Franz Eugen Kohler, kohler’s Medizin-Pflanzen Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

North America is filled with Immigrants

Although our pioneer forebears all came from somewhere else, we Americans  often consider ourselves to be the greatest in the world at everything. But as our population diversifies, we have learned that we are not.

I go in for complementary medicine. Massage. Meditation.  Acupuncture and Qi Gong. So I perked up when I read the following article. BIO-PIRACY: WHEN WESTERN FIRMS USURP EASTERN MEDICINE. Raj Choudhury and Tarun Khanna, Harvard Business school professors, examine the history of herbal patent applications, and challenge the stereotype that Western firms are innovators, while emerging markets are imitators.

Carmen Nobel, senior editor of Harvard’s Working Knowledge, begins her July, 2014 article: “In May 1995, two scientists at the University of Mississippi were granted an American patent for the use of turmeric to treat flesh wounds. Soon thereafter, an Indian research organization won a lawsuit challenging the novelty of the patent. As it turned out, Indians had been using turmeric as a wound ointment for thousands of years. The United States Patent and Trademark Office revoked the patent in 1997. Patents are supposed to be novel, but patent offices know little about the novelty of herbs.

I sprinkle turmeric and cinnamon on my family’s cereal. I take a daily turmeric capsule. Along with eating copious amounts of fruits and veggies, I swallow black elderberry syrup for coughs, and drink green tea.

I hope that these mysteries help my health. What are your favorite home remedies?