Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D.
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 Many herbal preparations combine burdock root with other alterative herbs, such as yellow dock (page 763), red clover (page 735), or cleavers (page 660). In the treatment of acne, none of these herbs has been studied in scientific research.
Some older, preliminary German research suggests that vitex (page 757) might contribute to clearing of premenstrual acne, possibly by regulating hormonal influences on acne.19 Women in these studies used 40 drops of a concentrated liquid product once daily.20
Are there any side effects or interactions? |
John A. McDougall
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 Various herbal preparations offer hope for patients chronically infected with viral hepatitis.
* Interferon/ribavirin therapy, prescribed by doctors, may be beneficial, but it also entails significant cost and potentially serious side effects.
* Medications and environmental chemicals can cause serious liver damage—be careful.
In Search of the Perfect Bowel Movement
SB hen last we saw Louise she was determined to get back IB mm fm on track with her healthful eating habits in order to ¦III keep her gallbladder. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 Always dilute any herbal preparations used in the eyes with high-quality water.
Caution: Do not use chamomile on an ongoing basis, as ragweed allergy may result. Avoid it completely if you are allergic to ragweed.
Q A combination of ginkgo biloba extract and zinc sulfate may slow progressive vision loss.
Q Jaborandi is a rainforest herb that contains pilocarpine, used for more than 120 years to relieve intraocular pressure in glaucoma.
Caution: Do not use this herb if you have pleurisy, are nursing, or have excess fatty tissue around the heart. |
| USING MEDICINAL HERBS
Commercial herbal preparations are available in several different forms, including bulk herbs, medicinal herb blends, teas, oils, tinctures, fluid extracts, and tablets or capsules. Following are some of the ways in which herbal remedies can be used.
Essential Oils
Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts—typically obtained either by steam distillation or cold pressing— from the flowers, leaves, roots, berries, stems, seeds, gums, needles, bark, or resins of numerous plants. They contain natural hormones, vitamins, antibiotics, and antiseptics. |
| Hoxsey therapy, for instance, first tested in the 1920s, employs internal and external herbal preparations, along with diet, vitamin and mineral supplements, and psychological counseling, to strengthen the body and fight the cancer. Hoxsey's treatment proved to be too controversial for America, however, and the Hoxsey formula is now continuing in Mexico.
Immunologic Therapies
Immunologic therapies are based on the belief that cancer develops because of a breakdown of the immune system. |
| Like synthetic drugs, herbal preparations may be toxic, cause allergic reactions, or affect your response to other medications.
Common sense, care, and forethought are needed when using herbs for either food or medicine. Here are some essential guidelines for herbal self-care:
• Use herbal self-care for minor ailments only, not for serious or life-threatening conditions.
• Use only recommended amounts for recommended periods of time.
• Use the correct herb. Buy your herbal remedies from a reputable company. |
Leslie Taylor, ND
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 It's also commonly used in herbal preparations as a synergist or bioavailability aid—as it is thought that the saponins in sarsaparilla root increase the absorption of other chemicals in the gut. No known toxicity or side effects have been documented for sarsaparilla; however, ingestion of large dosages of saponins may cause gastrointestinal irritation.4-5-6
One-half to 1 cup of a standard root decoction is taken two to three times daily. Alternatively, 1-2 g of root powder in tablets or capsules twice daily, or 2-3 ml of a standard tincture or fluid extract may be taken twice daily. |
Joseph E. Mario
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 Called Coix when used in Chinese herbal preparations, lowers inflammation, pus, and edema; a heat and toxin disperser, has fatty acid Coixenolide with lubricating properties for youthful elastic skin, counters dry skin (seed).
•KAMUT An ancient Egyptian variety of wheat with large nutty kernels, has 65% more amino acid Proteins than wheat, vitamins, minerals, and lipids; high energy grain, less allergenic than wheat seasoned with fennel, anise, cinnamon, curry, and garam masala; used with sugary vegetables pumpkin, tomato, com, carrots, and sweet peppers. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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| Extracts also have longer shelf lives than other herbal preparations. Fresh herbal extracts retain almost all of the original plant's benefits.
Alcohol-free extracts are available. When administered sublingually (drops are placed under the tongue), herbal extracts can be absorbed by the body quickly. This is an especially effective way for older adults and people with absorption problems to use herbs.
Plasters, Compresses, and Poultices
These are ways of applying herbal remedies directly to the skin. |
Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
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 OTHER ANTI-INFLAMMATORY HERBS
There are several other herbal preparations that may be helpful against arthritis. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is often thought of as a digestive aid to settle the stomach or relieve the nausea associated with motion sickness. It can help block the manufacture of some prostaglandins, though, and might be helpful against joint inflammation.
