Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 2001 Edition

Book Description The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database gives accurate scientific data for every herbal medicine and dietary supplement used and referenced in North America. The database covers more products than any other reference. For each product the database provides 15 categories of information. For each product the database will tell you various other names that the product is known by...what the product is used for, including current uses, traditional uses, uses in other cultures, non-medicinal uses...the safety rating, including safety during pregnancy and lactation...effectiveness rating, including effectiveness for various uses...major active ingredients and theoretical mechanism of action...potential interactions with drugs...potential interactions with foods...potential interactions with disease conditions...potential interactions with medical lab tests...typical dosing and routes of administration and other important commentary.

This database is extremely comprehensive. There are almost 1200 pages of concentrated data. The database is the most comprehensive and most clinically valid reference on this topic in existence. The database is written for physicians, pharmacists, and other health professionals. Consumers who use this database are encouraged to seek appropriate guidance from a healthcare professional.

Included in with the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database are several charts showing which herbs and drugs interact, and listings of herbal and dietary supplement products showing all of the specific ingredients in each product.

The database is exhaustively referenced. Each statement is referenced by one of thousands of medical references.

The database is extremely easy to use. For any particular question, you simply flip to the name of the product, and find the answer to your question in the appropriate box on that page.

This Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database is an outstanding collection and consensus of data from every other reputable reference in this topic area.

The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database is an excellent tool for people who wish to determine the safety or effectiveness of any herbal or dietary supplement product. People will also be able to determine the appropriate uses and side effects to watch for. The database provides a unique and very user-friendly ranking for the safety and the effectiveness of each herbal medicinal or dietary supplement product. Each product has one of five safety ratings, and one of five effectiveness ratings. These ratings are assigned based on the number and quality of published human studies. The authors have evaluated the various studies and determined which studies hold enough scientific validity to earn a particular rating. Very importantly, people will know if there is any documented interaction between a natural medicine and a traditional prescription or non-prescription drug, or if the natural medicine is likely to effect any medical lab test, or aggravate any particular disease. A ! group of 37 pharmacists and physicians, plus 2 nutritionists, worked as a team for over one year to compile this immense and user-friendly database.

This Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database represents the best collection of knowledge on this subject available anywhere, and is a "must-have" tool for anybody who prescribes, dispenses, recommends, or uses these products.

A team of 40 pharmacists, physicians, and researchers joined together to compile this very comprehensive database. The members of this team all work for Prescriber's Letter and Pharmacist's Letter. This organization has for the last 15 years analyzed and published drug information for pharmacists and physicians throughout the United States, Canada, and 22 other countries. The Editor, Associate Editors, and all of the researchers and writers were originally trained as pharmacists or physicians and practiced their profession using conventional drug therapy. No members of this team have been primarily trained as herbalists or experts in natural medicine.

The reason that this distinction is so important is because this team has analyzed all of the available information about the use of herbs, supplements, and other natural medicines by the same standards that are usually used to evaluate regular conventional drug therapy. The authors are accustomed to looking at scientific medical literature and assessing the scientific validity of studies that evaluate the safety and effectiveness of drugs.

Oftentimes authors who write about herbal medicines and supplements seem to be more willing to present information based on their own experiences, or anecdotal information describing other individuals' experiences with a particular product.

The team that compiled the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database exercised tremendous diligence and thoroughness in digging through reams and reams of medical literature to present facts that are documented by accepted scientific studies.

Most of the authors are practicing pharmacists, physicians, professors, and researchers. They typically practice in a clinical setting as would other physicians and pharmacists.