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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels October 22, 2004 Chatroux, the rhyming doctor By John Darling Tidings Correspondent On these dreary winter days Should nasal drip give warning You might follow Chatroux's advice Take two poems and call me in the morning Pardon the doggerel, but one Ashland medical doctor, Sylvia Chatroux, has gone way outside the box, composing a book of verse to educate people on common ailments and their herbal - that's right, herbal - cures and preventions. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings Dr. Sylvia Chatroux Listens to patient Anna Hassell's heart during a recent examination. Chatroux, of Ashland, has authored a book of herbal rhymes. Especially relevant in this season of scarce flu shots, the charming, hardbound volume, called "Botanica Poetica," whimsically versifies the properties of 111 common herbs, many of them natural immune system builders. "If you're older or have chronic illness, of course you try to get the flu shot," said Chatroux, who also is a homeopath, "but if you're in good health, the best prevention is a healthy diet, exercise, lots of sleep, wash your hands a lot (so you don't introduce germs into eyes, nose and mouth), avoid sugar, which trashes the immune system and, of course, use herbs." In the irresistible and wryly penned verses of her book, Chatroux paints an intimate picture of the herbal queendom, a passel of plants whose leaves, stems, seeds, roots or flowers work, not only to build immunity but handle colds, upset stomach, female ills, headaches, stress, diarrhea - you name it. As your own personal "flu shot," nature offers enhanced immunity with parsley, fennel, ginger, cayenne, garlic, propolis, echinacea, horehound, astragalus, angelica, hawthorne berry, Oregon grape root, bone set, mullein leaf and ginseng, most of them praised in her book. If you're too busy to make teas from herbs available in local shops, Chatroux recommends one of the herbal supplements, such as the popular Wellness Formula by Source Natural, which contains most of these herbs. Her homage to germ-battling garlic, like all the others, invites readers to romp and play, as they open the door to learning: "When cholesterol is high / triglycerides are on the rise / hypertension's plaguing you / arteriosclerosis, there's that too! / Garlic helps with that and more / improves blood flow once so poor / Fights infection / fights disease / brings a parasite to its knees / Take it for a cough or flu / zaps bacteria, virus too / It's antioxidant, prevents cancer / Garlic might just be the answer." As you peruse charming old woodcuts and etchings, most from the 19th century, you learn that white oak - the one found here - is good in a compress for external infection, eczema and poison oak. In small amounts, it handles diarrhea. Like most herbs, cayenne, another plant with antibiotic properties, works against many ailments: "Rub the oils on muscles sore / Painful joints and aches galore / It's a boost for your blood flow / Heat you up where once was snow." This common plant, which few people recognize as a medicine, said Chatroux, is also good for digestion, gas, flu and longevity. As a medical doctor, Chatroux stressed that she uses mainstream medicine with her patients, but often complements a plan with herbs, simply because "they work." She learned herbalism from nurse practitioner Mary Beth Roberts of Ashland in weekly study sessions and observed that many mainstream doctors and med schools are opening up to herbs and other alternative treatments "that should not be ignored," calling the assemblage complementary medicine. A native New Yorker, Chatroux received her bachelor's degree in literature at Sarah Lawrence College and felt destined for a life in writing and sculpture. However, she experienced an epiphany - "I saw that God was love and the function of life was to enjoy life and help others enjoy life" - so she entered pre-med at Columbia then medical school at Stony Brook School of Medicine. "I would write poems all the time in med school about any and every subject, like a poem on how hard exams were. They were hugely popular and people came to expect them of me," said Chatroux. When her medical practice was up and running, the muse retuned. Chatroux in 1998 wrote "Materia Poetica; Homeopathy in Verse," about uses of homeopathic medicines and in 2002 "Medica Poetica; Malady in Verse," describing common illnesses. All are self-published by her Poetica Press, (877) POETICA, www.poeticapress.com or [email protected]. She's had a book signing at Bloomsbury Books in Ashland, where her books are stocked, and will do a reading and signing at 3 p.m. Nov. 21 at Alchemy Botanical, an herb shop across the street from Bloomsbury. Chatroux met her husband, social worker Noel Chatroux, at a martial arts retreat in Thailand. They moved to Ashland 10 years ago from Klamath Falls. In recent years, she has written children's books (versified and based on the family's dogs) and even queried agents and publishers in verse, but with no bites as yet from either. Now, Chatroux often uses her daughters, Louisa, 15, and Isabelle, 11, as muses, asking them to help her rhyme lines. "The best one was 'calm.' I could not think of a word to rhyme with it, so Isabelle says, 'Mom, it rhymes with mom' - so I used that. It was perfect." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams