Nowhere in our civilization do we find the use of traditional natural herbal treatments and remedies more frequently used than when we deal with the ailments and customary growing-up diseases that all youth encounter in their formative years. They extend from the earliest drink of mother’s milk to the daily dose of cod liver oil. Throughout our society we find numerous ways and herbs that have been depended on for centuries to either protect the children from ailments which they might encounter, or that can assist or expedite their recovery from many traditional childhood diseases.
Nearly every family has their selection of cures and treatments that have been handed down through generations. The child seen dressed in his “Star Wars” leggings and graphic tees purchased with a Groupon from The Children’s Place can be drinking a blend of juices and herbs her parents first tasted while in their grandmother’s kitchen helping to fix breakfast. Or a prospective mother may be heating a particular herbal tea in a microwave before serving it to her husband who is suffering from a severe cold. Just because we live in an advanced culture and society does not mean we are so willing to abandon the centuries of knowledge and experience that got us to this point in our lives. In fact, that knowledge may be the one thing that will enable us to survive the unknowns that we face in the future. Depending upon time-honored remedies is something that we find common among most societies with long and storied histories. Chinese, African, and European all held special regard for those persons who specialized in the making and distribution of such remedies.
The preservation of history is intertwined with the maintenance of cultural knowledge and methods. So the use of particular remedies and preventives reflects that culture’s acquisition of knowledge and retention of information to pass on to future generations. Thus, the man that sips a cup of hot herbal tea today is the one who uses a Groupon to purchase clothes at a 70% discount from Children’s Place for his son to wear when they make the next visit to the pediatrician for an annual checkup. It demonstrates how mankind constantly blends together his cultural heritage with modern knowledge to cope with future circumstances.