Miracles or Charlatanry?
Television or magazines, and parts of the State Medical Board of Registration surpass by far in their efforts, Philippine faith healers to brand as confidence trickster. The patients have mostly another opinion. They don’t care, whether Western science breaks a physical explanation to this phenomenon or not; the main thing is it comes off: an improvement, a recovery, or a disappearance of the illness.
Miracles or charlatanry? With all the trimmings, what is true on such reports regarding curing of even physical illnesses?
Authors from all over the world have made enquiries about healers and reported about thousands different healing, remedies, medicinal herbs and healing powers - and, of course, their healing results.
To be honest, one should not conceal, that the healing success in many cases did not really appear. Then I would really warn everybody to omit or to refrain from prescriptions or ordered medical treatments. On the other side, I also have experienced cases of “medical give up” while the faith healer became successful. Do not ask me for any explanations. How was it possible? Healing by just laying hands on somebody? Conjuration or entreaty instead of chemotherapy? Operation with mere bare hands instead with scalpels?
Mostly everybody from Western countries will be put into a category of fools, if he or she plans to travel to the Philippines for a faith healer treatment. It also happened to me during the lat 80s. When I returned to Germany and all following examinations including x-rays documented a disappearance of my illness, my doctor told me never to consult him anymore. I was subscribed as malingerer. By the way, during that time I suffered “recurring damaged disc with left leg paralysis”.
My conscience is clear, even being described as “religious visionary” during that time. If I would have been healed by medical therapy, the doctor would have talked about medical recovery, and the state of health would not be the result of a “spontaneous remission”, so to speak “abatement” or “diminution”.
Well,who are all these healers, who just only get the medical disdain and scorn? Are they the Christian prototypes following the bible’s healing offer? Is everything what happened here in the Philippines just a placebo effect result? If suggestion plays a role, how comes, that Filipinos can even heal babies? Parapsychology? Believe it or not.
I just returned from a third faith healer session somewhere in Baguio District Mindanao. I am glad I could communicate with Nanay in Bisaya. She cured me. And my doctor did not get angry… .
Hi Klaus
I have heard a lot about the faith healers in Philippines, or quack doctors as a lot of the people here call them, but I am always amazed the amount of people that will go to them rather than go to a medical doctor. Example, we had a girl living with us and she was under the impression that she was after developing breast cancer because she had found a lump (she kept this to herself for ages). Finally she told my wife she was attending a “quack doctor” for it but the lump was getting bigger. It took an awful lot of persuasion to get her to go and see a medical doctor which she did eventually, just to be told it wasn’t what she thought it was, it was really something very minor, to the relief of everyone but more to her relief, can you imagine what that poor girl went through mentally. But to this day she will go to the quack doctor everytime she thinks there is something wrong with her
I have seen several TV programmes where a lot of people are healed like this, so to be honest I just don’t know what to believe, but I’m sure there are some genuine ones out there somewhere.
Hi Klaus
My wifes’ parents and, most of her family and frinds, here in the area believe very strongly in faith healers. It’s seems to work for them quite well in most instances thqt I have seen. My wife does not have this strong belief in faith healers and, I contribute that to the leverl of education difference between them and her. I am not a steong believer either but, be it far from me to make any attempt to change the faith of those who do.
Jack: As far I know, there is a world of difference here between a faith healer and a quack doctor.
Hi Frank
No offence meant, I’m only saying what the people in this area of Misamis Occidental call them, but maybe that’s because there may not be a proper “faith healer” here.
Hi Jack
there was no offense taken. Only giving my take on the subject
I’m a very educated person and there are doctors in the family as well as doctors (MDs and PhDs) in my circle. However, I’m always open to possibilities and hence have refrained from discounting anything anymore. I try to be discerning, though as to the authenticity of claims.
The thing is even the Western medical establishment is starting to turn around. So are insurance companies which are slowly embracing some of the newer approaches in therapy, like acupuncture. Okay so it is not faith healing but it’s a shift; what this means is that established businesses & medical profession are keeping an open mind, too.
The study of higher consciousness (which is really behind faith healing) is in its nascent stages but even hard-core scientists have joined the bandwagon for its exploration.
The Apollo astronaut, Dr. Edgar Mitchell, founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences to study the evolution of consciousness. It is based in Petaluma, California.
