Alternative/Complementary/Holistic Resources

thenewme, you wrote:

If  Big Pharma and Big Herba are the same "entity," then why is it that one of the basic tenets of the pro-alternative crowd is that Big Pharma is evil and Big Herba is good?

Since I am not the one making that claim, I don't know. You would probably have to ask that....crowd as you put it. 

And when you say: 

We can absolutely agree on that!  But honestly, who would disagree or argue that statement?  Think about it. 

Who? The people who get upset to the point of "loosing it" and resorting to insults when there is any kind of questioning of the standard of care's usefulness; or when there is any question about intolerable side-effects from medication (and I am not trying to say you are part of that....crowd)

orange1: indeed, I depend essentially on 2 pharmacist friends for the claim that many pharmaceutical companies also make supplements. Here, I would have to obtain the data from them, if they are right on that point.  

Fabulous website!! Thank you so much!

thenewme, Thanks for the web site. It has lots of info, will be spending some time on it.

thenewme, Thanks for all the links to the websites.  Really good finds!

Julia, You might want to think about volunteering a couple of Saturdays a month to give a massage to women going through treatment that cannot afford to pay for a massage plus gratuity.  

We have an integrative health center in Santa Rosa where practionars offer thier services free of charge to women going through breast cancer treatment and up to 2 months out from treatment.  They have massage, acupuncture, guided imagery, nutrition counseling and other services.  Whole Foods and other organic grocers donate food.  Sometimes a physician will sit in the lobby and answer questions about breast cancer.

Practionars are strictly forbidden from trying to solicite patients, sell supplements or offer any kind of medical advice.

 If there isn't one in your area, maybe you can look into starting one.

http://www.sutterpacific.org/services/IHH_Sonoma.html

That sounds like a wonderful service in your area! There are definitely people who cannot afford to pay for massage. I work at an Integrative Cancer Center in Burbank where we offer discounted massages as well as acupuncture, acupressure, reiki, yoga, stretch classes, etc. to both survivors and the general public. I love working there 2 days/wk and wish there were more integrative centers around!