Learn how traditional herbal practitioners are responding to the sudden, massive popularity of herbal medicine! Herbal Voices: American Herbalism Through the Words of American Herbalists examines how herbal practitioners who started in the 1960s and 1970s are reacting to the mainstream popularity of herbal medicine today. This unique book features interviews with 20 of America's most prominent herbalistsfocusing on their careers, their beliefs, and their perspectives on the contemporary herbal product boom in recent years. Also included is important information on herbal organizations, publications, schools, and companies where seeds and rootstock of endangered medicinal plants can be obtained, as well as a list of the United Plant Savers' At Risk and To Watch medicinal plants. Herbal Voices synthesizes the words of a representative group of herbalists into a compelling picture of modern American herbalism as they offer their opinions on the roles of science, folklore, and spirituality in herbal medicine. This timely resource addresses controversial issues that arise within the herbal community, such as the endangered plant crisis, professionalism and licensure, and shifting the American consciousness toward a more Earth-centered way of life and health. In Herbal Voices, you'll hear from many well-known herbal practitioners, including: Rosemary Gladstarfounder of The California School of Herbal Studies and United Plant Savers, co-founder of Sage Mountain Herbs, and author of Herbal Healing for Women and of the Sage Healing Way series James Greenformer Director of The California School of Herbal Studies, a member of the advisory committee for United Plant Savers, and author of both The Herbal Medicine-Makers Handbook and The Male Herbal David HoffmannFellow of Britain's National Institute of Medical Herbalists, former President of the American Herbalists Guild, and author of The New Holistic Herbal, An Elder's Herbal, and Therapeutic Herbalism Richo Cechherbalist, owner of Horizon Herbs, executive board member of United Plant Savers, and author of Growing Your Garden Pharmacy Sharol Tilgnerlicensed naturopathic physician, founder and current President of Wise Woman Herbals, Inc., editor of Herbal Transitions, associate editor of Medical Herbalism, and author of Herbal Medicines From the Heart of the Earth For the first time, these leading educators, clinicians, and business owners share the joys and pitfalls of practicing an age-old healing tradition in modern America. This rich resource of reflections fills a gap in the existing literature that will be useful for herbalists, herbal enthusiasts, historians, anthropologists, popular culturists, and holistic/alternative medical practitioners.

This work examines the counselling approaches and techniques used by Yoruba traditional healers of Nigeria. It also describes the functions performed by Yoruba traditional healers when they work within the Yoruba cultural milieu. The information elicited from Yoruba traditional healers though videotape and interview was analyzed by a Nigerian woman from the Yoruba ethnic group. The results of the volume support the premise that culture plays a significant role in the kind of healing methods and counselling techniques used by professionals and traditional healers, as well as in the type of professionals chosen by clients for consultation concerning their problems.

"The Herbal Encyclopedia: A Practical Guide to the Many Uses of Herbs" is a valuable resource for those seeking more than the usual aspects of learning about our planet's valuable medicinal herbs. Besides medicinal information, included is also information regarding the spiritual uses, and growing information for those who wish to grow their own natural medicines. Compiled by a nationally certified Naturopathic Doctor, this guide is a valuable addition to any reference library.Want to learn how to feed your body naturally? Want to learn how to grow your own medicinal herbs? Want to learn ways to incorporate herbs into your worship? Want to learn how to get healthy and stay that way? Then this book is for you!

An important overview of the state of the art in naturally occurring antimycotics!Here is a comprehensive and innovative examination of the antimycotic potential of essential plant oils and extracts against fungal infections affecting humans, animals, plants, and foodstuffs. Plant-Derived Antimycotics emphasizes the antimycotic activity of plants found in Central America, India, Nepal, Fiji, and China--areas rich in phyto-diversity and traditional botanical/medical knowledge.From editor M.K. Rai: "Since the inception of human civilization men have been using herbs against various mycotic infections. In the recent past, several antimycotic agents have been introduced into the market due to their rapid curative properties. Still, the quest for new antifungal agents of a fungicidal rather than fungistatic nature continues. Furthermore, there has been a dramatic increase in the new spectrum of fungal infections known as opportunistic fungal pathogens. Consequently, plant-derived antimycotics are gaining importance, being natural, cheaper, safer, eco-friendly, and within the reach of the common man."With a distinguished list of contributors from around the world, Plant-Derived Antimycotics explores: antifungal compounds that strengthen plant-defense systems traditional herbs that have revealed their antifungal properties newer, faster methods of screening and evaluating antifungal drugs natural antimycotics derived from plants in Croatia, South America, South Africa, China, India, and Fiji the mechanism of herbal antimycotic action the diversity of antimycotic efficacy in Asteraceous and Meliaceous plants new bioactive antifungal molecules Plant-Derived Antimycotics is an essential reference for pharmacologists, microbiologists, clinical mycologists, oncologists, immunologists, drug manufacturers, botanists and ethnobotanists, phytochemists, herbalists, and everyone searching for a natural remedy for the new spectrum of opportunistic fungal infections generated by the immunocompromising difficulties encountered by AIDS and cancer patients. Color illustrations, photographs, charts, tables, and graphs make the information easier to absorb and understand.