As is reported on his website at
http://www.noetic.org/about/history.cfm:
…”The experience that came to him in space led him to a startling hypothesis: Perhaps reality is more complex, subtle, and inexorably mysterious than conventional science had led him to believe. Perhaps a deeper understanding of consciousness (inner space) could lead to a new and expanded view of reality in which objective and subjective, outer and inner, are understood as co-equal aspects of the miracle and mystery of being”
I have had only a few visits to the Philippines the longest being only six weeks so I am not going to comment on the situation in Mindanao. I have however encountered faith healers, witch doctors etc. in Madagascar where I lived when I was younger.
What I recall there is local people who had been bitten by snakes prefering to consult faith healers etc. rather than use anti-serum which was in fact available.
In this case which one do think worked ? Western medicine or the local faith healer ?
If you continue to promote faith healers etc. amongst a population who are very superstitious anyway then you run the risk of letting those with serious disease die when they could in fact be very easily treated with western medicine. Take my example above.
Sure you will always find someone who says they have been healed with various faith or magic based remedies and they will impress the local people about them and so reinforce their beliefs. Contrast that to western medicine where you have double blind trials, evidence based protocols, and effects which can be replicated time and time again.
Each one to their own but I know which I would choose if I were ill.
Scott
Scott,
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I’ve totally discounted the trained medical people. I’d go to them first, of course. I’m just saying, I’m not totally discounting these stories that have no scientific explanations, either. I keep my mind open to new discoveries. I keep up with the research on higher consciousness. This area fascinates me.
I must mention though that I find western medicine too commercialized nowadays and I’m not happy about it. Okay, not all — but many doctors nowadays try to limit their patients to a 15-minute consultation so you can’t even engage them in any conversation that affects your own health. Thank God, I have my own medical friends that I can call for further explanation. And they’re too quick to prescribe, and un-prescribe, and try something else, it appalls me sometimes. I’m talking from personal experience here.
Nowadays I schedule 2 back-to-back appts. and pay twice the amount if I know I’d have some questions to ask. I don’t want to be rushed.
Hi Angie,
I was not replying to your posting specifically, lets keep the thread on topic and related to the Philippines.
Klause has said :
** I just returned from a third faith healer session somewhere in Baguio District Mindanao. I am glad I could communicate with Nanay in Bisaya. She cured me. **
Please someone correct me if I am wrong but is it not now likely that Nanay is now boasting to all and sundry that she can even cure Europeans ?
Will this not now enhance her standing in her local community as a healer ?
Will this not now make it more likely that some poor superstitious local person with some treatable condition say apendicitis will now turn their back on conventional medicine and trust Nanay?
Perhaps some of you would like to contemplate what happens to a person with untreated apendicitis ?
What do you think Klause? perhaps you think Nanay can diagnose and cure it …….
Scott
Scott i have found your views to be very literal, there is room for doubt here and it is not a black and white situation, you outline, we are in the pill age here and that is not correct either, but as you say i too would prefer western treatment if i had a dodgy apendix so i can see where you are coming from
Rick,
With respect I have not mentioned the word pill.
You clearly can decide what is best for you, western medicine or some alternative medicine, that is you can make a reasoned judgment.
Once you bring faith healing, religion and magic into the frame then for some people reason just jumps out of the window, these things cloud a reasoned judgement, and bad things are sure to follow as sure night follows day.
Yes I have literal views on medicine as that is what I do for a living albeit veterinary medicine.
I have clients for example who do not believe that vaccination works, refuse to have their animals vaccinated and so put them at risk. I reason with them, tell them about Jenner and the smallpox vaccine, how smallpox a dire disease has been eradicated from the planet through vaccination. They listen and then choose homeopathy .. they are not using the minds and reasoning power that God gave them.
Yes I have strong views, western medicine does not have all the answers at present but as each century passes more and more advances are made. Antibiotics, anaesthetics, x-ray, ultrasound, vaccines, chemotherapy, the list is endless and these are just things I use myself in my day to day work.
These advances are only made because people take an evidence based approach, if it works and is proved to be effective by extensive trial you keep it, if it fails to work you discard it. If we keep faith with this approach then as future centuries come and go so medicine will advance.
