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  • WHO and European Investment Bank strengthen efforts to combat COVID-19 and build resilient health systems to face future pandemics

    • WHO and the European Investment Bank enhance cooperation to support countries in addressing the health impact of COVID-19
    • The first phase will address urgent needs and strengthen primary health care in ten African countries
    • Enhanced WHO-EIB partnership will scale up financing to assure the chain of essential supplies, including personal protective equipment, diagnostics and clinical management
    • New initiative will accelerate investment in health preparedness and primary health care with a focus on health work force, infrastructure, and water, sanitation and hygiene
    • The initiative involves measures to address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance

    The World Health Organization and the European Investment Bank will boost cooperation to strengthen public health, supply of essential equipment, training and hygiene investment in countries most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The new partnership between the United Nations health agency and the world’s largest international public bank, announced at WHO headquarters in Geneva earlier today, will help increase resilience to reduce the health and social impact of future health emergencies. 

    “Combining the public health experience of the World Health Organization and the financial expertise of the European Investment Bank will contribute to a more effective response to COVID-19 and other pressing health challenges,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. 

    “WHO looks forward to strengthening cooperation with the EIB to improve access to essential supplies including medical equipment and training, and deliver better water, sanitation and hygiene where most needed. New initiatives to improve primary health care in Africa and support the EU Malaria Fund hint at the potential impact of our new partnership,” Dr Tedros concluded.

    “The world is facing unprecedented health, social and economic shocks from COVID-19. The European Investment Bank is pleased to join forces with the World Health Organization as a key part of Team Europe’s efforts to address the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU Bank’s new partnership with the WHO will help communities most at risk by scaling up local medical and public health efforts and better protect people around the world from future pandemics. This new cooperation will enable us to combat malaria, address anti-microbial resistance and enhance public health in Africa more effectively,” said Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

    Improving local public health efforts to tackle coronavirus

    The WHO and the EIB will increase cooperation to help governments in low- and middle-income countries to finance and secure access to essential medical supplies and protective equipment through central procurement.

    Building resilient health systems in vulnerable countries across Africa

    The WHO and the EIB will reinforce cooperation to support immediate COVID-19 needs and jointly develop targeted financing to enhance health investment and build resilient health systems and primary health care to address public health emergencies as well as accelerate progress towards Universal Health Coverage.

    The partnership will benefit from the EIB’s planned 1.4 billion EUR response to address the health, social and economic impact of COVID-19 in Africa.

    This will address immediate needs in the health sector and provide both technical assistance and support for medium-term investment in specialist health infrastructure.

    The collaboration envisages rapid identification and fast-track approval of financing for health care, medical equipment and supplies. 

    The first phase of the collaboration will see public health investment in ten African countries. 

    Long-term collaboration to overcome market failures in global health

    The agreement signed today establishes a close collaboration to overcome market failure and stimulate investments in global health, accelerating progress towards Universal Health Coverage. Increased cooperation between the WHO and the EIB will strengthen the resilience of national public health systems and enhance preparedness of vulnerable countries against future pandemics, thanks to investments in primary care infrastructure, health workers and improved water, sanitation and hygiene. 

    Future cooperation will strengthen the EIB’s 5.2 billion EUR global response to COVID-19 outside the European Union.

    Scaling up investment to tackle antimicrobial resistance

    The two organisations will also cooperate in an initiative to address investment barriers hindering development of new antimicrobial treatment and related diagnostics. Antimicrobial resistance is amongst the most significant global health threats.

    The WHO and the EIB are working on a new financing initiative to support development of novel antimicrobials and address the estimated 1 billion EUR needed to provide medium-term solutions to antimicrobial resistance. Other crucial partners have been invited to join this discussion. 

    Improving the effectiveness of malaria treatment

    Under the new agreement the EIB and WHO will support development of the EU Malaria Fund, a new 250 million EUR public-private initiative intended to address market failures holding back more effective malaria treatment. 