How do plant compounds affect our bodies? Plants defend themselves from other organisms through the production of bioactive metabolites. Introduced to the body, these compounds bind to particular biochemical targets, most notably to proteins involved in signalling by hormones and neurotransmitters. This, essentially, is the basis for the effects of herbal medicine. Though whilst herbal medicine preparations may act by complex synergistic interactions, molecular explanations of herbal medicine efficacy and side-effects will ultimately require definition of the biochemical targets of individual plant bioactive constituents.
This volume is a comprehensive and user-friendly reference guide to biochemical targets of plant defensive compounds. It presents a mine of succinctly summarized information relating to bioactive compound structures, plant sources, biochemical targets and physiological effects which can be readily accessed via the plant genus index and chemical compound index. With introductory chapters providing reviews of the structural diversity of plant defensive compounds and biochemistry, Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds is an invaluable reference for biomedical professionals in the fields of complementary medicine, natural product chemistry, toxicology and pharmacology.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203013719

Find all the information you need on herbs and spices in one place Herbal Medicine and Botanical Medical Fads is an A-to-Z reference book written in a straightforward style that's informative enough for library use but informal enough for general reading. This essential guide takes a practical look at the popular uses of herbs and spices, presented in an easy-to-use format. The book is a refreshing alternative to the how-to guides, cookbooks, and picture books usually found on the subject. From alfalfa to ginseng to yellow dock, more than 100 entries are included, featuring historical backgrounds, popular and practical uses, folklore, and bibliographies. Herbal Medicine and Botanical Medical Fads also contains related listings and essays that range from alternative medicine to food preparation and nutrition to herbs in wedding celebrations. Detailed enough for reference use by academics, the book has a natural tone that appeals to garden club members, herb and spice experts, hobbyists, and others. Herbal Medicine and Botanical Medical Fads also includes information on: herb growing and marketing herbs and spices in literature medicinal herbs and spices federal regulations on herbs and spices horticulture therapy An everyday guide for enthusiasts and a perfect place to start for newcomers, Herbal Medicine and Botanical Medical Fads is an easy-to-use handbook with wide-ranging appeal. It combines the comprehensive information you'd expect from a reference book with a casual and colorful look at the histories and backgrounds of herbs and spices, both commonplace and exotic. As a vital resource or an occasional reference, this book is unique in its scope and invaluable in its usefulness.

Americans seeking herbal medicines now face confusion and even danger. There is great potential for these medicines to improve the health of consumers--if current regulations can be revised!Herbal Medicine: Chaos in the Marketplace is a prize-winning critique of the regulation and business of herbal medicine in the United States. It is the first book that examines the big picture issues-it tells the story of how the present situation developed, looks at what it means for consumers, compares approaches taken in other industrialized countries, and recommends where we need to go from here. Convenient reference tables provide easy access to information.Concerns about herbal medicines are hitting the headlines regularly, yet no other book has examined the core issues in depth from a public health perspective. Herbal Medicine: Chaos in the Marketplace fills that gap. It is highly relevant today, and you'll find it will continue to be indispensable reading for years to come as the situation plays out.This balanced, unique, and insightful volume will add to your knowledge of herbal medicine regulation and its impact on consumer health by: framing the limitations of the current situation with brief examples reviewing the regulatory history of herbal medicines in the United States placing the situation in an international context by also examining regulations in Canada, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom illustrating the practical implications of U.S. regulations with six examples that demonstrate how herbal medicines could contribute more to consumer health--and the public health risks associated with the current regulatory situation analyzing the public health issues related to safety, research, clinical practice, consumer interests, business, media, and federal government offering key, high-impact recommendations for future policyConsumers, health care professionals, business people in the domestic and foreign herb industries, researchers, health plan executives, food and drug attorneys and policymakers, as well as educators and students, will all find this book essential to their understanding of the workings of the herbal medicine industry. Visit the author's website at http://www.herbalchaos.com