Faith healing etc ? its just marching back in time.
Scott
To all,
I was not a believer in all the holistic cures. but many years ago I fractured and compressed a vertibra. About 10 years ago, if I tweaked my back, after a few days I would have back spasms. The first few times, against my belief, I was told to go to a Chiropractor. After 2 weeks of treatments I felt better. I did always wonder, if I never went, would I still feel better after 2 weeks. The last time I had a spasm, I went to a doctor and after an injection and some muscle relaxors, I was better the next day.
Well now my change of heart. I went to a seminar that came with a free dinner (thats why I went) and they were selling “Magnetic Therapy Mattress covers.
It came with a discount and a 90 day free trial if you purchased it there. It was expensive, but I felt, if it works, it is worth any cost, and if it did not work, I had 90 days to return it for a full refund.
I have had it on my bed for 9 years now, and I have not had a back spasm since. So I am starting to accept non medical possibilities.
Scott
Any comments on Bruce’s story above? like i said, not all black and white and it was me who brought up pills to show some negative aspects of western medical practice. cheers Scott, keep smiling
Hello Rick,
Glad to comment :
1. Lots of spinal lesions which do not impinge on the spinal cord will gradually settle down given time. Very few spinal lesions go to surgery, the majority resolve with non steroidal anti-inflammatory medication plus rest.
2. As a single case we cannot quantify the effect of the magnetic therapy as described in post 12 above. Although I am pleased for Bruce that his back is better. I know of no published trial using low powered magnetic source therapy which has shown positive effects
3. If you think about it there is indeed a clear black and white issue, evidence based medicine one one hand, and faith based medicine as described by Klaus on the other. There can be no cross over between the two because as basic concepts they are poles apart.
4. What is negative about pills ? I see them as a useful way of delivering medications orally?
I am naturally a light hearted person and like to laugh and joke but the thought of people with easily treatable illnesses using faith healers because they live in a society steeped in superstition makes my blood run cold. Sure if you have depression or think you have a ghost in the house, hey it might work no argument there. What happens if you have splenic cancer, or a brain tumour or any one of a myriad of other physical diseases how is faith healing going to help ? Not a lot to keep smiling about there.
Regards,
Scott
“What happens if you have splenic cancer, or a brain tumour or any one of a myriad of other physical diseases how is faith healing going to help ? ”
If I did, and the doctors gave up on me and I had no recourse but to either find another way or accept their death sentence, it will become a no-brainer for me. There are many cases where people get healed by themselves or thru intervention of the non-medical establishment, after doctors have sent them home to die.
I’ll cite a few and people can google them.
- Morris Goodman (dubbed “The Miracle Man”)
-Lester Levenson (a physicist/scientist who got such a death sentence, after being depressed for a while about his sure death, he fought back and retreated to his “own laboratory” and healed himself.)
- My own aunt was diagnosed with terminal cancer and told by the doctors the only thing left was to make her as comfortable as possible. She refused to die. She resorted to her own faith and some assistance from a faith healer, occasionally, but mostly turned to her faith. She lived 16 more years after “her death sentence.” When she died, it was not from the cancer because the cancer disappeared; I think she finally died quickly of a heart attack.
Many more similar scenarios are now documented.
My own approach is to give room for both but I don’t encourage nor encroach on others to believe what I believe. I’d say do your own research when the time comes and you are faced with making a choice or faced with having no more choice.
Some noted western doctors have started to give room for alternative medicine also. Examples: noted New England endocrinologist Dr. Deepak Chopra (of Ageless mind, Timeless Body fame); Dr. Andrew Weill (he’s always on PBS); Dr. Larry Dossey (conducted experiments on prayers and disease); Dr. Christian Northrup (also appears on PBS). The list is growing but these are the more popular ones.
As to faith healing, itself, one time I happened to turn onto (either Learning Channel or Discovery) and they featured “John of God” who was supposedly being studied by scientists for his remarkable ability to cure esp. people who have already been turned away by the Western doctors. John of God is dubbed as the “Miracle Worker from Brazil.” First time I heard of him but I googled for him and it appears he has been doing this for more than 30 years. He doesn’t charge a fee.
I have respect for Western medicine and its advances. But I leave myself open to the advances yet to be discovered in other areas. There are still many mysteries waiting to be explained.
