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Vitamin/Mineral  |  Dietary Supplements

Supplements: Herbals

Herbal medicine is one of the most popular kinds of complementary and alternative medicine used by patients. Adult use of herbal therapies in the US increased almost five-fold between 1990 and 1997. Herbalism in the US has grown from $2.09 billion in 1994 to $3.65 billion in 1997 with over 1800 herbal products available and increasing by about 25% per year; the global market is estimated to be in excess of $15 billion. Therefore, it is critical to ask patients about their use of herbal medications. See the resource links below to herbal databases and evidence-based herbal web sites for information on herbs and herbal medicine.

Critical Thinking Questions

• Many patients think that all herbal products are safe because they are natural. Do you agree?

• Are prescription medications safe to take with herbal products?

• Some herbs have been tested in double blind randomized control trials and have shown efficacy for treatment of certain conditions. How are clinical studies on herbs different than clinical studies on pharmaceuticals?

• The FDA does not regulate herbal medicine in the same way it does pharmaceuticals. Herbs do not have efficacious clinical data to be sold on the market the same way a drug does. What does that mean to the consumer and the health care provider?

Herbal Resources

1. MEDLINEPlus on Herbal Medicine
   National Library of Medicine
2. Herbmed.org
3. Herbal Medicine
   U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Food and Nutrition Information Center
4. ALTMEDEX (Tufts ID Required)
   Comprehensive referenced data on herbal medicines and dietary supplements covering uses, efficacy, dosing, toxicity, and more. Comprises the following databases:
   • AltMedDexô Protocols: Advice for healthcare professionals on integrating CAM therapies into treatment of common health conditions.
   • AltCareDexÆ System: Patient education information about herbals, dietary supplements, and alternative treatment therapies.
   • AltMed-REAXô for the Professional information on interactions between herbal medicines and prescription medicines, other dietary supplements, food, alcohol, and tobacco.
   • Herbal Medicines: Referenced monographs covering herbal medicines commonly used around the world