HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS
An evenhanded study of pharmacological interactions between Western
drugs and herbal supplements
Today, a significant percentage of Americans turn to complementary and
alternative medicine practices. Despite their popularity and wide use,
these products do not undergo the same pre-market testing for safety and
efficacy that is required of pharmaceuticals. In Herbal Supplements:
Efficacy, Toxicity, Interactions with Western Drugs, and Effects on
Clinical Laboratory Tests, editors Amitava Dasgupta and Catherine
Hammett-Stabler present a comprehensive introduction to both safe and
unsafe herbal supplements. The book emphasizes the pharmacological
interactions identified between Western drugs and herbal supplements,
and the effects of herbal supplements on clinical laboratory tests.
Herbal Supplements provides a guide to the interpretation of abnormal
test results in otherwise healthy subjects due to use of herbal
remedies. Focusing on interactions between herbals and pharmaceuticals,
sources of contamination in herbal supplements, and analytical
techniques used in the investigation of herbal remedies, the book
details:
- Pharmacological interactions between Western drugs and herbal
supplements
- Effects of herbal supplements on clinical laboratory tests
- Key interactions between herbal supplements and various pharmaceutical
drugs
- Medicinal plants and toxic effects
- Contamination of herbal supplements from metals, pharmaceuticals, and
plant poisoning
- Analytical techniques, including immunoassays, used in the
investigation of herbal remedies
Unbiased and literature-based, this text offers toxicologists, clinical
chemists, analysts, and pharmacologists a no-nonsense take on the
efficacy, toxicity, and drug interactions of herbal supplements and
medicines.