Life itself, after all, is a mystery. How can one explain the mystery of the sperm and the ovum producing a live human being? No one made it grow. No intervention whatsoever — the union of the cells and afterwards, a human being develops with effortless ease. What a mystery!
I will give room to faith healing in my belief. If all else fails, what have I got to lose?
Hi, I know someone who is very close to me who was diagnosed with brain cancer last year. She was given 3 weeks to 6 months to live by the doctors and the only medication prescribed for her were all pain relievers. When my wife told me about the news, I cried shamelessly inside the internet cafe (don’t have a PC here yet that time) while we were chatting. All I asked when I prayed for her was that she be given enough time so that I can still see her alive when I got back for my annual leave home. Every day my wife and I constantly communicates and apprised me of the worsening condition and suffering this person has to endure. Her family has nearly given up all hope until they heard about this guy who heals using a cobra snake somewhere in Bansalan, Davao del Sur. So they took her there and as narrated by my wife, there was nothing special done by the so called healer except that the guy took a live cobra from a cage and then after uttering some kind of prayer proceeded to slaughter the snake. They were not asked what is the ailment of their patient, but the healer simply inspected the internal organs of the snake and commenting on its conditions until he got to the head of the snake and told them that the snake has a problem in its head and the patient was made to drink the blood of the snake which was collected in a tumbler glass. After two days, they noticed an improvement of the the patient, she’s not as cranky and would even request for food wherein before they had to force her to eat. Her vision which got blurred has recovered after several days later as she can recognize people again so they took her again to the doctor who last examined her. The doctor was quite surprised when he can’t find no abnormalities in her brain anymore on the CT Scan. So to make a long story short, I got to see her last year (December) and asked her how she’s feeling (until now nobody told her what her ailment is ) and she said fine except that her hips is giving her some problem especially standing up from sitting. Until now she’s still breathing although not as active as before but that’s not the last of the story yet as there’s still a lot that has transpired since that time.
What i’m driving at here, just like as Angie has written, no matter how advanced the medical science and technology is now, there are still inexplicable things that science can’t elucidate. And if you want me to continue the story, just email me and ask Bob for my email add.
Angie,
I am very glad your Aunt did so well however it is only common sense that the vast majority of people who are told they are going to die by a reputable doctor do in fact die in the predicted time. It is highly likely that most of the minority who survive have had a wrong diagnosis in some way, this will happen on occasion as no one is infallible. A very few have the right diagnosis and do not succumb because the body and disease are complex things which are not completely understood, the immune system for example can rally and produce unexpected results but this is rare, very rare.
You have given us a few doctors to google, just because someone is a doctor does not mean that they are right or indeed someone to look up to … For example why not do a google search of Dr Crippen or Dr Shipman.
You say ** I will give room to faith healing in my belief. If all else fails, what have I got to lose? **
I fully understand this sentiment and when the chips are down I might even follow it myself. However if you follow this argument to its logical conclusion you may as well include flying saucers, the Loch Ness monster, and the Tooth Fairy, perhaps if we believe in them hard enough they might save us? After all it is faith that heals .. right ?
At the end of the day everyone here on this blog has a computer, is well educated, and is capable of making a reasoned decision what is best for themselves regarding their health, I have no argument with that. My point is that there are people in the Philippines who no fault of their own are in the position through lack of education or a fear of superstition etc. that they will make a faith healer their first point of call and shun conventional medicine. This must then leave them open to their conditions being made considerably worse, logic must dictate that the majority of infectious and invasive diseases will just not respond to faith healing?
Are these poor people not being exploited ?
Please someone tell me I am wrong on this point …
Angie you mention the mysteries of life itself I could be wrong here but perhaps this may be off topic
No one can give you an answer here on this blog but perhaps Charles Darwin and his Origin of Species may point you in the right way to start looking.
Regards,
Scott
Hi Scott-I’d like to think that both you and Angie are correct in your assumtions of what is probable in relation to cures.
With regard to the (poor) people in the Philippines being exploited it may well be that they do take the cheaper option when they become ill.I don’t think they are being exploited it’s more about native custom and practice.
At the end of the day its all about faith in whoevers hands you choose to place yourself in order to become well again as no one wishes to die.