    Strengthening EIB support for healthcare, life science and COVID-19 investment

    In recent years the European Investment Bank has provided more than 2 billion EUR annually for health care and life science investment.

    In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EIB is currently assessing over 20 projects in the field of vaccine development, diagnostic and treatment, leading to potential investments in the 700 million EUR range. The EIB will also take part in the EU’s rolling pledging effort for the coronavirus global response that is taking place on May 4th.

    Background information

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

    The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing. For updates on COVID-19 and public health advice to protect yourself from coronavirus, visit www.who.int and follow WHO on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube

    WHO’s information site on the COVID-19 pandemic

    Read More
    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/01-05-2020-who-and-european-investment-bank-strengthen-efforts-to-combat-covid-19-and-build-resilient-health-systems-to-face-future-pandemics

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  • Combine Language Learning and Technology to Explode Your Teaching and Learning Success

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    Are you looking to boost your English language teaching or learning skills to yet ever higher levels? Would you like to stimulate more interest in your language classes or break out of a slump or plateau? Combine the use of a variety of language learning techniques with continually developing technology to spur your successes. Here are some useful ideas and web sites to get you started.

    BLOGS

    A Web Log or Blog, is not unlike a dairy you keep online. You can write instructions, an essay or post any type of information you want. Graphics and images can be included to illustrate the written material. Sound and audio-visual files can also be placed into a blog for added impact. A teacher can post a reading or assignment where students can comment right online. No papers, no clutter and you can view it almost any time. Blogs are becoming easier to use and access and many sites allow you to set one up for free.

    ONLINE VIDEO / AUDIO

    Most professionals have an e-mail address or two. Your e-mail can now become a communicative tool between you and the learners. E-mail can now also include the use of images and sound or audio-visual clips, as well as the message text. Learners can send in assignments as attachments or pasted into the body of the e-mail. They can ask questions and receive timely feedback without waiting for the next class session. Teachers can send out instructions, updates or other information to learners individually, or as a group also without having to wait for the next scheduled class session.

    No computer? No problem. In many parts of the world e-cafes are so cheap they’re actually a viable alternative that students can easily afford. Whole “communities” of young learners are based on hangouts at e-cafes in some cultures. Talk to your students about it. You might be surprised.

    USE OF ONLINE RESOURCES for TEACHING / LEARNING

    The use of online games, EFL practice sites student and teacher forums, communities and activities has exploded in recent months in many parts of the world. Virtual communities and online reference libraries now enable learners to problem-solve, research a paper or to more quickly complete assignments that formerly would have taken disproportionately large amounts of time to complete. For example, a few sites worth mentioning include:

    o http://www.books.google.com/

    A web site which offers free access to books that can be read on-screen

    o http://www.universia.net.co

    This is a site which has a lengthy listing of virtual libraries in almost any genre and connects more than 900 mostly Spanish language libraries

    o http://www.redclara.net

    This site interconnects an advanced academic network of Latin American libraries

    o http://www.lablaa.org

    This site allows you access and read a large number of its collected works online and contains exposition pages

    o The official Project Gutenburg web site contains an extensive listing of literary works in English which have entered the Public Domain. It’s online at: [http://promo.net/pg/]

    Try some of these useful ideas and web sites to get you started in combining the use of a variety of language learning techniques with continually developing technology to explode your English language teaching and learning successes. If you need to know more about using these or other new technologies to boost student interest and motivation making your English language teaching more effective, feel free to e-mail me at the address below with questions or comments.

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    Source by Larry M. Lynch

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  • Attractive New Regenerative Medicine Tool Uses Magnets to Shape and Stimulate Stem Cells

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    How would it have been if we could develop embryoid bodies (EBs) from individual embryonic stem cells (ESCs) using technology? This could give birth to the development of the regenerative medicines and other therapies, which does not require an external supporting matrix as needed by the traditional regenerative technology to create a coordinated assembly.

