Herbal Contraindications and Drug Interactions Plus Herbal Adjuncts With Medicines

This 4th edition highlights combinations of herbal preparations with drugs shown to provide enhanced benefits for specific conditions and/or reduce the drug's adverse effects. Of the 321 herbs listed in the main text, 98 are designated as complementary adjuncts for medicines, and the conditions benefited are identified by underlining. This book's first edition (1997) was the first of its kind in addressing herbal interactions with drugs. This 4th edition keeps current with research findings and scrupulously distinguishes between what is known through (1) data obtained from modern clinical human studies, (2) empirical clinical observations such as case reports, (3) laboratory research on living animals and (4) mechanistic studies with tissues and cells. Such evidence is also used to support empirical and theoretical contraindications for the herbs. Over 2700 medical and scientific listed sources are cited to document these findings. Types of preparations used in human studies are described to emphasize differences between preparations from the same herb, along with dosage and duration. Conflicting results are utilized to put these issues in context. As the first reference of its kind available on Kindle, the special features of this electronic version include direct links to free online updates and additions and interactive links for each page number of every item listed in the Index.In addition to the 321 main herbs covered, five extensive appendices organize information on these and additional herbal remedies into categories addressing (1) specific cautions, (2) pharmacodynamic interactions with particular types of drugs, pharmacokinetic interactions involving absorption and phase 1 and phase 2 metabolism, (3) precautions for mothers, infants and children, (4) drug interactions with vitamins and minerals, (5) managing substance abuse, and advantageous combinations with anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, antimicrobials, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The appendix sections addressing herbal influences on drug absorption and transport proteins and those on metabolism involving cytochrome P450 isoenzymes and conjugating enzymes are the most extensive compilations available anywhere. The first appendix section on complimentary adjuncts identifies all of the beneficial combinations with drugs for 92 of herbs in the main text, including evidence from human studies for 57 of these herbs. Read more