We should keep in mind that conventional modern day medicines all have plant equivalents. The modern medication only being a man made copy of the plant. There are literaly thousands of plants that can and will cure differant sickness’s but have never been marketed because drug companies have been unable to make a synthetic form of the plants and so cannot patent the cure in order to make a profit.
Wouldnt it be reasonable to believe that if given these medicines in the plant form by a herbalist, quack doctors, witch doctors or what ever you want to call them, would and does result in curing at least some sickness’s
We as westerners over time, have been led to believe that if medication isnt prescribed by a bonafied doctor and made by a well known drug company, there is just no way that it can be beneficial to our health and or the treatment of any sickness or ailment we may have. When in fact herbal cures have been used succesfuly for thousands of years.
Over time people have learned which plants cure which sickness, this has been accomplished by trial and error over the years. Even here in the western world herbal cures are a part of our past and were widely accepted up until the time doctors started to receive bonus’s and kick backs from drug companies to push there products.
Today the public as well as some doctors and scientist are starting to give herbal cures a second look, the realization that there are alternative treatments that have less side effects and are better for the body than man made medications are drawing peeople in for a closer look.
Jim, what you have said is true of course it is all about money, and of course it is all about native custom.
Do we have to accept all things as being right just because it is native custom ?
Scott
Clay, bravo, well stated! And Jim, thanks for giving support to the alternate belief.
Scott, I did not mean to start a debate on the “mysteries of life” on this blog as I know it’s off topic. However, I mentioned it only to support my argument on faith healing — faith healing being this mysterious subject that defies explanation. So all I’m saying is that just because it currently defies explanation does not mean that I will not give it a chance (in my own life, at least). That’s just keeping an open mind about it and isn’t progress really predicated on an open mind?? Even clinical trials, how do they start? Don’t they have to encourage enough people to put their faith on a new “drug” that is about to be tested?? So is that not also predicated on faith? If you ask me, I liken that to “faith healing,” it’s just based on faith on a pill.
Good discussion. Okay I will have to leave as I got to attend to some urgent business. So got to run to my “real office” for a while.
Thanks, Scott, I enjoyed your responses.
Scott,
I agree, one case is not a definate result. I only know about me.
About me, about 1/4 of the 1st Lumbar was compressed into the rest of the vertibre.
Also, about 6 years ago I went to an orthopedic to look at my back. A tech took me in for an Xray and then put me into an examining room. After a few minutes, the doctor walks in while looking at the Xray. HE then looks around the room and asks how I got in there. I thought he was wondering why I was in that room, so I responded ” I walked in with the tech.”
He looked suprised and said to me “you can walk?” and then relooks at the Xray.
I asked why he reacted like that and he showed me that there is arthritis growing around the hole where the nerves exit.
I am just gald, what ever has stopped the spasms, I hope it keeps working. Since I havce been using the mattress pad, I have loaded a trailer of a friend furniture, sat in a small car for 2 days to drive to their home and then unloaded it, and no spasms.
Again, this is my story and I still am sceptic of a lot of the other “Miracle Cures”
Ok Clay,
** conventional modern day medicines all have plant equivalents. **
Lets take a common drug like penicillin or any antibiotic you care to name, perhaps thats not fair, lets stick with penicillin, nice and simple. What is its plant equivalent ?
Please be kind enough to point out how I would go about obtaining therapeutic levels of penicillin from natural ingredients a native doctor could gather in the Philippines ?
Regards,
Scott
Well Scott,
I agree, penicilin does not have a plant equivilent, however penicillin is the byproduct of a plant, penicillin was discovered by using the mold from bread BUT the same mold grows on wheat, rye and other grains that have been stored in a damp place, so it is possible to get penicillin into your system by eating these molded grains. Have you ever broken open a penicillin capsule or smelled of a penicillin capsule ? I stinks when you smell it and if you broke one open you wouldnt want to take penicillin any more because all that is inside the capsule is mold in its raw form.
Maybe I should not have been so vage as to say all modern medicine has a plant equivilant, Maybe instead I should have said all modern medicine has a plant equivilant and or a natural source.
This is not specific to the philippines, herbal medicine has been used all over the globe for centuries by all people at some point in time. Even educated medical doctors at one point in time used herbs and plants to medicate and treat people
If I may add, our kitchen could be our pharmacy. I let hubby chew on fresh ginger root for his sore throat !
