Phytopharmacy: An Evidence-Based Guide to Herbal Medicinal Products

by Sarah E. Edwards, Ines da Costa Rocha, Elizabeth M. Williamson, Michael Heinrich

Healthcare professionals, including doctors, pharmacists andnurses, are often confronted with patients who use over-the-counter(OTC) herbal medicinal products and food supplements. While takingresponsibility for one’s own health and treatment options isencouraged, many patients use these products based on limited (andsometimes inaccurate) information from non-scientific sources, suchas the popular press and internet. There is a clear need to offerbalanced, well-informed advice to patients, yet a number of studieshave shown that, generally, conventionally-trained healthpractitioners consider their knowledge about herbal medicinalproducts and supplements to be weak.

This book is an attempt to fill this knowledge gap, and isintended for use by the busy pharmacist, nurse, or doctor, as wellas the ‘expert patient’ and students of pharmacy andherbal medicine. It presents clear, practical and concisemonographs on over a hundred popular herbal medicines andplant-based food supplements. Information provided in eachmonograph includes:

• Indications
• Summary and appraisal of clinical and pre-clinicalevidence
• Potential interactions
• Contraindications
• Possible adverse effects

An overview of the current regulatory framework is alsooutlined, notably the EU Traditional Herbal Medicinal ProductsDirective. This stipulates that only registered traditional herbalmedicinal products (THRs), which have assured quality and safety,can now legally be sold OTC. Monographs are included of most of themajor herbal ingredients found in THRs, and also some plant-basedfood supplements, which while not strictly medicines, may also havethe potential to exert a physiological effect.

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