Herbal Medicine: A Concise Overview for Professionals

Author: Edzard Ernst

ISBN: 9780750645409

Paperback, 128 pages

The author and 11 leading international experts provide a balanced introduction to herbal medicine for both orthodox and alternative healthcare professionals. Issues covered include how and if herbal remedies work, what today's practitioners can learn from traditional herbalism, the difference between herbalism and phytomedicine, and adverse effects.

This small paperback provides a very useful introduction to herbal medicine and includes contributions from twelve specialist authors, eight of whom are based in the UK. The eight chapters cover precisely the sorts of questions that any therapist would ask about any treatment. These include: How does it work? What can be learnt from its history? Is it safe? Should it be regulated? and How does it compare to other therapies?
All these matters are discussed and the available evidence is clearly presented. Specific examples of individual herbs are given, including plants such as Angelica, Arnica, Echinacca, Feverfew, Ginko, Ginseng, Saw Palmetto, Saint John s Wort and Valerian.
small book offers an evidence based look at herbal medicine that will serve as a useful introductory guide for physicians, herbalists and other healthcare professionals with an interest in plant based therapy, and also healthcare policy makers, herbal product manufacturers and medical educators.