Watching the commercials on drugs, it appears that there are more potential side effects than cure !
Jul,
I agree, there are lots of things in our homes that we can use to treat minor ailments. When I was a kid growing up I dont remember ever going to see a doctor. We were treated by our grandmother who used the old ways. I think I’ve been treated with everything from coal oil to fatback (salted side pork) and every plant from poke berry to blood root.
There is a lot to be said for herbal cures as well as faith healing if you can keep an open mind. I also think you are right about commercial drugs, there does seem to be a lot of bad side effects and as time goes by we see more and more people who are suing the drug companies because the same drugs that they claim are a cure are actualy causing worse problems and in some case’s even death
I guess as long as people are careful. After all just because you get better doesn’t mean the cure was from faith healing or quack doctors, after all some people get horrific illness, are given a few weeks to live, but somehow soldier on for years sometimes being fully cured. Even modern medical science doesn’t understand everything.
It is true that some herbal remedies turn out to be amazing cures for various ailments, but a lot don’t.
And as mentioned above there is also the placebo effect you think its doing you good and it does, but the curing is caused by you. People getting better when given a placebo are well documented.
I was treated for something by a quack doctor, I didn’t believe it would work and it didn’t. And I did get prescribed Antibiotics, when even my limited medical knowledge would indicate there was nothing done that required such pills, was a closed break from a number of years ago that occasionally gives me , I just flushed them.
Now while I don’t believe in any supernatural powers or beings - God, spirits, ghosts etc. - I do believe that the belief in such things is another, possibly beneficial, placebo effect.
At the end of the day it’s your life you’re risking but I would only use such people where traditional medicine had completely.
Hi Jul,
You mean just chew the garlic root? I thought it had to be boiled and then the juice from that is drunk. Am I mistaken?
I am, like you, a little averse to all this pill popping that seems to be the mainstay of modern medicine. Yes, I respect doctors and will always go to doctors first, should I need to. After all, there are a few doctors among my inner circle & family. Even if so, I take a very proactive approach to managing my own health. I’ve personally seen havoc in my family with way too many drugs being prescribed and the disastrous side-effects, from contraindications not well-understood when the pills/drugs were first prescribed.
So my approach is to be proactive such that I won’t have to be making too many trips to the doctors office. Secondly, when they prescribe something, I study it first, read the literature, understand their indications/contraindications, research further (esp. if it’s a new RX) on the internet, etc. And if I’m leery of something, I call and ask for clarification.
My internist before got exasperated and “referred” me to another internist because he said I read too much (and therefore ask too many questions). He said, “let me do my job.” And I said, “but it’s my life, it’s my body. I don’t want it to be a laboratory. It’s the only one I got. Don’t you think I should be a little concerned about my most prized possession?”
Needless to say, I was just as happy to find another doctor. I understand in RP, doctors are treated as “gods.” In the US, thankfully, they are our allies, but *never a God* as they are, just like us, human beings making a living, just from a different profession.
I’m never mystified nor intimidated by doctors. And that’s why I don’t mind questioning them when I need to. Probably it helps that I’m exposed to a few of them on a personal level and I can discuss/debate issues w/o risking the doctor/patient relationship.
This is probably another reason why some folks in RP would take the faith healer approach *first* over a doctor. Faith healers are probably more approachable, talk more to their level and so, are less intimidating.
Hi Angie- No, it’s not garlic root but ginger root for sore throat. Ginger has essential oils in it. It’s my favorite thing to slowly chew (like gum) when I travel because I have the tendency to have motion sickness. Garlic, however, is believed to help lower blood pressure. So when I do vegetable stir fry, I fry more of garlic with olive oil. My husband loves it—and treats it like peanuts.:lol: I just am patient with the garlicky mouth flavor of his. My mother gives me a long lecture about garlic and other herbs. I also have sample supply of lemon grass all the time for making soup (tinola, etc). It’s believed to lower BP when it’s drunk regularly –boiled lemon grass.
