Reviews: Prescription for Herbal Healing, Backyard Medicine for All, Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs

Over the past few years, I've acquired at least a dozen books on herbal medicine.  A couple are what I consider must-haves (like Herbal Antibiotics which I reviewed last month), some that are okay, and three that I really wish I hadn't gotten.  It is those three that I will review today, and the reasons why, so that when you select your herbal medicine books, you can buy with confidence.

First off, I'd like to communicate that I'm not saying any of these books are bad, or poorly written, or authored by quacks.  However, from a prepper or survivalist point of view, which most of this blog's readers are, to some extent, they are not the best use of our resources.

Phyllis Balch, author of Prescription for Herbal Healing, according to the back cover of this book, "...has been a leading nutritional consultant for more than two decades, and has spent more than twenty-five years researching natural approaches to health and healing...."  Her book appears meticulously researched and includes coverage of Chinese and ayurvedic (traditional medicine from India) herbs and therapies to treat over 150 common disorders.  However, with 544 8.5 x 11" pages, it's quite large and focuses heavily on herbs that are only going to be found in herb stores or online, neither of which are going to be an option when society collapses.

Backyard Medicine for All, by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal, is a sequel to their first book, Hedgerow Medicine.  Had I done a little more research, I would have clued into the fact that the authors live in the United Kingdom.  Sounds a bit bigoted, right?  Well, think about the climate and growing conditions.  Are the plants that grow in Britain and Scotland going to be the same as those that grow in the deserts and mountains of the western US?  That's a big "no, not really."  This book may work very well for those living in New England or the Pacific Northwest areas of the US.  Another strike against this book, were I looking at several side by side in a bookstore, is the layout.  While I appreciate the color photographs, the organization is just too jumbled.  Most pages have three columns of text, a photograph or two, and then text boxes as well.  I think it contributes to sensory overload.

Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs:  A Beginner's Guide is an excellent resource.  Rosemary Gladstar, an herbal teacher and practitioner for 35+ years, very clearly introduces the medicinal uses of thirty-three common herbs.  Unlike many herbal medicine writers, she explains terms that the others just throw around, provides detailed instructions for making her healing formulas, and offers helpful suggestions for growing these herbs in the garden.  She includes photographs of the plants and the text is well-organized.  It's an excellent resource for a beginner.  I appreciate the author's work; however, I'm not sure I will keep this book.  Being able to treat coughs, colds, fevers, and minor joint pain is nice, but it stops there.  Other books cover much more serious medical issues and include information on treating these minor conditions as well, though perhaps lacking the introductory explanations.

In summary, when it comes to purchasing your own herbal medicine books, what factors should you keep in mind?

• Find books that use herbs that you will actually have access to.  Chinese medicine and Ayurveda have their place, but a lot of the herbs they use grow in the Eastern hemisphere, not here.
• Along the same lines, the Peterson Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs or Linda Kershaw's Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies aren't going to be of much benefit to folks living on the East Coast.  
• Decide how far down the herbal medicine rabbit hole you are going to go.  Do you want to learn the basics through free online searches and then spend the money for more comprehensive books that will cover diseases we're likely to encounter after TEOTWAWKI?

 Hope this helps you in making your choices!

Book Review--Armageddon Medicine by Dr Cynthia Koelker

Armageddon Medicine is just what the title suggests:  medicine for the end of the world, or as the author writes, "How to be your own doctor when there's no other choice."

If you can't attend a class like OnPoint Tactical's Off-Grid Medicine by Dr. Steve Pehrson (reviewed here), this book is an excellent guide to have.  Dr. Cynthia Koelker does not go into the depth that Dr. Steve does, but she does cover some topics that he has not in the classes I've attended.

Dr. Koelker, a board-certified family physician with thirty years of experience treating patients and their families, recognizes what is coming and the need to prepare accordingly.  Her website, ArmageddonMedicine.net, features dozens if not hundreds of educational and thought-provoking articles not included in her book.  Unfortunately, her website is not currently updated due to health issues, but I've communicated with her through email and she has always responded and been quite helpful and encouraging.

Her years of communicating with patients and their parents in her family medicine practice shine through in her writing.  Dr. Koelker writes in a conversational, very easy to understand style, like she is talking to concerned parents who need to be able to care for children or other loved ones when there is no one else.  She assumes the reader has no medical background whatsoever.

Armageddon Medicine is 588 pages, 8.5 x 11 inches, in what looks like a 12-point font, double-spaced, so it's very easy on the eyes.  The table of contents includes the following (there is more, but I'm highlighting what I think readers will be most interested in):

Section 1:  The Basics
Section 2:  Mental Illness
Section 3:  Acute Infection and Symptoms (quarantine, isolation; animal bites, rabies; respiratory infection; sore throat, mouth, lips; ear infection; gastrointestinal infection and symptoms; urinary and reproductive infections)
Section 4:  Skin conditions
Section 5:  Pain
Section 6:  Acute Injuries (burns, back strain, cuts and lacerations, knee and ankle injuries, insect bites and stings, concussion, fractures)
Section 7:  Selected Conditions (anemia, arthritis, asthma and COPD, blood clots and pulmonary embolism, botulism, constipation and diarrhea, diabetes, gout, headache and migraine, hearing loss, heart disease, heartburn, GERD, ulcers, hernia, high blood pressure, kidney stones, low back pain, sleep apnea, swelling, thyroid disease, vision) and women's health
Section 8:  Medication Concerns (simplifying your medications, expired medications, fish antibiotics, getting your doctor to help you stockpile medications, essential OTC drugs to stockpile, herbal medicine)
Section 9:  Special Topics (nuclear fallout, bioterrorism)
Section 10:  Becoming a Healer (taking a medical history, performing a physical exam)
Appendices (Resources, free downloads, medical textbook recommendations, medical kit, useful OTC medications)