    All this is possible with a cellular magnetic Legos. A technology developed by the researchers at the Laboratoire Matiere et Systemes Complexes (CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot) is capable of combining cells with the help of magnetic nanoparticles and magnetized miniaturized magnets. In order to differentiate, it does not need any supporting matrix. The best part of this technology is that it can develop any tissues and deform them at will.

    An elaborate insight of the study has been detailed in Nature Communications. This tool infused with miniaturized magnets can be used as a great technology in the field of regenerative medicines and also in biophysical studies.

    Since the demand of nanotechnology is ever growing for providing an unprecedented solution for diagnosis and regenerative therapy, we can feel its necessity in every sphere of medicines and biosciences. Hence, this finding is another milestone for the development of regenerative tissues or therapies sans an external supporting matrix.

    However, for scientists it is not viable to use matrix for the development of cohesive and organized cellular assembly for tissue generation. This is what they find it a great challenge, especially when they have to work on synthesizing thick or large sized organ or tissue. Or sometimes, the stimulation of these tissues is quite tough as they refuse to function properly as opposed to their counterpart cartilage.

    Magnetic Cellular Lego At Scientists’ Assistance

    A new tool developed by the scientists in France, uses magnetized stem cells to alter and stimulate stem cells into 3D shapes. By using external magnets, cells can be magnetized for differentiation, assembly, proliferation and stimulation through insertion of nanoparticles. This way, these cells are turning into cellular magnetic Legos. The magnetic Legos performs as a magnetic tissue stretcher, where mobile magnets captivate aggregate developed from the cells before a second the micromagnet could attract magnetized cells. The experimenting tissues on the magnetic tray behave independently (say compression and stretching) influenced by the two actuated magnets.

    The Method Of The Experiments

    The first approach of the study was to gauge the capacity of the magnetized cells to differentiate and proliferate as similar as stem cells, and also zap pluripotency characteristic in embryonic stem cells when introduced to nanoparticles. It was aimed at developing the embryoid body applying the differentiation process of embryonic stem cells. We can call embryoid bodies as 3D groups of pluripotent stem cells, which comprise three types of skin cell types. The team further found that nanoparticles do not impact the formation of embryoid bodies in the magnetic stretcher.

    In order to form embryoid bodies using magnetized cells, it has more effective outcomes as opposed to the hanging drop method, where embryoid bodies cannot proliferate properly.

    The study further showed that the addition of the nanoparticles to the embryonic stem cells do not put any impact on its differentiation process. Simultaneously, the embryoid bodies could move toward the heart muscle in the magnetic stretcher when stimulated by magnetic cells. Thus, it proved that other than living orgasmic cells, the mechanical factors like magnetic cells can take part in the process of cell differentiation too.

    We can hope that by using this all-in-technology, we can generate tissues by manipulating stem cells, or use it as a powerful method to enhance biophysical learning possibilities.

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    Source by Richa Verma

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  • The Healing Synergy of Talk and Touch

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    • Touch allows you to get to the heart of the matter.
    • Talk allows you to understand its meaning.
    • Combining empathic talk with gentle, healing touch is transformational.

    The Rubenfeld Synergy Method (RSM) was developed in the 1970’s by its founder, Ilana Rubenfeld. She began her career as a conductor and gradually began having intense pain in her back and shoulders. This led her on a journey toward personal exploration and self-healing. At that time, she received Alexander Technique sessions which were focused on helping her to re-align her posture and movement. But as she received this gentle touch, her emotions would bubble to the surface and the Alexander Teacher was not trained in how to help her. So she traveled across town in New York City to spend time with a Gestalt Therapist. But in the therapy sessions her emotions were not as easily stirred up. That is what prompted her to begin combining that gentle touch with talk in an effort to integrate the two systems in her body. The result was more than the two separate entities, thus the term “synergy.”

