Brief Summary : There are significant differences in their definition and therapeutic use among adaptogens and Paracelsus drugs .
Adaptogens in the treatment of diseases
Health is (in a simplified way) the sum of many physiological parameters maintained in the physiological range. The ability of the body to maintain these parameters within a given, often very narrow range, is called homeostasis . Disease is (simply) a deviation of these parameters from normal over a certain limit. In each environment, the stresses act on the body to resist, ie to adapt to them. Their summary is called stress sensu lato (angl. Stress ), or an alostatic burden . The range of stress that the body can endure in health is called an adaptation range . The illness is treated by an intervention (for example by administering a drug) which returns to a normal deviation of the physiological state. Adaptogens are then (simplified) drugs that extend the adaptation range. That is why adapogens are said to strengthen health. (The science of health consolidation is called valeology .) When given to patients, however, they can bring health, that is, serve as a cure.
Note: These are absolutely basic statements from the field of theoretical medicine , which serve mainly to clarify the terminology.
Paracelsus drugs - liberal definition, demanding use
According to Paracelsov's paradigm , each drug, including poisons, can be a drug. More specifically, Paracelsus' view of poisons and drugs does not distinguish at all. (Even more precisely, poisons prefer, but it does not matter to say.) If there is an indication (the main effect) of the therapeutic index of the substance (ratio LD 50 / ED 50 ) greater than 1, it can be used for treatment rather than just chemical fight. In other words, it is a Paracelsian type drug. Paracelsus himself has historically used mercury, arsenic and other heavy elements to treat. The easiest to understand is that for Paracelsus medicines, we pay for the necessity of their definition by necessity:
- precise, milligrams of standardized dosage forms
- careful prescribing and accurate dose compliance
For Paracelsus drugs, it is assumed that the doctor knows exactly how the patient's health is deviated. Example: In a man poisoned by atropine, we may - if we know - give venomous muscarinism. However, administering the same medication would lead to poisoning of the opposite type. Another example: Insulin. In a hyperglycaemic diabetic, this hormone can be used to resolve this situation immediately. But administration of insulin to individuals with normal blood sugar levels may be lethal. Therefore, diabetics need a glucometer. On the other hand, a patient who knows about their inborn tendency to diabetes and battles her with herbs will get extra health for months to years, and no glucometer will have to deal with their consumption.
The advantage of Paracelsus drugs is that the precise pharmaceutical form and the precise diagnosis of the physiological state allows the therapeutical use of poisons that ordinary herbalists fear and just take in hand. For example, in the area of antibiotics , where the fight of doctors against microbes with their damnation of rapid evolution is the hardest. The disadvantages of Paracelsus drugs are their side effects (Paracelsus paradigm is the word poisoning of the taboo) and the already mentioned necessity of accurate knowledge of the patient's condition.
Adaptogens - demanding definition, smarter action
The definition of adaptogen is more demanding. It does not allow lethal or unilateral effects. It requires intelligent action always in the direction of normalization (return to health). It requires that healthy people do not interfere with their adaptogen. It is strange that these conditions actually fulfill some herbs and substances without concealing nanointelligence. Intelligence usually comes from our own cells, whose clever behavior the adapters rely on. But this is the rule in medicine - the doctor heals, nature heals. Adaptogens are usually not prescribed in milligrams, but in grams. However, it does not apply that the patient heals them by themselves, so the doctor does not need to know them.
The advantage of adaptogens is that we can prescribe them with less concern about dosage and side effects. Disadvantage of adaptogen : It is not a miracle. European doctors are accustomed to the death of a Death Knight with a cannon-free cannon. They are used to surgery, antibiotics, transplantation, heroism in the operating theater. We must begin with adaptogens during the prevention period - long before the heroic surgery of the surgeon becomes necessary.