Answer patients'questions about botanical supplements quickly and easily This informative book is a compendium of detailed scientific research on 34 of the most popular dietary supplements used in North America and Europe. Its coverage of pharmacological studies on the main medicinal plants used in clinical practice and sold in pharmacies in the Western world is more extensive than any other publication of monographic reviews available. The way Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements, Second Edition. is organized (standardized topic formats are used in each monograph) makes it easy for you to locate relevant information quickly and to compare corresponding sections between different entries. This book is an invaluable tool for pharmacists, physicians, and other health care professionals who need detailed, scientifically accurate information on appropriate use, safety, dosages, and similar issues related to botanical dietary supplements. Each entry in Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements, Second Edition. covers botanical data (classification and nomenclature, common names, geographic occurrence, and botanical characteristics), plus: history and traditional uses chemistry therapeutic applications pre-clinical studies clinical studies recommended dosages safety profiles (including toxicology) side effects and contraindications drug interactions and special precautions safety recommendations during pregnancy and lactation This extensively referenced volume includes appendixes with information on the major provisions of DSHEA (the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994) and on the criteria and procedures for assessing the quality of botanical products.

Contents:
1. Shengmai San - A Renowned Traditional Chinese Medicine 2. Pharmacological Studies on Shengmai San 3. Clinical Studies on Shengmai San 4. Side Effects of Shengmai San 5. Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Component Herbs of Shengmai San 6. Contemporary Applications of a Traditional Formula: Manufacturing of Shengmai San (SMS) Preparations and their Applications

Harness the power of herbs to boost resilience, stamina, and brain function! Adaptogens are a unique class of herbs that greatly improve your body's reaction to emotional and physical stress while increasing your energy, stamina, endurance, and mental clarity. Recent studies support what practitioners of Indian Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine have known for centuries--these herbs including Rhodiola, ginseng, licorice, and more--and have positive benefits on wellness and are safe for long-term use. Whether you're interested in honing your mental abilities to a razor-sharp level, want to give your athleticism a boost, or are looking for ways to improve your healthy lifestyle, adaptogens have so much to offer for everyday well-being. In Adaptogens, popular wellness blogger and herbalist Agatha Noveille reveals the secrets to vibrant health and natural healing--without the use of conventional drugs. Inside, you'll learn about the health and wellness benefits of twenty-three adaptogenic herbs, including Rhodiola, Ashwagandha, Maca, He Shou Wu, and Holy Basil. You'll also find more than 75 recipes for potions and remedies to improve sleep, mood, mental focus, immune function, stamina, and for general wellness and beauty. These all-natural, safe remedies fight the effects of chronic stress, while restoring your body's balance, health, and vitality.

Understand and make use of the connections between health and religion to improve your practice Research points to a clear link between people's religious beliefs and practices and their health. These developments have ushered in a new era in health care, in which meaning and purpose stand alongside biology as vital factors in health outcomes. Now the gap is closing between medicine and religion, as evidenced by the more than 60 US medical school courses now being given in spirituality, religion, and medicine, including courses at major teaching centers such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Case-Western, and others.Faith, Spirituality, and Medicine: Toward the Making of the Healing Practitioner promotes the integration of spirituality into medical care by exploring the connection between patient health and traditional religious beliefs and practices. This useful guide emphasizes basic, easily understood principles that will help health professionals apply current research findings linking religion, spirituality, and health. Faith, Spirituality, and Medicine does not advocate any particular set of beliefs or evangelize as it helps you integrate spiritual care into the care of patients by showing you how to: take a patient's spiritual history correlate religious beliefs with health beliefs address the individual spiritual needs of your patients choose a course of treatment that is in agreement with the religious belief of the patient incorporate appropriate clergy into treatment plansFaith, Spirituality, and Medicine describes a biopsychosocial-spiritual model that emphasizes the need to view patients not simply as biological creatures, but as physical, psychological, social, and spiritual beings if they are to be effectively treated and healed as whole persons.

Sage, the Genus Salvia is one of the most famous and used herbs in the world. This volume, containing over twenty chapters written by leading experts in the field, presents a comprehensive coverage on all aspects of Salvia. Topics covered include the presentation of the most known Salvia species (approximately 400 of them), the distribution of the genus, its chemotaxonomy, ecophysiology, cultivation technology and breeding methods, information on the extraction, isolation, characterisation and structure of a large number of bioactive components, the various pharmacological properties of the species, the share of Salvia products in aromatherapy and the natural cosmetics market, biotechnological techniques, and commercial aspects.

