GOING WILD: MODERN MEDICINE HAS ROOTS IN HERBAL REMEDIES

Parry hung, from left, lamb's ear, lemon balm and spearment herbs to dry.

At right, Parry has planted 25 varieties of herbs in her back yard herb garden.

Parry sells a variety of herbs in capsule form for the immune system.

Grace Parry's driveway and front walk are lined with an array of beautiful and unique plants that visitors rarely recognize as being more than just decorative accents.

But mixed in with an assortment of perennials are such medicinal herbs as purple prairie flower cone, cat's grass, Russian sage, creeping thyme and rosemary.

Parry, owner of A Touch of Grace Herb Shop in Cape Girardeau, stocks purple prairie flower cone, also called Echinaceae purpureae, in her shop. It is a natural antibiotic and immune-system stimulant.

She also grows it at home where the purple-and-pink flower is as much decorative as it is medicinal.

Russian sage is an immune system stimulant and promotes hair growth. Creeping thyme is used for flavor in cooking. Rosemary is a hair growth stimulant.

Parry's garden also smells of peppermint, spearmint, lime mint, candy mint, ginger mint, apple mint and orange mint -- all of which she grows.

Parry dries and sells many of these herbs in her shop. "That is primarily what I'm selling, the medicinal herbs," she said.

The walls of Parry's shop are lined with herbs to treat high blood pressure, ulcers and aches and pains. There are herbs that deal specifically with "men's health" and herbs for "women's problems." There are herbs that will help people quit smoking and lose weight. There are herbs for energy and herbs for relaxation.

"I have people who come in and say, `I have an ulcer what can I take?'" Parry said. "There is a list of different herbs and different products and combinations and from there I'll figure out what will work for them."

Parry said she feels that she knows enough about the herbs she stocks to help people make good choices. But, she added, herb lore is the accumulation of thousands of years of research and experimentation and she is constantly learning more.

Extracted from many common herbs and plants are the foundations of some modern medicines. The difference, said Dr. Don Miles, a micro-biologist at St. Francis Medical Center, is in the processing.

Aspirin, which is considered to be a modern medicinal miracle, was derived from willow trees, Miles said. Now the essential chemical of aspirin is produced synthetically.

Miles said taking the aspirin in its natural form may provide the same benefits as taking a synthetic aspirin tablet, but with modified side effects.

Synthesized aspirin can cause stomach irritation and reduce the blood's ability to clot. "If you took as it is from the willow tree, you could have the balancing effect of other minor components that would affect how it would act in the body," Miles said.

Miles used aspirin as an example of the difference between medicine and herb therapy. He said there is no research to prove this example but it illustrates the essence of why people are turning to herbs as cures.

Miles said many herbs taken in their original form have medicinal benefits but with less side effects than sythesized drugs. The herbs also affect the body more slowly than synthesized medicines, "it's not the quick fix that we're so used to in this culture, but they do work."

"There is a feeling that there are other things within the plant other than the primary active ingredient that are also helping it do its job in the body," Miles added.

Miles stressed that there are some plants that are unhealthy and can be fatal if ingested. He said people should be cautious about cultivating wild plants.

Miles began researching herbs about five years ago. He said he was convinced of the medicinal properties of herbs when he used common plants growing in his yard to cure a spider bite on his wife's foot.

His job with the hospital is to research antibiotics. On a four-acre plat of land in Jackson, Miles has started a small antibiotics garden.

He grows Echinaceae purpureae, or purple prairie cone flower, because of its medicinal properties. He said he hopes to be producing about 300 plants within the next two years to sell as a cash crop.

Purple prairie cone flower, Miles said, is not geared toward curing or preventing a specific ailment. It simply "kick-starts the immune system and gets the white blood cells moving," he said.

Dr. Ross Hauser, of Oak Park, Ill., uses medicinal herbs in his medical practice. "I use natural remedies to treat such things as chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, chronic fatigue and digestive problems," he said.

Hauser uses herbs, vitamins and nutrition more than prescription medicine in his work. He and more than 20 volunteers conduct a free clinic in Thebes, Ill., every three months at the First Baptist Church. Today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. is the last day of Hauser's most recent clinic.

During these clinics, Hauser said people travel from as far away as South Carolina and California for treatment. "Herb therapy works far better than regular medicine, there's no comparison," he said.

"If somebody is having a heart attack go to the hospital," Hauser added. "But, I can get almost every patient off of high blood pressure medicine; I can get them off their high cholesterol medicine just by using herbs and vitamins."