ABSTRACT
Recent medical practice has seen a phenomenal increase in the utilization of alternative and complementary approaches by patients as well as physicians. One of the most dynamic and rapidly growing areas of complementary medical care involves herbal or phytomedicinal intervention. In the United States, herbs and phytomedicinals are commercially available in accordance with the Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994. This act offers the proviso that herbs sold as supplements cannot be marketed for diagnostic, therapeutic, or preventive interventions for disease, and relegates them to the status of foods stuffs, additives, or (as the name would imply) nutritional supplements (or nutriceuticals). In this country, official governmental standards are not provided for the production of herbal products and, therefore, purity, potency, and viability can vary highly with regard to level of extract, contaminates, co-substances, and dose provided. Certainly this is not the case worldwide. Of particular note are the actions of Germany’s “Commission E,” a subgroup of the German Federal Health Agency. This organization has conducted an exhaustive study of over 350 common and medicinally used botanical preparations, and has amassed basic scientific and clinical data that identify active constituents, chemical profiles, clinical applications, side effects, and contraindications for these herbs. Thus, the Commission E monographs stand alone as the most comprehensive and efficacious review of medicinal herbs currently available. Of equal importance is the current
Physician’s Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines.