Hi Clay- Yes, my grandparents gave us first aid using herbs, too!Spring onions—o my, grandma used to mix it with coconut oil, warmed it a bit and rubbed the mixture on our back when we had cough. It felt so good !!! Then we’re having massage from head to toe. Our folks must have been unlicensed chiropractors a long time ago. Now, the foot massage is hyped as Spa. What other practices in the olden days that might be considered “scientific” later ?
Hi Jul,
So right you are, I was thinking of ginger but I typed garlic
I will try ginger root next time, I’ve never tried ginger except as a drink (I found ginger powder one time in an Asian place). I do buy “roots” from Chinatown to boil and turn into a tea-like drink. For instance, ginseng. Ginseng is also available in capsules from health stores but I prefer to go organic when I can. Thanks for the tip on ginger.
Clay is correct. All modern day medicines are derived from natural materials. The modern medicines simply try to isolate the specific ingredient that does the trick, and the companies invents processes to mass produce it. Patents are often based on the PROCESS, not the ingredient, because the ingredients are naturally occuring, thus not patentable.
Faith-healing? Prayers are scientifically proven to have postive physiological effect (stanford study).
We have to remember that chinese medicine/acupuncture were ridiculed by the western medical communitity only 20 years ago. No longer.
That said, the faith-healer types are scammers. If any really did possess miraculous powers, they will be more wealthy than bill gates, as many billionaires would pay 90% of their wealth without hesitation to cure their terminal illnesses. But all the faith-healers you see live like squatters. Maybe they are like Mother Theresa? Only caring for the poor? Haha.
Hello, all, I am back from trip to HK, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kuala Lumpur. Has anyone been to Bangkok and KL lately? The bangkok has changed completely since I have last been there (about 16months). It’s really modern. Nothing like the free-wheeling BK of yesterday. KL is like HK, so no need to even mention that… Don’t even mention the airports. The BK airport is like a spaceport in year 2060. Mostly importantly, I felt totally safe walking around late at night with my wife in the streets of BK,KL and SR. PP I would not.
Makes me so sad. Why is infrastructure in Philippines not improving? Can’t even resolve the NAIA3 issue…
So sad…Not bringing this up to put down Philippines. Just voicing concern that we are getting more and more behind.
Hello Jae
** That said, the faith-healer types are scammers. **
I admire you for having the courage to come out and say that.
Regards,
Scott
Thought this would be interesting for everyone to read since the topic here is herbal and faith cures http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070911/hl_nm/britain_peel_dc Have a look and see what you think
Post #31, 32…Yeah, i’m forwarding this site to some people in Siquijor..:lol:
No, I dont’ want to explain…
Good Morning Rey,
Regarding your comment on my post no 32 …..
Ah .. Siquijor a mystical island, renowned for witches and other supernatural stuff.
Please tell the people in Siquijor you refer to not to hesitate to contact me direct to confirm my person details address etc.
I mean you would not want them to get the wrong Scott now would you
Regards,
Scott
LOL
Hi Scott, yeah sure will do… or how about joining me going there. I really wanted to know if they really can apparate, might save me a lot on plane fares!!
Hello Rey,
Really I am so abysmally stupid, I do apologise I was just thinking the people in Siquijor will need my postal code and I forgot to give it in my previous post. Its CM3 8AJ please pass it on.
Please be kind enough to let me know via this blog when you have sent the details through to Siquijor. I can then post on a weekly basis how I am doing etc.
We have all noticed that our office cat who is called Zak has developed a slight cough this morning. Are the people from Siquijor responsible for this ?
Kindest regards,
Thanks for your help,
Scott
I
Hi Scott,
I’ll try to give your postal code via telepathy tonight and hope somebody receives it but I doubt if they’ll have any use of it as there could be so many scotts’ in that area. There’s also this AOR wherein they can’t do nothing unless you’re in Philippine soil which is not the case in the other one.
Regarding your office cat’s illness, I highly doubt they have a hand in it as it may simply be a case of hairball and I haven’t heard that they do cats too.
Please do post regularly also as promised so we can deduce if they are accountable on Zak’s health.
Best regards,
Rey
Good Morning Rey,
I cannot be hair ball, he has been doctored
!!!
We will check on him later on today and report back to you ..
Kindest regards,
Scott
Hello Rey,
Hey it cannot be hair ball, he has been doctored !
Scott
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Hi to all of you and thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts and opinions. Great!!!