[MPWG] Safety and efficacy - a role for MPWG?

[rrr at montana.com]

Hi Patricia and all,

There is much to say, but I'll try and be really short.
First, I would recommend, "The Essential Guide to Herbal Safety" by Simon
Mills and Kerry Bone, Elsevier Churchill Livingstone. 2005. The authors
are practicing herbalists. Most other books on this subject and that of
Drug-herb interaction (two separate subjects, mind you) fail miserably in
describing true therapeutic/clinical realities.

Alternative medicine is mostly under the radar. Some conventional doctors
may use herbs, but they are applied like drugs, which is not the
traditional herbal medicine model (e.g., constitution, energetics, vital
force, and 60-minute intakes). Doctors are not required to inform their
patients of alternative medicine alternatives. Indeed, conventional
medicine journals reveal a long history of hostility against not just
herbs, but vitamins also. Our politics and our culture have denied
alternative models of medicine for a century. The Flexner Report helps
explain why.

Herbalists, naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists and many, many more
alternative practitioners are making a huge contribution to the reduction
of suffering and treatment of health dysfunction and disease in the world.
Thousands of cases go unnoticed because those in the trenches are too busy
to report their discoveries and successes, nor are they allowed a voice in
the conventional world.

Not to worry! More and more good research is supporting traditional herbal
medicine. Science is catching up.

By the way, have the reporter contact the American Herbal Products
Association or the Council for Responsible Nutrition, or the American
Botanical Council. However, these organizations do not represent
traditional herbal medicine. For that, they should talk to the
naturopathic universities or the American Herbalists Guild, for example.

Best Regards,
Robyn Klein, RH AHG, MSc., Medical Botany
Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology
Montana State University