One well-conducted clinical trial published in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism reported that a standardized, highly purified ginger extract reduced knee pain. |
Mark Blumenthal
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 Recent Market and Consumer Use Information
The need for professionally-oriented information and continuing education on the potential risks and benefits of herbal preparations is motivated by market factors in the past decade where consumers are using these products in larger numbers than ever before.
Consumers utilize herbs and other dietary supplements for a variety of purposes. A survey of 3,226 users of the ConsumerLab. |
Michael Tierra
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 If you will observe carefully the rules for "Making an Herbal Formula," you will find it easy to produce a very large number of useful and effective herbal preparations. The formulas presented are those that Michael feels are among his most valuable, and most of these clearly fit the general formulation technique. A few are less obviously derived from the rules set down, but they are nonetheless useful recipes and indicators of the range of herbal preparations. Some modifications have been made to allow the formulas to be produced from herbs available in stores or by mail order. |
Walter Last
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 Contains a mineral remedy and two herbal preparations to cover all stages of a cold from early onset to fully developed influenza and lingering final stages that will not clear away. One dose fortnightly will reduce the incidence of simple colds and influenza. This combination remedy is also useful for apprehensive or fearful states. Use also for stomach and bowel upset as well as aching in the bones and headaches that are better after sweating.
ARNICA 30C: This is the remedy for accidents and shock. It reduces the effects of injury, fatigue, and shock, both mental and physical. |
Janet Zand, LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreed, MD, CNC, James B. LaValle, RPh, ND
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 Many of the herbal preparations recommended in this book will help boost the immune response and help arm the body against recurrent infections.
Common Herbs and Herbal Preparations
Herbs are available in a variety of forms, including fresh, dried, in tablets or capsules, or bottled in liquid form. You can buy them individually or in mixtures formulated for specific conditions. |
volker schulz and Rudolf Hansel
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 In fact, the standardization of herbs and herbal preparations actually begins with the current movement toward the development of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) wherein agronomic and horticultural parameters and practices for the commercial cultivation of medicinal plants is determined by national and international convention.
1.3.2.2 Production Methods
The nature of the solvent and of the extraction and drying processes critically affects the internal composition of the finished product. Polar compounds are soluble in water, while lipophilic constituents are soluble in alcohol. |
| In the latter case, manufacturers are exempt from having to furnish their own proof of efficacy and safety for a list of designated herbal preparations. This exemption does not affect the manufacturers' obligation to guarantee the pharmaceutical quality of their products. The "traditionally" approved products must be specifically identified as such (e.g., with wording such as "mild acting," "for better health," "for more vigor," "for better organ function," etc.). Most of these products are used for minor health problems, and many are self-selected by patients. |
| Less common uses
11 Adjuvant for excessive menstrual bleeding and other menstrual complaints
12 Physical and mental fatigue
13 Adjuvant for rheumatism
One reason for this is the challenge of adequately blinding the study participants to the extent that they can in a study of solid herbal preparations, so it is extremely difficult to establish a placebo control.
In some cases the efficacy of a medicinal tea is obvious. |
| There are only a few herbal preparations, however, for which safety and efficacy have been adequately proven: hawthorn leaf and flower extract (heart failure and coronary insufficiency), garlic (atherosclerosis), ginkgo extract (peripheral arterial occlusive disease), and horse chestnut extract (chronic venous insufficiency). Therefore, the bulk of this chapter is devoted to these four herbs and their preparations. |
| The efficacy of certain liquid herbal preparations is linked to their ability to strengthen this immunologic barrier (see Sect. 4.7).
Abuse of Antibiotics
Respiratory tract infections account for two-thirds of all infections that are treated by physicians in private practice (Fig. 4.1). Most respiratory infections are caused by viruses, while bacteria are very rarely the primary cause. In theory, the viral etiology of acute bronchitis, pharyngitis, or tonsilitis allows only for symptomatic treatment to reduce irritation. |
| Various herbal preparations from the genus Aloe are used as laxatives (aloe latex) or for the topical treatment of inflammatory skin conditions (aloe gel). The origin of the plant and the manufacturing processes used for both preparations are discussed in Sect. 5.6.4.4. Aloe gel is an anthranoid-free preparation that mainly contains polysaccharides. Experiments have documented its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. It is used in ointments, rubs, or gels for the treatment of conditions such as poor wound healing, psoriasis, and herpes. |
Dianne Onstad
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 They are primarily found as an ingredient in herbal preparations. An immuno-stimulant, it is helpful for people with AIDS, leaky gut syndrome, Epstein-Barr, chronic bronchitis, and other infectious viruses. It is also used as an aid to sleep, as a diuretic, as a laxative, and to lower cholesterol. They are available dried, in tinctures, in tablets, and in liquid form at natural food stores and from Chinese herb dealers.
