as a means to fight suffering. He taught the principles and the practice of healing, and this knowledge was spread as part of early Buddhist sacred writings. Some of the fundamental beliefs of this system are the basis of Buddhism itself.

When Buddhism was first brought to Tibet in the seventh century, some of these medicinal texts were translated into Tibetan and the rulers became interested in the subject. From that time, So-ba Rig-pa was considered a single system of medicine, although some differences are found in the different lineages based on the discovery of terma, which occasionally include medicinal teachings.

When Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal came to Bhutan, his minister of religion, Tenzin Drukey, an esteemed physician, spread the teaching of So-ba Rig-pa. Though the basic texts are the same, the Bhutanese tradition of So-ba Rig-pa has developed independently from its Tibetan origins. Today, the Himalayan Buddhist tradition is the most common type of medicine practised in Bhutan. It has been recognised by the government as the official medical tradition of the country and has been included in the national health system since 1967.

GMO Potatoes Cause Cancer in Rats

Herbal: GMO Potatoes Cause Cancer in Rats

Genetically Modified Potatoes: finally, proof of the risks
Newly released evidence from Russian studies that were suppressed since 1998 shows exactly the danger that alternative health experts predicted: GMO foods may not be safe

The debate over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) has been going strong for years. When Monsanto and other companies began designing GMO corn, soy, potatoes, tomatoes, and other crops and marketing them to third world farmers, they opened a can of worms that may never be shut.

Environmentalists take issue with the risk that GMO crops can accidentally be released into the environment and wipe out other, native, plant species.

Religious activists object to the concept of humans "playing god" with other lifeforms and our own food supply.

And health experts - especially those in natural healing, energy work, and holistic health fields - believe that GMO foods are inherently unsafe to consume, because we don't know how the combination of genes in new ways might effect a food's chemistry or its impact on the human body.

Now, we are beginning to find out.

Studies conducted in Russia in 1998 - and suppressed by the biotech industry for eight years - have finally been uncovered, showing that rats fed GMO potatoes developed tumors. The findings from these studies are being released thanks to the work of Greenpeace activists in the UK.

Natural Medicine

The debate over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) has been going strong for years. When Monsanto and other companies began designing GMO corn, soy, potatoes, tomatoes, and other crops and marketing them to third world farmers, they opened a can of worms that may never be shut.

Environmentalists take issue with the risk that GMO crops can accidentally be released into the environment and wipe out other, native, plant species.

Religious activists object to the concept of humans "playing god" with other lifeforms and our own food supply.

And health experts - especially those in natural healing, energy work, and holistic health fields - believe that GMO foods are inherently unsafe to consume, because we don't know how the combination of genes in new ways might effect a food's chemistry or its impact on the human body.

Now, we are beginning to find out.

Studies conducted in Russia in 1998 - and suppressed by the biotech industry for eight years - have finally been uncovered, showing that rats fed GMO potatoes developed tumors. The findings from these studies are being released thanks to the work of Greenpeace activists in the UK.

For more information on GMO foods, and links to the full story, see http://www.mercola.com/2007/mar/8/warning----gm-food-linked-to-cancer.htm