Medicinal Herbs - Use With Caution

If you are like more than a third of Americans, you use herbal medicines to improve or maintain your health. In an article in The Archives of Family Medicine, the authors wrote that patients are increasingly seeking advice about from their doctors about herbal products.

But until the last few years, doctors and patients have found it difficult to get reliable information about the safety and effectiveness of medicinal herbs. Now things are changing, as doctors, medical schools and even the government are evaluating the pros and cons of individual herbs.

Consumer Beware

Meanwhile, consumers are left to their own devices to figure out which herbs to take and how to use them. Although herbs are often used as homeopathy medicine, they are not regulated as drugs by the Food and Drug Administration.

That means if you want to use medicinal herbs, you should do your homework, and it does take some effort. It may be worth it, though, if you find an herbal treatment that is as effective as pharmaceuticals, but has far fewer side effects. Here are a few general guidelines for using medicinal herbs:

* Talk with your doctor about what you are using, especially if you are also taking conventional drugs for any condition.
* Buy products from reputable sources. Look for herbal products that say "standardized" on the label.
* Read up on the herb you plan to use. You may have to go to the library or a medical library. There are also many online sources of information. Do not take the word of someone who says "studies show" without seeing the evidence for yourself. Also, be careful about information from commercial sources that are selling the product you are researching.
* Check out the credentials and expertise of the practitioner who is advising you.
* Be cautious about how much you use. Follow the label instructions or your practitioner's advice. Remember, just because something is "natural" does not mean it is safe.
* Familiarize yourself with possible side effects. If those or anything else unusual occurs, stop taking the herb and call your doctor or herbal practitioner.
* Make sure you are not allergic to a plant in the same family as the herb you are taking.
* If you are pregnant, be as cautious about taking herbs as you are about taking any medications.

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