American Botanical Council Announces New FasTrak HerbClip™ Program
(January 14, 2005) The most recent developments in herbal medicine and dietary supplements are now more accessible than ever from the American Botanical Council’s new FasTrak addition to its HerbClip™ service.
Twice a month, HerbClip, a benefit of ABC membership, delivers 12 summaries and critical reviews of articles drawn from mainstream media, scientific and medical journals, newsletters, government documents and special reports. For more than 13 years HerbClip has provided this unique service to herbal enthusiasts, healthcare practitioners, researchers, academics, industry leaders, and government scientists and policy makers. Since HerbClip goes through a writing and editorial review process, there is often a delay in the publication of the reviews. FasTrak will provide more timely access to information by expediting reviews of many of the most significant new articles. Beginning in January 2005, each HerbClip release will contain at least one FasTrak HerbClip.
The FasTrak HerbClip will be available to the public on the ABC website with links to the most current FasTrak items under Latest News. The FasTrak HerbClip reviews will also feature prominently in ABC’s e-newsletter, HerbalEGram, which provides members with updates on herbal information between issues of HerbalGram, the quarterly journal of the American Botanical Council.
“With so many papers on herbal research being published in the literature, it is challenging to keep up with all of the most salient and relevant articles,” said Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of ABC. “Now with HerbClip FasTrak we can provide our many colleagues and stakeholders news and reviews about many of the most recent publications in a more timely manner.”
The full HerbClip Educational Mailing Service is available to ABC’s Sponsor members, and includes printed copies of the reviews and copies of most of the original articles being reviewed. Companies and others build files of original articles that can be helpful in substantiating claim and for other purposes. The HerbClip Online Reviews and archives, comprised of nearly 2,500 entries in a searchable database, are available to ABC members at the Academic level and above. The original articles are available at higher membership levels.
The FasTrak HerbClip for January 14th is an article documenting the relative safety of the popular herb valerian, noting that clinical research shows that it does not interact with many common pharmaceuticals drugs: “Valerian Shows Little Effect on Cytochrome P450 Activity” (HC 120141-272). This article is available to the public on ABC’s website.
About the American Botanical Council
Established in 1988, the American Botanical Council (ABC) is the leading non-profit, member-based international organization working to educate consumers, healthcare professionals, researchers, educators, industry, and the media on the safe and effective use of medicinal plants. ABC is located on a 2.5 acre site in Austin, Texas where it publishes HerbalGram, a peer-reviewed journal. ABC is also the publisher of The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs, a continuing education and reference book, which contains extensive monographs on the safety and efficacy of 29 popular herbs.
For More Information Contact:
Lori Glenn, HerbClip Coordinator
American Botanical Council
P.O. Box 144345, Austin, TX 78714-4345
Phone: 512-926-4900, ext. 107; Fax: 512-926-2345
E-mail: HerbClip
Website: www.herbalgram.org