As more and more of us turn away from pharmaceuticals and synthetic drugs, many are rediscovering the power of natural home remedies. Though often discredited as just old wives’ tales, scientific evidence supports many grandma’s cures as effective. Discover herbal, Ayurvedic, and essential oil solutions for over 100 ailments with this book of natural healing!
The History of Home Remedies
Home remedies have been around for generations, and are still used today by millions. Some remedies have been scientifically tested while others depend on faith alone. Unfortunately, it remains unclear exactly why certain plant-based remedies work; whether their effectiveness comes down to placebo effects or something in them which actually helps the body fight infections?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people turned to home remedies in addition to modern medicine for protection. These remedies included spices, herbs and citrus fruits like garlic, ginger and lemon honey tea in order to increase immunity and fight infections.
In order to identify home remedies related to COVID-19, a comprehensive search was conducted using Google Scholar, BMC, Medline, EBSCOhost, Academic Search Ultimate and Science Direct databases. Studies published between 2019-2022 in English were considered, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods research studies with narrative thematic data synthesis applied as necessary. Our results revealed many home remedies as forms of prophylaxis.
Modern Home Remedies
People continue to utilize home remedies for treating symptoms like headaches, sore throats and colds. Many use them in addition to traditional medical treatment or as a boost of immunity – their use has even expanded with the Internet and social media.
Modern users of home remedies often do so for various reasons, including to save money and avoid pharmaceutical medications, and control costs. They are also affected by their heritage and family background as well as local/global cultures of wellness.
GPs should be mindful of patients’ need to learn about home remedies, and may seek their advice regarding them. Unfortunately, home remedies have not been extensively scientifically investigated and their interactions with medications remain poorly understood; more research needs to be conducted into their effectiveness in order to inform future guidelines and healthcare policies more efficiently.
African American Herbal Remedies
African American herbalism’s foundation was its connection with nature. Enslaved Africans brought seeds from home and braided them carefully into their hair as part of an herbal practice they employed daily in treating various illnesses.
Herbal remedies were often employed for skin conditions, gastrointestinal discomforts, respiratory conditions (colds), and muscular-skeletal ailments – sometimes prior to or in lieu of visiting a physician for such symptoms.
Elders reported using various remedies from African traditions, such as mullein, blackberry, maypop, sassafras and rabbit tobacco. Elders also used more widely available household products such as Vaseline, vinegar and Epsom salts for self-care practices; this evidence supports home remedies being widely used by elders despite small sample size limits for most studies conducted and their limited external generalizability.
The Victorian Pharmacy
Life in a Victorian pharmacy is recreated for this documentary, as historian Ruth Goodman, Professor Nick Barber and doctorate student Tom Quick recreate daily life at one from 1837 when leeches and oil of earthworm were still popular remedies. They explore what people were using as remedies at that time to treat common aliments – some effective while some deadly.
Early Victorians believed that when people became sick, their bodies held too much of certain humors which needed balancing; one such humor was blood, which could be removed by leech draining.
The Virginia Pharmacy Association’s (VPA) recent circular is an important reminder to licensees that their pharmacies possess all of the resources and equipment needed for immunisation services, and shares lessons from recent panel hearings as well as updates regarding improvements to inspection programs.
