Traditional Herbal Medicines – A Guide To Their Safer Use

This new book shows how to use herbs safely with other herbs and with conventional medicines. Britons are increasingly turning first to complementary remedies such as herbal medicines, when it comes to choosing a healthcare treatment.

The latest figures from industry analysts Mintel show:

- In 2007 alone, British consumers will invest £191 million in complementary medicines – a 32% increase in sales since 2002

- By 2011 complementary healthcare sales will break the £250 million barrier

- 49% of British women and almost three in 10 (28%) men have used complementary medication and would use it again.

- Herbal remedies, such as green tea varieties and echinacea, have proved the most popular. Not only do they account for almost two-thirds (63%) of the market, but sales here have also grown the fastest since 2002. Indeed, this year we will spend almost £120 million on herbal remedies, nearly 40% more than five years ago.

With a growing number of people buying and using herbal medicines, there’s never been a better time for a comprehensive guide that tells you how to use them safely, particularly in conjunction with conventional medicines. Traditional Herbal Medicines – a guide to their safer use is written by experts at the Medical Toxicology Unit of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

According to the latest Mintel report, spend on herbal remedies has increased by 40% over the past five years. Many experts, however, are worried that the average man on the street is self-prescribing over-the-counter herbal medicines without knowing enough about the herbs they’re taking, some of which may be harmful if taken incorrectly.

One of the book’s co-authors Dr Lakshman Karalliedde MB BS DA FRCA, consultant, Chemical Hazards and Poisons Division (London), Health Protection Agency, says: “One of the key reasons for the increased use of traditional herbal medicines in developed countries is the generally accepted perception that ‘natural’ products are safe. They have stood the test of time and do not carry the risks inherent in newly developed conventional medicines.

“There’s not enough awareness that the ingredients that make traditional medicines effective could also be potentially capable of causing serious illness such as allergy, liver or kidney malfunction, blindness, cancer or even death.

“Herbal medicines should therefore be used with the same degree of caution as conventional medicines, but this is difficult given the lack of information available about effectiveness, optimum dose or adverse effects.”

The problem is that while the toxic profiles of conventional medicines have been extensively documented and publicised, the harmful effects of herbal medicines – either taken on their own or in combination with conventional medicines – aren’t well enough known. According to a National Institute of Medical Herbalists survey, 96% of qualified medical herbalists believed that conventional doctors do not know enough about herbs to give their patients advice. And if GPs are relatively in the dark, what hope is there for members of the general public?

It was with this in mind – and the growing, urgent need for more information to be made available to the public – that a group of toxicology experts got together to co-author Traditional Herbal Medicines – namely Dr Lakshman Karalliedde, who spent 10 years at the MTU and is now a toxicologist with the Chemical Hazards and Poisons Division of the Health Protection Agency; Debbie Shaw, who heads the MTU’s Chinese Medicine Advisory Service; and Indika Gawarammana, former registrar at the MTU. They have combined their significant knowledge of traditional medicines to produce a comprehensive herbal compendium covering traditional herbal remedies from around the world, describing their sources, known effects and side effects, dosages, interactions and – most importantly – precautions. It’s a must for anyone involved in prescribing either conventional or traditional herbal medicines – as well as the growing number of people who are taking them.