Herbal Medicines: A Guide for Health-Care Professionals

First published in 1996, this book stands as a landmark reference work on herbal medicines for health professionals, particularly pharmacists. The authors are all affliliated with the Department of Pharmacognosy, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, and the book was commissioned by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in response to the many questions they were fielding on herbal medicines from practicing pharmacists. This is not a book that will interest most lay people as it is quite technical in its approach to the topic. The book, however, is very readable, despite being technical. It is organized around 141 monographs on individual medicinal plants. Each monograph includes species, synonyms, parts used, availability of other pharmaceutical monographs, legal category of product (in Great Britain), constituents, food use, herbal use, pharmacological actions, side effects & toxicity, contraindications & warnings, a pharmaceutical comment from the authors, and references. The monograph sections on pharmacological actions summarize both animal and human studies. In addition to the 141 monographs on individual medicinal plants, the book has a number of quick reference tables, e.g. potential drug/herb interactions, listings of ingredients by their primary activity, e.g. cardioactive, laxative, diuretic, hypotensive, hypertensive, anticoagulant (etc.), and listing of ingredients by constituents, e.g. coumarins, flavonoids, saponins (etc.). The book begins with a list of potential adverse effects of the herbal ingredients listed in the monographs and another list of herbal ingredients that is is best to avoid or use with caution during pregnancy. The book is well-referenced throughout, including a listing of general references at the beginning of the book.