Shiitake (Lentinus edodes), also known as golden oak mushrooms or Oriental black mushrooms, are large, umbrella-shaped mushrooms, dark brown to almost black in color. |
The Life Extension Editorial Staff
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 The following herbal preparations have shown liver toxicity: germander, comfrey, chapparal leaf, ginbu-1, pennyroyal, skullcap, and mistletoe.
Some hepatitis B patients take 500 mg of licorice root extract 3 times a day. There is a controversy about hepatitis B patients taking high-dose licorice; we therefore suggest it only be taken under the supervision of a knowledgeable health care provider. If high doses of licorice are taken, monitor blood pressure to guard against any untoward increase. |
Mark Blumenthal
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| The general safety of phytomedicines (advanced herbal preparations, often chemically standardized; see Standardization section on page xix) has been well documented in Western Europe, where the regulatory systems in many countries treat herbs and phytomedicines in the same way as they treat conventional drugs. |
| Standardization
Many of the herbal preparations in this book upon which clinical trials were conducted are characterized as "standardized." This is one of the most misunderstood concepts in botanical medicine. While usually referring to the chemical process of "normalizing," "adjusting," or fixing a particular chemical or groups of chemicals, the concept of standardization has several meanings that warrant clarification.
There are numerous areas in which standardization occurs in the field of preparing botanical medicines and dietary supplements. First, there is nomenclature. |
Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson
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 Also, there is an increasing emphasis on using evidence from modern randomized controlled clinical trials to support the traditional use of herbal preparations. Some other aspects of modern-day herbalism are listed below:
• Herbalism takes an holistic approach in that a patient's psychological and emotional well-being, as well as physical health, are considered.
• Herbalists select herbs on an individual basis for each patient (in line with the holistic approach), thus it is likely that even patients with the same physical symptoms will receive different combinations of herbs. |
H. Winter Griffith, M.D.
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 Don't forget vitamin and mineral supplements; skin, recta] or vaginal medicines; eyedrops and eardrops; antacids; antihistamines; cold and cough remedies; inhalants and nasal sprays; aspirin, aspirin combinations or other pain relievers; motion sickness remedies; weight-loss aids; salt and sugar substitutes; caffeine; oral contraceptives; sleeping pills; laxatives; "tonics" or herbal preparations.
Future Medical Plans
Discuss plans for elective surgery (including dental surgery), pregnancy and breast-feeding. |
Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson
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| These herbal preparations are dangerous and should therefore be avoided.
The indigenous peoples of central and north Mexico and the south-western USA ingest the dried heads of the cactus (Lophophora williamsii, Cactaceae) as part of their religious ceremonies. This plant material, which is known as peyote, induces vivid dreams and hallucinations; the biologically active natural product responsible is mescaline, a trimethoxylated phenylethylamine. |
Mark Blumenthal
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| This is a result of differences in the various sources and is indicative of the relative safety of many of these herbal preparations; i.e., precise dosing is often not as critical as it is with many pharmaceutical drugs.
Duration of Administration. This usually refers to periods of minimum or maximum use to ensure efficacy and/or reduce potential adverse reactions. |
Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson
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| It should be noted that individuals with a scientific interest in herbal medicines do not consider the rational use of herbal preparations (i.e. science-based phytotherapy) to be part of CAM.
MEDICAL HERBALISM History
Medical herbalism - the use of plant remedies in the prevention and treatment of illness - has a history as long as that of mankind. In the UK, it has a historical basis partly in the Galenical model of 'body humours' (blood, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm), their 'temperaments' (e.g. hot, cold, damp) and the belief that illness resulted from an imbalance in these humours. |
Gary Null
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| Acupuncture is considered to be an excellent therapy for hypothyroidism; it's often administered along with Chinese herbal preparations. Another alternative treatment to help regulate thyroid function is infusions of the herb bladderwrack. Homeopaths generally prescribe Arsenicum albicans for this condition, with a required consultation first.
Hyperthyroidism (Overactive Thyroid Gland)
Hyperthyroidism is a medical condition caused by the effects of excess thyroid hormone (thyroxine) on body tissues. |
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