    Rubenfeld Synergists are men and women who arrived at the same realization or “aha” moment in their careers and their lives. They saw Ilana Rubenfeld or another “Synergist” perform the “magic” that occurs during a session. They saw, with their own eyes, the transformation of the client’s experience when receiving this type of listening touch and intentional dialogue. That “aha” moment has brought bodyworkers (massage therapists, chiropractors, Reiki practitioners, nurses, and other practitioners who use touch in their work), psychotherapists (psychologist, social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors and even psychiatrists who have only used talk when working with clients), housewives, businessmen, attorneys, medical professionals, artists, musicians and others into the healing experience of becoming a certified Rubenfeld Synergist.

    Where can you find a qualified practitioner of this unusual and powerful work? Here are the locations of currently certified synergists and the locations just keep expanding and this work reaches out to hungry clients and curious therapists.

    Certified Synergists In the U.S.

    • Washington
    • Oregon
    • California
    • Arizona
    • Montana
    • Wyoming
    • Colorado
    • New Mexico
    • Minnesota
    • Tennessee
    • Indiana
    • Michigan
    • Ohio
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • South Carolina
    • North Carolina
    • Virginia
    • West Virginia
    • Washington DC
    • Pennsylvania
    • New York
    • Maryland
    • Delaware
    • New Jersey
    • Connecticut
    • Massachusetts
    • Vermont

    Certified Synergists in Canada

    • British Columbia
    • Alberta
    • Ontario, CA

    Certified Synergists in Europe

    • Wales
    • England
    • Ireland
    • Scotland

    Trainees in Taiwan

    If you are seeking a way to heal your body and your emotional upsets without medication, RSM is a pathway to explore. If you want to help your clients heal from both physical and emotional pain, you can begin to learn this powerful method in just 7 months. Check out the Rubenfeld Synergy Web Site to find a practitioner in your location and check out the Rubenfeld Training Institute Web Site to learn about the upcoming trainings.

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    Source by Erica Goodstone, Ph.D.

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  • Improving Healthcare Delivery by Setting Up an Integrative Family Medicine Practice

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    There are several definitions of the Integrative Medicine model which include:

    a) A healthcare model that combines treatments from Conventional healthcare and Alternative / Traditional Medicine for which there is some high-quality evidence of safety and effectiveness

    b) Focuses on person-centred (holistic care) and uses all appropriate therapeutic approaches

    c) Focuses on preventative maintenance of health by paying attention to all relative components of lifestyle

    Every person desires good health. Health, according to WHO is not merely the absence of any disease or infirmity but a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. There is no single medical system that is perfect and each has its own merits and weaknesses; It is wrong to assume that any specific medical system, be it conventional or complementary therapies such as, Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine is correct with the exception of conventional emergency medicine. Integrative medicine is based on this concept and it incorporates evidenced-based alternative medicine alongside conventional methods for treatment and diagnosis.

    The use of complementary and alternative medicine has gained popularity in the last few years. An integrative healthcare service combines the strength of conventional and complementary medicine therapies in a way that provides the maximum benefits for the consumer. As each individual is different, the best way to provide holistic treatment would be to offer patient-centered evidence-based healthcare services combining the benefits of alternative and complementary medicine.

    If you want to set up a successful Integrative Medicine practice, then you should consider the following:

    1. Targeted Therapy

    A revolution is underway in healthcare, where the importance of lifestyle, diet, emotional and physical factors are important complementary medicine components in formulating effective therapeutic protocols.

    The key to any effective Integrative Medicine treatment is 'targeted therapy' using a biological rationale and a predefined mechanism of action from Conventional and Alternative Medicine systems. This treatment protocol involves the strategic integration of therapies, pharmaceuticals, and supplements.

    2. Establish a unique brand identity that defines your business culture or values

    Your brand name and the values ​​are potent tools that build credibility with patients. You should create a unique or modern brand identity that defines the culture or values ​​of your medical practice. People prefer to connect with established brand or reputed organizations that deliver quality healthcare services at a competitive price.

