Product Description

This well referenced, instructive, and clinically accurate guide provides everything you need to know about the safe and effective use of medicinal herbs. Published by the American Botanical Council (ABC), the book contains comprehensive, scientifically based information on 29 herbs and 13 proprietary herbal products. The reference is also the first of its kind to include a continuing education module for a wide variety of healthcare professionals.

Each herb analysis includes an extensively referenced therapeutic Monograph, a 2-page Clinical Overview for quick reference, and a 1-page Patient Information Sheet for the health professional to copy and give to patients. Pharmacological activity, herb-drug interactions, adverse effects, preparations, dosage, name brands, regulations, and detailed tables of clinical studies, are all accurately presented in this important educational guidebook.

Even if you never incorporate herbal medicine into your own treatment practices, the fact is that many patients today are using herbal health remedies on their own. Therefore, it is essential to know as much as possible about herbal products, their uses and safety, and their clinical applications.

Key features of the ABC Guide:

- In depth data - thorough and detailed information for the most popular herbs and herbal products sold in the US market today - More than 40 tables of clinical studies, including 180 commercial products - Incorporation of science-based and traditional information - Standardized and regimented layout ensures quick and easy access to information - National continuing education credit - 10 to 13.5 credit hours available to health professionals in five disciplines -Message to customers: The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) has extended CME credit The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs for physicians. The current $20 fee will no longer be charged. This will now be offered at no cost with purchase of the book. THE ABC CLINICAL GUIDE to HERBS provides healthcare professionals with what they want: factual, current, scientifically based information and guidance on the top selling herbs in the United States. A must have reference for every practice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #629875 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 510 pages

Review
"...accurate information and vital background in herb safety, standardization, regulation and lack of regulation, rational phytotherapy, and evidence-based medicine." -- Medicine Weekly

"...reviews 29 single herbs and 13 propietary products...among the top-selling herbs or herbal teas...content is very complete" -- Medical Acupuncture, 2005

From the Publisher
Published by the American Botanical Council, Thieme is proud to be the exclusive worldwide distributor for this book.

Customer Reviews

A potentially useful book if
In fairness to the authors, this is a potentially useful book if you do not have any other books by Mark Blumenthal and you do not subscribe to periodicals by the American Botanical Council. It is far from the best of in its field, because it is given to restating the vocabulary rather than giving meaning, as in this description of milk thistle:

Hepaptoprotective; reduces serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and transaminases (ALT, AST), reduces triglyceride in serum; reduces malondialdehyde...

This is simply the ploy used by herbalists with a more limited grasp of technical terminology. One herbalist might say, "flushes the liver," which is meaningless, while these herbalists say, "reduces serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase," which is meaningless to most readers and of very limited clinical value to practitioners. Reduces GGT how? Through action on hepatocytes? By maintaining plasticity? By introducing variation in laboratory measurements without beneficials changes to tissue? Can we assume our patients are better if their GGT titers are reduced?

Dr. Blumenthal obviously reads and writes. He sees a scientific fact, rephrases it, and adds a citation. This may be impressive, but it isn't useful. And the focus is exclusively herbal. Physicians would be much better served to read Murray & Pizzorno's textbooks on naturopathy than this long vocabulary exercise.

Valuable Pharmacy Resource
This book should be on every pharmacy reference shelf whether it is in the corner drugstore or the hospital pharmacy. Herbal questions arise continuously in practice and very often the pharmacist does not have the information at hand. The sections in this book on pharmacological actions, clinical review, and clinical studies are especially valuable as these often do not exist in other herbal references. The information on clinical studies is displayed in a series of tables that are quick to scan yet are detailed. For Ginkgo there are six pages of clinical studies tables. Contraindications, adverse effects, and drug interactions are there also for each herb and there is just enough botany and chemistry to keep an academic interested. This book is thorough and yet concise. It covers the 29 best-selling herbs in the United States and the information on each plant is extensively referenced. I have recommended this book to my students and I am currently using it in my courses.

Yet another rehash of Commission E
How many times is this author going to publish the same book? Sure there's some new information--new in the sense it wasn't in his other books, but already dated compared to the science--and there are some new products--not a complete list by any means. But, please, once was enough!