|
|
|
| |
Many herbs have been identified as unsafe, including borage, calamus, coltsfoot, comfrey, life root, sassafras, chaparral, germander, licorice, and ma huang. Potentially safe herbs include feverfew, garlic, ginkgo, Asian ginseng, saw palmetto, St. John's wort, and valerian. Clinical trials have been used to evaluate feverfew for migraine prevention and rheumatoid arthritis; garlic for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and infections; ginkgo for circulatory disturbances and dementia; ginseng for fatigue and cancer prevention; and saw palmetto for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Also studied in formal trials have been St. John's wort for depression and valerian for insomnia. The clinical trial results are suggestive of efficacy of some herbal therapies for some conditions. German Commission E, a regulatory body that evaluates the safety and efficacy of herbs on the basis of clinical trials, cases, and other scientific literature, has established indications and dosage recommendations for many herbal therapies. Pharmacists have a responsibility to educate themselves about herbal therapies in order to help patients discern the facts from the fiction, avoid harm, and gain what benefits may be available.
|
|
|
|
