More children are on medication today than any other time in our history.
The facts alone point to this trend:
- 1 out of 4 kids today are on a regularly prescribed
pharmaceutical drug (source: "Four Things Every Parent Should Know", Dr. Stephen Chaney, 2011) - In 2008, the CDC reported that 2 out of the 4 most commonly used drugs were for children's asthma
and stimulant drugs for adolescents. (source: Prescription Drug Use Continues to Increase: U.S. Prescription Drug Data for 2007-2008, CDC.gov, Sept 2010)
This drug increase does not seem to be helping to improve the health of our kids. It is only getting worse. More children are struggling with weight issues than ever before, and allergies in the school classrooms are becoming more and more common, just to name a few.
A natural remedy can be a helpful alternative for families wanting to see some different results.
1. To Avoid unwanted side effects
All medications come with side effects--some more obvious or serious than others. I heard recently that for every person taking a prescription medication, they are also taking at least one additional medication to treat it's side effects. The same is undoubtedly true for our kids.
For example, conventional treatments for ADHD/ADD, also known as psychostimulant drugs, have a wide range of side effects in kids. Most children have issues with insomnia and loss of appetite. These two areas alone rob children of the most beneficial methods the body uses to heal and repair the brain--sleep and proper nutrition.
We know several children on regular allergy medications as well, and they consistently exhibit lack of energy and large dark circles underneath the eyes.
Side effects may also come from regularly used over-the-counter treatments. Just pick up a bottle of children's medicine and read the warnings. These grave warnings simply don't exist when utilizing a nutritional healing approach. (I can see it now, "Warning: Too much vitamin C will increase the response of your immune system and might reduce some unknown inflammation.")
Prescription antibiotics also pose an insidious threat to the long-term health of our kids. While knocking out an infection, they also serve to wipe out the immune support system, leaving kids vulnerable to repeat infections and worse: candida overgrowth.
2. To Avoid Ineffective Treatment
Not all medical treatments or over the counter drugs are proven to be effective 100% of the time.
Children's cough and cold remedies are very slow to work (if they work effectively at all), whereas an effective herbal remedy can work within minutes and hours.
Antibiotic mis-use and overuse has caused many bacterial strains to adapt and become resistant to treatment.
It is not uncommon for people to undergo several different antibiotics to treat one strain of a flu virus before they find one that works. This trial and error could take weeks. Meanwhile, the pain and discomfort continue to linger and/or get worse.
The benefit of a proper all-natural remedy is that it works every time. The bacteria never build up a resistance to herbs or nutrients.
We use an infection "bomb" in our home that works on every single infection, no matter the cause or location. What a relief when you have kids in your home!
3. To Aid and stimulate healing
The conventional medical approach deals mainly with managing symptoms, not with actual healing at the root cause of the issue.
For example:
- Allergy shots to reduce body's response to allergens
- Acetaminophen to bring a fever down or take away pain.
- Antacids to reduce digestive discomfort.
- Creams and lotions to soothe irritated skin and rashes.
Those are all "management" solutions.
Our medical system has become great at treating symptoms but further away from the original intent of medicine which was to heal the body. (see: Hippocrates, the father of western medicine)
A natural, nutritional approach is more holistic in nature. The goal is to support the body's natural processes of healing, regeneration, and cellular repair.
4. To Save Time and Money
With a natural treatment from home, you no longer have to sit in doctors' offices or spend time hunting down several different specialists. No extra time out of school. No additional hours lost at work.
An effective natural solution that aids healing can ward off future surgeries or long-term medical treatments that may otherwise be incurred.
It is true that everything comes with a cost. It is our choice whether we pay now to invest in better health or pay later for unhealthy alternatives that really don't work.
Natural remedies can work miracles in children, whose bodies are already growing, responding, and metabolizing at a much faster rate than ours.
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