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True, penicillin comes from naturally growing mold, but it is not simply the mold in pill form. It is the chemical that the mold excretes which is then purified and concentrated. There are now many many different types of antibiotics stemming from PCN, all with a different spectrum of effectiveness. I am sure PCN is no longer manufactured by allowing mold to grow, bust most likely produced by genetically altered bacteria. Clearly this isn't a 'natural source'. Similarly, Tamoxafen (sp?) is a cancer drug that is derived from a specific type of yew tree that is purified, concentrated, and almost toxic. 

A natural thing is something that is used in it's "natural" form, such as cranberry juice to treat or prevent UTIs. The main difference is the level to which humans have messed around with the substance to make it into a form that doesn't occur naturally. 

Natural products can have positive benefits, as they often have weak substances that illicit a response, but they can't have the power of "un-natural" altered substances. Also, natural substances are often unregulated.

-Elyse in Va

On 4/11/07, Sharon Levasseur <sharon1359@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

My opinion:  "Natural" = untested and unregulated.
-Sharon L. in Maine


Quoting k s swigart <katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> Chris Paus said:
>
> > But she said in all her studies there has never been
> > any evidence that "natural" wormers, such as DE,
> > actually work, or that natural antibiotics, such as
> > echinacia, work either.
>
> It is unclear to me why anybody would think that DE is any more natural
> than ivermectin.  Clearly neither of them is a part of a horse's normal
> diet.
>
> Nor is it clear to me why echinacia (a plant that can either be
> cultivated or grow on its own) is any more natural than something like,
> say, penicillan (a mold that can either be cultivated or grow on its
> own).
>
> It seems to me that the biggest distinction between what many people
> call natural and what they specify as being un-natural  is whether
> anybody has gone to the trouble to demonstrate that it actually works.
>
> Some of the strongest "drugs" known and available are nothing more than
> herbal extracts (heroin and cocaine are two that immediately come to
> mind).
>
> Please, let us dispense with this totally undefined term of "natural."
> It has no generally accepted meaning and, as such, is a completely
> useless word.
>
> kat
> Orange County, Calif.
> :)
>
>
>
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