Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology of Herbal Products

Product Description

The herbai medicine industry is growing at an astounding rate. Trade group estimates suggest that total sales exceeded $4 billion dollars in 1999. Herbai remedies are for sale not just in health food stores, but in supermar kets, drug stores, and even discount warehouses. Along with the proliferation in sales has come a proliferation ofinformation sources. Not all ofthe sources are equally reliable, or even intelligible. Traditional herbalists c1assify thistle and mugwort as "cholagogues," substances used to make the gallbladder con tract and release bile. Medical school graduates are unlikely to have ever heard the term, or even accept the notion that most right-sided abdominal pain is a result of diminished bile flow. Heroin and cocaine may not be the only drugs to come from plants, but a practicing physician or toxicologist might be forgiven for thinking so. In 1998, 1264 papers were published about cocaine and only 17 about kava kava, an abused herb that is not without toxic side effects. Unfortunately, the majority of the papers about kava kava were published in journals not found in ordi nary hospitallibraries. In recognition ofthis fact, and ofthe obvious need for a reliable reference work on herbai toxicology, The Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology 0/ Herbal Products was an early addition to our new series in Forensie Science and Medicine. It is very badly needed.

Review

"This book is designed to fill an important gap in the study of herbal medicines and the editor achieves this goal very well. There are few, if any, sources that are both as objective and comprehensive in their coverage... I really liked the comprehensive and referenced coverage of each herb...The beginning chapter on legal issues is very good. 4 Stars!" -Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal

"a timely book on a controversial topic...Chapter one is "Legal/Regulatory Aspects of Herbal Products" written by Dr. Cupp. This chapter is essential reading for any pharmacist, physician or other professional with an interest in herbal products. Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology of Herbal Products would benefit a variety of forensic and clinical professionals including physicians, pharmacists, pharmacologists, and toxicologists. This book would be a good text for an elective course in herbal products in pharmacy schools and as a supplemental text for a course in pharmacognosy...Clinical Pharmacists would find it useful when seeking detailed clinical information on a particular herbal product for patient care or when reviewing a case of a suspected adverse reaction from a botanical. Specialists in Poison Information and clinical toxicologists may find this book helpful when treating cases of overdoses from herbal products...a resource for detailed product information for community pharmacists...Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology of Herbal Products would be a welcome addition to the reference collections of drug information centers and hospital pharmacies." -Journal of Pharmacy Practice

" Forensic toxicologists and pathologists will find this book extremely useful in situations where herbal remedies may be implicated in poisoning, as the toxicological effects of each herb are described in detail as are previous reported cases of toxicity. Those with a special interest in herbal medicine will also be interested in this book as the proven pharmacological effects of each herb are discussed in some depth...This is an excellent book...I'll refer to it often" -Science and Justice

" ...Dr. Cupp and her co-authors from the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy have compiled reliable, peer-reviewed information from the scientific literature to help close the gap....this book is a gold mine of well-organized scientific information...Although information on herbal products is available everywhere, much of it is subjective promotional material from the industry; the reliability of the information varies considerably. This objective,