Herb and Dietary Supplement Information

The H.E.R.B.A.L. Guide will greatly assist clinicians in counseling patients about use of herbal and dietary supplements and integrating these supplements into the comprehensive clinical management of common conditions. The opening section offers practical advice on the clinician-patient dialogue about supplements. Subsequent chapters discuss key issues regarding labeling, dosing, regulation, interactions and reactions, efficacy, clinical trials, and the role of each member of the health care team in management of supplements. Major sections present case studies of patients with common conditions and quick reference guides to the use of natural medicines in clinical management of specific disorders.

Producing a variety of structurally novel bioactive compounds or secondary metabolites, freshwater plants provide a diverse and unique source of bioactive lead compounds for the discovery of modern drugs. These include antibiotics, mycotoxins, alkaloids, and phenolic compounds. Freshwater Phytopharmaceutical Compounds presents key information on freshwater flora, including common names, classification, global distribution, habitats, and biology--all organized according to the activities of their bioactive compounds.

A fascinating examination of the history of medicine in colonial and postcolonial Africa, Bitter Roots will be indispensable for scholars of Africa; historians interested in medicine, biochemistry, and society; and policy makers concerned with drug access and patent rights.

A Hindu monk in Calcutta refuses to take his psychotropic medications. His psychiatrist explains that just as his body needs food, the drugs are nutrition for his starved mind. Does it matter how--or whether--patients understand their prescribed drugs?    Millions of people in India are routinely prescribed mood medications. Pharmaceutical companies give doctors strong incentives to write as many prescriptions as possible, with as little awkward questioning from patients as possible. Without a sustained public debate on psychopharmaceuticals in India, patients remain puzzled by the notion that drugs can cure disturbances of the mind. While biomedical psychopharmaceuticals are perceived with great suspicion, many non-biomedical treatments are embraced.    Stefan Ecks illuminates how biomedical, Ayurvedic, and homeopathic treatments are used in India, and argues that pharmaceutical pluralism changes popular ideas of what drugs do. Based on several years of research on pharmaceutical markets, Ecks shows how doctors employ a wide range of strategies to make patients take the remedies prescribed. Yet while metaphors such as "mind food" may succeed in getting patients to accept the prescriptions, they also obscure a critical awareness of drug effects.   This rare ethnography of pharmaceuticals will be of key interest to those in the anthropology and sociology of medicine, pharmacology, mental health, bioethics, global health, and South Asian studies.

Asian medicinal plants show great promise in pharmaceutical and cosmetological development. Researchers engaged in the discovery of new leads in these areas need robust conceptual tools and understanding of interrelated basics of botany, ethnobotany, biomolecular pharmacology, phytochemistry, and medicinal chemistry to guide their investigations. Medicinal Plants of China, Korea, and Japan: Bioresources for Tomorrow's Drugs and Cosmetics explores the fundamental science and demonstrates the compelling potential of these versatile plants, providing an essential resource to stimulate and guide focused inquiry. It is essential that researchers appreciate the chemotaxonomical statuses of these plants, so chapters are arranged according to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system of plant taxonomy. The book discusses the history, synonymy, habitat, description, traditional uses, and pharmacochemistry of each plant. Detailed photographs and hand-made botanical plates enable quick and reliable identification of each plant species. Critical analyses of peer-reviewed articles provide the basis for Bioresource sections in each chapter wherein readers are advised, engaged, and guided towards exciting pharmaceutical and cosmetological research proposals. Also included are indexes of botanical terms, pharmacological terms, natural products, and local names. Detailing 200 medicinal plant species carefully selected for their novelty and pharmacological and cosmetological importance, this volume provides a firm starting point for anyone looking forward to unlocking the potential of Asian medicinal plants. In addition, this invaluable book identifies numerous patentable leads.