This comprehensive volume on Salvia should be of interest to everyone involved in medicinal and aromatic plant applications and research.

Understanding Alternative Medicine: New Health Paths in America provides health professionals and educators with insight into the growing use and social acceptance of alternative medicines in the United States today. This book discusses the political, economic, and scientific implications of multicultural medicine in American society and provides you with specific information on the use of alternative medicines in the United States. With this complete and comprehensive guide, you will discover the safety and efficacy of alternative medicines, therapies, and philosophies to offer your patients the best possible care for their ailments.Intelligent and informative, Understanding Alternative Medicine examines several different philosophies that alternative treatments are based on, such as Shamanism, Ayurvedic Medicine, and traditional chinese medicine and discusses some of the negative consequences of these practices on both the plant and animal kingdoms. This essential book will provide you with a variety of medical suggestions to improve your patients'health while examining present issues surrounding alternative medicine, including: realizing the environmental impact on endangered plants and animals used as ingredients in traditional and herbal medicines to help you understand the negative effects on the world while balancing the positive effects for the human population understanding the economic growth and social acceptance of the alternative health industry and its move into mainstream society examining why, according to some doctors'opinions, the United States Food and Drug Administration continues to be unsuccessful in its efforts to properly evaluate the safety and efficacy of alternative medicineThrough this essential book,you will discover how American medicine has diversified among accepted medical practices as well as medical practitioners and that these trends are beginning to change American health care practices and procedures. Understanding Alternative Medicine offers proof on how these changes have influenced the growing availability, awareness, and use of traditional medicines in order to expand your options for patient care and help people live improved and healthier lives.

This fundamental work is offered to the profession as a basic Repertory and is a compilation of all the useful symptoms recorded in the fundamental work of our Materia Medica as well as from the notes of pioneers of homeopathy. In this book the clinical symptoms which were consistent with the nature of the remedy have been incorporated ad unverified symptoms have been omitted. Apart from this some of the added features of this book are: (I) Articles like "Use of the Repertory", "How to Study the Repertory" as well as Dr M L Tylers "Repertorising"; (ii) "Dr. Gibson Miller's Hot and Cold Remedies to help differentiate the remedies for selection of the final simillimum; An article by Miller on 'Relationship of Remedies and their Duration of Action'; Bogers -- "The sides of the Body and Drug Affinities" from the Boenninghausens' Therapeutic Pocket Book. Doubtless to say that these are those are valuable articles which serve the physicians as guide-teachers in achieving the desired goals. Medium size of this repertory has been brought on special demand of our readers to make it handy and easy to carry.

This book follows the life of Hahnemann from his birth and boyhood at Meissen (1755) through his student years, his disillusionment with common medical practice, translations, physician for the mentally disordered and onwards. The book follows Hahnemann during his struggles to have Homeopathy accepted, his determination, his marriage to Melanie, his final years in Paris and his death in 1843. This book has been well researched and contains great detail. Rosa Hobhouse has used the private letters of Hahnemann to enable us to see the person, the poet, the humanitarian, the loving father and the compassionate defender of human rights that Hahnemann was. This is a fascinating insight to Hahnemann the person and to Germany at the time of Hahnemann.

From the 19th Collegium Internationale Neuro-psychopharmacolgicum (CINP) Congress in 1994 comes this long-awaited collection that explores traditional herbal medicines as they relate to the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases today. Dr. Shigenobu Hanba, co-chair of the symposium, joins together with co-editor Dr. Elliot Richelson and other distinguished scientists from around the world to discuss the role that age-old medicinals can play in modern-day therapy. For clinical and basic scientists alike, Herbal Medicines for Neuropsychiatric Disorders provides a comprehensive overview of the status of traditional herbal medicines as they relate to the treatment of neurospychiatric diseases. It will also serve as a source for detailed information on specific natural products and their constituents, as well as a reference point from which to begin a more in-depth exploration of this fascinating field.
Eastern cultures have been using herbal medicines for centuries and mainstream practitioners in many countries continue to use them as valid and effective forms of therapy for neuropsychiatric disorders. An important exception in Western culture, of course, is the United States, where governmental standards for safety and efficacy often pose obstacles for the speedy approval of drugs based on what some might label folkloric remedies. However, in the U.S. today, scientists are now conducting research with traditional herbal medicines with the belief that they offer enormous possibilities for the discovery of new drugs that would provide the basis of a new and effective psychopharmacology.
Along with detailed information on this research, the readers of Herbal Medicines for Neuropsychiatric Disorders explore ancient cultures to gain a greater perspective on the herbal medicines of Japan, China and India. Further reading offers chemical and pharmacological studies of various herbal medicines, as well as reports of studies in which behavioral and biochemical effects of various herbal preparations were tested on senescence-acclerated mice.