    3. Increase patient volume and business

    The Complementary Medicine industry continues to flourish which is indicative of current dissatisfaction with the conventional healthcare models. The anticipated growth is $ 4.6 billion in 2017-18 from the $ 3.5 billion in 2014. Therefore, it follows that Integrative Medicine practice will flourish with the correct marketing and the inclusion of a supporting delivery framework which underpins best clinical practice.

    4. Use highly effective marketing strategies

    With the increasing popularity of digital marketing, your center should have a website with detailed information and appropriate marketing content that will enable people to make well-informed decisions. The leveraging expertise of experienced digital marketers will streamline promotion of your brand and build credibility among patients. It is essential that you know what you are delivering, why you are delivering the product and have systems to measure the results.

    5. Build a sustainable service delivery model

    Three key factors are important in creating a thriving Integrative Medicine center. These are:

    A) An Effective Service Delivery Model

    B) A Framework of Delivery that underpins best practice and is cost effective for the consumer

    C) A Management strategy for successful implementation of the model

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    Source by Luke Harper

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  • Your Lifestyle and Hypertension (Part 1)

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    Hypertension is a chronic (long term) medical condition which is characterized by a persistent increase in the blood pressure in our arteries. This is why it is also called High Blood Pressure (HBP). We may have come across it in many literatures being referred to as a silent killer! Yes. It sure is one. Nobody wants to reach the end of the time of life, at least not at an age when much work is still left undone, words left unsaid, and special people left unloved. This is where it gets a little dicey. More than 50% of those with hypertension do not even know that they have it! More like an insecure king wining and dining with a traitor and a lot of times many more traitors as we shall come to realize in prospect.

    Here are some epidemiological facts to serve as an eye opener for us to understand what is really at stake here

    Hypertension is generally of two types. A primary type and of course a secondary type. The primary type is caused by non-specific factors involving one’s lifestyle or genetic predisposition. These factors include but are not limited to smoking, obesity, high salt intake, sedentary lifestyle, depression and it accounts for over 95% of the total hypertensive individuals. The remaining 5% or thereabout have the secondary type of hypertension which is due to or secondary to known pre-existing causes such as chronic kidney disease, hormonal abnormalities, use of birth control pills, pregnancy, coarctation of the largest artery in the body, the aorta and stenosis of one or both renal arteries.

    Fortunately, hypertension is one of those medical conditions which are readily preventable and then proper treatments, preventive techniques and management strategies are well utilized. This means there is virtually one way to know your Hypertensive status. This is in essence but in fact that it is by getting your blood pressure checked frequently. Hypertension if left unchecked, could cause any of the following:

    1. Coronary artery disorder; a diseased of the blood vessels that supplies the heart itself with nutrients and blood

    2. Heart failure

    3. Stroke

    4. Blindness

    5. Chronic Kidney Disease

    6. Peripheral Vascular Disease

    7. Multiorgan Failure

    8. Death

    Why must I examine my lifestyle?

    I would start with those who love salt so much that we even salt our soft drinks, drinking water and bathing water. I would have to bring our minds back to the Ebola virus outbreak in Nigeria some years ago where different sacrilegious ideas came up from nowhere advising people to chew kolanut with salt water and to have their bath with salt water. I hope we know that many people supposedly died of this act than from the disease outbreak itself.

    The normal and most striking attribute of salt in the body system is to pull along with it as much water as it can. Hence, engorging the blood vessels and making them overloaded with fluid. The heart in response to this starts to overwork itself so as to compensate for the unnecessary increase in volume it has to pump per cycle. Before you know what is happening, the heart begins to fail until it eventually gives way to stress.

    Next is smoking. This one is very bad and its medical significance goes beyond hypertension. It is the single most important factor for developing coronary artery disease. Smoking grossly increases the chance of getting down with hypertension in the long run. Its close relative, Alcohol is also a major stakeholder in the world of lifestyle diseases. Hypertension gotten via one of these is not good let alone combining both alcohol and smoking. I can imagine the great wall of Jericho falling flat once more.

