Tomorrow, an army of medical herbalists will be demonstrating outside the House of Commons. "What are they going to do," wonders sceptic Adam Rutherford, an editor at the science journal Nature, "wave strands of lavender at MPs?" But Michael McIntyre, chair of the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (EHTPA), has called for the demonstration because, quite frankly, he has had enough.

For several decades, it's true, the field of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs, as they are often known) has boomed, with acupuncturists, osteopaths and homeopaths springing up on every corner. Lately, however, a fierce backlash has been brewing. Scientists such as Professor Edzard Ernst (who puts complementary medicine's claims through clinical trials), and writers such.

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The 10.23 group believes the treatment is "unscientific, absurd pseudoscience" and does not deserve to be accepted as a complementary medicine.

It wants the NHS to reduce its £4m annual budget on homeopathic medicines. The event in Royal Exchange Square is aimed to show that the treatment "does not work beyond the placebo effect" and is a "waste of money".

The 10.23 campaign staged similar events across other UK cities. The Society of Homeopaths said treatments are "person specific" and based on taking a series of small doses, so it did not expect any reaction in the protesters unless one already had symptoms matched to their remedy.

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Protesters have staged a mass "overdose" of homeopathic remedies in a bid to prove that the medicines are worthless. The demonstration, organised by the Merseyside Skeptics Society (MSS), saw supporters gather outside branches of Boots to swallow entire bottles of tablets.

Campaigners have called on the high street chain to withdraw all homeopathic treatments from its shelves, which they say are "scientifically absurd". Homeopathy is a system that uses very highly diluted substances to trigger the body to heal itself.

Michael Marshall, from the MSS, said: "We believe that they shouldn't be selling sugar pills to people who are sick. Homeopathy never works any better than a placebo. The remedies are diluted so much that there is nothing in them."

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TCM has its own history which can be traced back 3,000 years. It is the second most ancient medicine, while ayurvedic is the oldest with 5,000 years of history. In the past, when people thought about TCM, they imagined a long-bearded doctor doing pulse diagnosis and prescribing foul tasting concoctions. It was difficult for a modern person to take the image seriously

But today, Chinese herbs can be administered in far more palatable ways - in powders, medicated liquors, teas, granules, tablets, syrups, crystallised herbal extracts or even injected. In China today there are hundreds of patented ready-to-use drugs which can be bought over the counter under supervision of pharmacists. And it is fascinating to realise these drugs were described in TCM text books 2,000 years ago.

TCM has its own theory very different from Western medicine. While Western medicine focuses on physical and chemical bases, TCM is philosophical. Man and Cosmos are unified, is the basic philosophy of TCM. Whenever we and nature are in balance, we are healthy. Being unbalanced leads to disease.

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This line of reasoning sums up why herbal and vitamin supplements are so popular these days. The perception is that a substance coming from a plant or natural source must be less harmful than anything produced by the pharmaceutical industry.

Let me explain why that may not always be the case and why I have a lot of reservations. For one thing, herbal medications currently are considered nutritional supplements. As such, they do not have to be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which ensures that certain quality standards are met.

Without FDA regulation, there is no standardization of dosing. The therapeutic doses and toxic doses for a given substance may vary depending on the brand. There also is no guarantee that the substance in the bottle is the same as what is on the label. Or that what is in this month’s bottle is the same as next month’s, even within the same brand.

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Homeopathy is a system of medicine which is based on treating the individual with highly diluted substances given in mainly tablet form, which triggers the body’s natural system of healing. Based on their experience of their symptoms, a homeopath will match the most appropriate medicine to the patient.

It works on the principle of “like treats like” – that is, a substance that would cause symptoms in a healthy person is used to treat those same symptoms in illness. For example, one remedy which might be used in a person suffering from insomnia is coffea, a remedy made from coffee.Now, even on the surface, does that make any sense?  But they must have proof, right?  Wrong.

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If they are concocted in a wrong manner, their potency will be lost. Patients should pay attention to the following principles while making herbal medicines:

Use a ceramic pot to concoct the medicine since it keeps it warm and spreads the heat. If you don’t have a ceramic pot, use a stainless steel one instead. An iron pot will render the remedy ineffective. You should steam the medicine if ginseng is among its ingredients.

The water used to cook should be clear. Water that has been boiled and cooled is ideal. The quantity of water and cooking time should be exact as instructed by the doctor.  Patients should ask their herbalist about cleaning the ingredients, drying them, how long to soak them in water before cooking, and if the flame should be high or medium.

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The past two outings, Calgary Flames shooters have watched with frustration as acrobatic goalies have kicked out their shots.  Boo hoo. Now they know what most opposing teams must feel like when Miikka Kiprusoff twists his back leg over to knock a goal away from the crease, like he did against the San Jose Sharks in December. So after Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Colorado's Craig Anderson stole wins from the Flames this week, it was simply a taste of their own medicine.

"Kipper wins games for us all the time," said recent call-up Jamie Lundmark.  "We've come up against two performances that Kipper basically does every night.  "We have all the tools in here. We have guys who can score and with Kipper, it should come together."  Flames head coach Brent Sutter felt his team had about 20 scoring chances Thursday night against the Penguins.

They finished with 38 shots on net, which followed another 46 they put on Anderson Monday in a loss to the Avalanche. So the opportunities are there, but so are many creative saves.  "Any time you really start to worry is when you aren't getting those quality scoring chances or generating shots on net," Lundmark said.

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ALCOHOL, SODAS, CAFFEINE drinks are taxing on one’s liver and kidneys and depress the immune system, according to Christine Gonzales NMD, PhD, co-founder of Wellness Institute and director of Natural Medicine.

Clean, purified water is an essential part of a healthy diet. It facilitates our body’s metabolic process, nutrient transport, immune factor transport and waste removal.

Learn to love the joy of drinking herbal teas. It is great for slow and mild intestinal cleansing plus the added benefit of not just burning fats but also lowering one’s weight slowly.

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With the cold-and-flu season here, many people are taking medicines, whether over the counter or prescription, or giving them to their children. It's very important to follow proper dosing instructions when dispensing liquid medicine, especially to the very young and the very old. Too much or too little can be dangerous!

A lot of over-the-counter liquid cough and cold medicines come with their own measuring cup, which you should use. If you have a prescription medicine with no dosage cup and are going to use a tablespoon, please note this information:

We've done a little research here at Heloise Central and found that a tablespoon from the silverware drawer is not equal to a measuring-spoon tablespoon. The flatware spoon measured about 1 teaspoon less than the tablespoon from the set of measuring spoons. This is a significant and potentially dangerous difference. Test for yourself and see. It could make the difference in a full, healthy recovery or not.