Early anthropological evidence for plant use as medicine is 60,000 years old as reported from the Neanderthal grave in Iraq. The importance of plants as medicine is further supported by archeological evidence from Asia and the Middle East. Today, around 1.4 billion people in South Asia alone have no access to modern health care, and rely instead on traditional medicine to alleviate various symptoms. On a global basis, approximately 50 to 80 thousand plant species are used either natively or as pharmaceutical derivatives for life-threatening conditions that include diabetes, hypertension and cancers. As the demand for plant-based medicine rises, there is an unmet need to investigate the quality, safety and efficacy of these herbals by the "scientific methods". Current research on drug discovery from medicinal plants involves a multifaceted approach combining botanical, phytochemical, analytical, and molecular techniques. For instance, high throughput robotic screens have been developed by industry; it is now possible to carry out 50,000 tests per day in the search for compounds which act on a key enzyme or a subset of receptors. This and other bioassays thus offer hope that one may eventually identify compounds for treating a variety of diseases or conditions. However, drug development from natural products is not without its problems. Frequent challenges encountered include the procurement of raw materials, the selection and implementation of appropriate high-throughput bioassays, and the scaling-up of preparative procedures. Research scientists should therefore arm themselves with the right tools and knowledge in order to harness the vast potentials of plant-based therapeutics. The main objective of Plant and Human Health is to serve as a comprehensive guide for this endeavor. Volume 1 highlights how humans from specific areas or cultures use indigenous plants. Despite technological developments, herbal drugs still occupy a preferential place in a majority of the population in the third world and have slowly taken roots as alternative medicine in the West. The integration of modern science with traditional uses of herbal drugs is important for our understanding of this ethnobotanical relationship. Volume 2 deals with the phytochemical and molecular characterization of herbal medicine. Specifically, it will focus on the secondary metabolic compounds which afford protection against diseases. Lastly, Volume 3 focuses on the physiological mechanisms by which the active ingredients of medicinal plants serve to improve human health. Together this three-volume collection intends to bridge the gap for herbalists, traditional and modern medical practitioners, and students and researchers in botany and horticulture.

Essential oils have been around for thousands of years, but there has been a resurgence recently as companies have brought these oils to the mainstream. Essential oils are concentrated oils that are extracted from plants and said to have natural healing benefits such as with aromatherapy and when used topically. This adorably small and fully illustrated A-Z primer explores 100 of the most popular and common essential oils including profiles, uses, and possible healing benefits.

Records cataloging the healing powers of natural substances - plants, minerals, and animal byproducts - date back more than 4,000 years. There is no denying the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine, yet - until recently - the roots of this knowledge were largely lost in superstition and folklore. However, the use of herbs as an alternative medical treatment for many illnesses has increased steadily over the last decade, particularly since such herbs are categorized as "Natural Food Products" and are not yet subject to strict control by the FDA. Reports published in 1996 indicate that more than 10% of the US population has used herbal remedies.

This book does not debate the value of Eastern or Western medicine but brings together Chinese herbal lore and Western scientific methods in a current, comprehensive treatise on the pharmacology of Chinese herbs. This second edition of The Pharmacology of Chinese Herbs presents the chemical composition, pharmacological action, toxicity, and therapeutic value of 473 herbs.

The book:
o Classifies herbs according to their therapeutic value
o Informs how active ingredients in herbs may adversely interact with other herbs or drugs
o Evaluates which herbs have the potential for more investigation and possible use as drugs
o Describes the pharmacological action of each herb based on recent scientific study and describes each herb according to Chinese pharmacopoeia and folk medicine
o Provides a review of Chinese medical history
o Presents information on how to use modern chemical techniques for enhancing or modifying herbal ingredients into better agents with more strength and activity


What's New in the Second Edition
Discussions on:
o Herbs and their specific effects on the immune system
o Herbs and fertility/infertility
o Anti-cancer herbs
o Anti-HIV herbs
o Anti-malarial herbs
o Ginseng and ginsenosides
o Anti-Alzheimer herbs
o Herbs affecting the nervous system

THIS MANUAL IS THE FIRST of its kind to focus on the Tibetan technique of the moxibustion, and external therapy that uses the power of heat to stimulate a curative effect.