Nonprofit Organization Publishes Authorative Guide to Herbal Medicines
Nonprofit Organization Publishes Authorative Guide to Herbal Medicines
Reliable information on herbal medicine is now available for health professionals and the general public. The American Botanical Council (ABC) announces the publication of The Complete German Commission E Monographs-Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines. This authoritative herbal desk reference is the only complete English translation of the medicinal herb regulatory guidelines by the Commission E, an expert panel of the German Federal Health Agency (Germany’s equivalent of the U.S. FDA). The book is indexed and cross-referenced to provide health professionals, researchers, journalists, and the general public access to conclusive, trustworthy clinical information on medicinal herbs. Including 380 monographs, it is the most authoritative guide to herbal therapy available today.
In Germany, where medicinal herbs are an integrated part of modern medicine, doctors and pharmacists rely on the Commission E for guidance in administering and dispensing herbal remedies. Now this direction is available in English for over 300 herbs, including some of the most popular herbs in the U.S., like ginkgo, garlic, St. John’s wort, saw palmetto, and kava.
The information and cross-referencing included in The Complete German Commission E Monographs makes it the most authoritative English language guide to phytomedicinals. The 710-page book includes nomenclature, plant composition and chemical constituents, uses and indications, contraindications, side effects, interactions with other medicines, dosages, and the medicinal actions of the herbs. These monographs, actively researched by German physicians, pharmacists, and toxicologists, are organized into approved or unapproved groups, depending on the basis of whether safety and reasonable efficacy of the herb’s use could be established.
As major pharmaceutical companies expand into the business of herbal supplements, it becomes more critical for health professionals and the lay public to have responsible guidance on the proper uses of herbal medicines. Andrew Weil, M.D., of the University of Arizona School of
Public Health and author of Eight Weeks to Optimum Health and Spontaneous Healing comments about The Complete German Commission E, "Until very recently there have been no places for doctors and pharmacists to go for reliable information in botanical medicine. Now we have somewhere to send them."
From Purdue University, Dean and Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., Sc.D. comments, "A true magnum opus-destined to have an enormous positive influence on the practice of herbal medicine in the United States. This is an in-depth review of the safety and efficacy of medicines used by one third of all adult Americans and should be next to the Physicians’ Desk Reference in every doctor’s office. It should also be mandatory reading for all Food and Drug Administration personnel-especially the policy makers."
American Botanical Council founder and executive director, Mark Blumenthal is the senior editor of The Complete German Commission E Monographs-Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines. He believes that "this publication will increase the acceptance of legitimate medical uses of phytomedicinals among physicians, pharmacists, members of Congress, regulators, journalists, the pharmaceutical and herbal industries, and the general public. The Complete German Commission E Monographs will have a positive impact on the current need for authoritative and credible information on the proper uses of herbs."
The American Botanical Council is an independent international nonprofit organization whose mission is to investigate and promote the safe and effective use of medicinal plants. ABC publishes the quarterly peer-reviewed journal HerbalGram, offers an extensive 32-page mail-order selection of medicinal herb books and many original educational publications. Sales and inquiries for The Complete German Commission E Monographs and additional publications can be accessed via Phone: (512) 926-4900, Fax: (512) 926-2345, e-mail: the American Botanical Council or the website at www.herbalgram.org. Other ABC programs include continuing education courses for pharmacists, ethnobotanical tours of the world’s rainforests, and the Ginseng Evaluation Program. November 1998 marks the organization’s 10-year anniversary.
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