Merely stating that there are appendices for the medical kit and useful OTC medications is inadequate. The medical kit appendix is 12 pages long and includes not just the items that Dr. Koelker recommends for your kit, but also the quantities for a family (basic), small group (intermediate), or professional (advanced).  Her suggestions will help you budget your medical dollars wisely.  For instance, how many bottles of rubbing alcohol have you stored?  Believe it or not, she advises just one bottle for a family, five bottles for a small group, and twenty for a professional level.  She includes prescription medications and quantities of each.   The OTC meds appendix is seven pages long, and lists the common name, other names, primary use, and other possible uses.  So the first item in that list is Benadryl, aka diphenhydramine, which is primarily used for colds and allergies.  But it can also be used for anxiety and insomnia.  Zantac, aka ranitidine, is marketed as a heartburn remedy.  But did you know it can also treat hives? 

Armageddon Medicine is only available through Dr. Koelker's site, ArmageddonMedicine.net.  At $89, it is a little pricey, but the information is invaluable, and there is so much that I have not seen elsewhere.  This book is definitely the place to begin for your medical preparation and will provide a solid foundation should you desire further education.  If you're skeptical, go to her site and read the articles there.  They are not duplicated in the book, but you will get an idea of the kind of information she provides.  This book may not save your life, but then again, it might.  It's written with the hope that none of us will ever need it and that hospitals and doctors will always be there for us.  But as the saying goes, we plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Disclaimer:  I receive no compensation of any kind whatsoever for the review of this book.

Links to related posts:
The Survival Medicine Handbook  
Survival and Austere Medicine, 3rd Edition   


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Book Review: Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrod Buhner

Make sure to get the 2nd edition.  Trust me on this.

I selected Stephen Harrod Buhner's Herbal Antibiotics:  Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria, because I think if I had to bug-out (perish that thought!) and could take only one of my dozens of prepping books with me, this would be The One.  Steve Solomon's Gardening When It Counts would likely rank second, probably only because I've already had several years to practice gardening and cement his ideas into my little brain.  Having some bacterial infections and thus the opportunity to apply knowledge gained from Herbal Antibiotics would be quite ideal for learning how to use the natural remedies, but no one here is volunteering to be guinea pig.  Again.

First off, Herbal Antibiotics is quite unlike the majority of other herbal medicine books that are more fluff or vagueness than substance.  Buhner clearly and logically discusses each herb, with its Latin and common names, how it has been used throughout history, how it is used in other parts of the world, and how to prepare and dose it for specific illnesses.  The only possible flaw, and it's not a deal-breaker for sure, is that there are no pictures of the plants.  However, there's always Google Lady, and sometimes one species of plant looks quite different from another of the same genus.  

Buhner explains what's happening with the current health dilemma we face regarding increasing antibiotic resistance and takes a matter of fact approach to the doom and gloom of the end of the antibiotic era.  A gifted writer, he goes into great detail about twenty great antibiotic herbals, including usnea, juniper, honey, the berberines, etc., that are pretty much widely available.  But he also includes a section on some lesser known plant-sourced antibiotics.  Sprinkled throughout are brief forays into biochemistry, which can be daunting to non-sciency readers, but they're easily passed over.  Buhner also informs us about where these plants can be found in the wild and offers recommendations for online sources.  And unlike the vast majority of herbal medicine books on the market, for each herb he includes pages of references to technical journals so you can do your own research. 

Stephen Buhner could have come from the same gene pool as Gary Larson (The Far Side).  You can see it throughout the book.  It's really very entertaining.

I appreciate the more research-based, scientific approach to herbal medicine, as opposed to the more common, vague approaches lacking any scientific explanation or basis.  Many, (way too many) moons ago I earned a degree in zoology, and spent a few years as a Russian-English translator of life sciences material.  Although I have a somewhat technical background, I didn't find this book to be beyond the ability of the average Joe to understand.  Yeah, Buhner does go into some detail about how these herbals work in the body, but it's not entirely necessary to read all that to figure out how to treat yourself.  I've read it three times, so far.  It's that interesting.  And I understand more and remember more each time, so that's a really good thing.

Buhner's intended audience was probably those who understand that antibiotic resistance is poised to create a worldwide crisis and who are looking for tools to defend themselves.  However, this book is especially valuable for preppers who recognize that even a substantial supply of traditional antibiotics will be exhausted.  And because Big Pharma just isn't doing the research to develop new antibiotics, and because bacteria are so effective at defeating new antibiotics when they come out anyway, we need to be prepared to manage bacterial infections. 

Herbal Antibiotics is definitely not a book to borrow and take notes on or make copies of a few good pages.  You really want the whole thing for your own reference.  It's one of precious few books that is worth every penny and every precious inch of shelf space.

Links to related posts:
Alton's Antibiotics review
Herbal Antivirals review 

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