    Worthy of mention also is a very common one of which virtually everyone is a culprit. This is exercise. The standard approach about this is that one should have at least 30 minutes of exercise each day for at least 3 days in a week. This is the minimum you are permitted to go. Exercise simply helps your heart to improve in its function and enable it to cope with increased workload barring any case, you might have gotten engaged with much salt or other substance that overloads your blood volume. Also, your heartbeat is increased and blood flows faster. These and many more are the wonderful effects of exercise on your body.

    There is a serious relationship between hypertension and obesity. Obese individuals usually have impaired carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolisms. As such, they usually have a strong tendency to have Diabetes Mellitus and under-utilized high level of glucose in the blood is just as harmful as salt in the blood. Bad lipids are often times deposited on the walls of their arteries thereby reducing their diameters and restricting the flow of blood in it. This is one of the causes of hypertension in the obese; increased peripheral resistance of the blood vessels.

    Lastly, on this episode of your Health column, it would suffice to say that what we see is what you eat. Much need not be said about this. Eat well, eat smart and eat right!

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    Source by Nelson U Udeme

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  • Combining Traditional Medicine With Natural Healing

    Combining Traditional Medicine With Natural Healing

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    Natural medicines made from herbs and plants have been around since the dawn of mankind. The advent of modern medicine has made natural healing less common. However, in recent decades, the interest in natural medicine has been revived. Bear in mind, it is important to work with your physician when you take natural medicines to avoid dangerous complications.

    Finding a Physician Who Is Knowledgeable in Natural Medicine

    Patients who are interested in natural medicine should find a general practitioner or family physician who is skilled with the type of natural medicine you are interested in. For example, those interested in traditional Chinese remedies should find a physician who knows enough about the remedies to be able to work with them in conjunction with their Western style of medicine. The physician does not necessarily need to practice the form of medicine, but they must understand its principles well enough to avoid prescribing a medication that will interact with your herbal medicines.

    Finding a Natural Healer

    Although there are many highly skilled, experienced natural healers, keep in mind that anyone can claim to be a natural healer. Very few natural forms of medicine are regulated by any sort of accrediting body or governed by a state licensing agency, which means that there are unscrupulous people claiming to be able to heal when in fact they cannot. Ask the healers detailed questions about where they received their training. Beware of those without medical training who claim to be self-taught. Their training may not be adequate to provide any helpful advice in the form of natural medicine that they claim to practice, and even worse, they may inadvertently cause harm through their lack of knowledge. Look for a healer that has completed an educational path or who has apprenticed with another healer. Then, ask for references.

    Purchasing Natural Remedies

    Most natural remedies, or the ingredients to make natural or herbal medicines, can be purchased at a natural foods store. However, it is important to ask the healer detailed questions before you make any purchases. Some herbs are made in several forms and strengths, and one form or strength may be less effective or even have a different effect than another. Even worse, because natural remedies are medications, patients can accidentally overdose on them. Before you make your purchase, read labels. Make sure that the remedy is the form and strength that you need. Do not substitute without consulting your natural healer.

    When to Consult a Physician

    The physician should always be consulted before beginning any natural medicine regimen. Always tell your physician about any natural remedies you are taking, and always tell your natural healer about any medicines you are taking. Natural remedies and medications can cause dangerous drug interactions that can cause serious health problems or even fatalities. Even supplements that sound harmless can have dangerous side effects or may render other medicines useless, or even worse, ramp up their effectiveness, causing an overdose.

    Finding Out More about Natural Medicine

    The best place to find out more about natural medicine is from someone who has had extensive training in the practice. However, the local library and some university or organization-run websites may also be credible sources of information about the natural medical tradition. However, patients should not put themselves on any natural supplement or medicine without consulting a physician and a natural healer, if one is available.

    Natural Medicine and Traditional Medicine

    Many people feel that they must choose between natural and clinical medicine. This is not the case. When used judiciously and safely, natural medicine may be a safe addition to, or even an alternative to, clinical medicines. In fact, in many cases, natural remedies may be even safer than their clinical counterparts.

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    Source by Serena Li

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