Herbalism

http://annemcintyre.com/books/

Medline Plus--Section on alternative medicnie database...screened by antional instittude of alternative medicie...ABC ratigs of effectiveness, etc.

Micromedex: database...from clinical homepage....button for micromedex...alternative medicine database.

U of Maryland 

intellihealth.com 

Resources and Suggestions for Finding More Information about Herbs

1.	Examine several computer search engines
including Medline, CINAHL, Intl Pharmaceutical Abstracts, PsycINFO and EMB reviews.

To get to these databases go to:

Taubman Medical Library: http://www.lib.umich.edu/taubman/

Either directly click on UM-Medsearch or PubMed or go to Health Sciences Databases by Subject: http://www.lib.umich.edu/taubman/eres/data/

SCROLL DOWN to various search engines under the headings of Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, Public Health and Complementary and Alternative Medicine and click GUIDE: http://www.lib.umich.edu/taubman/eres/data/about/aboutcam.html

CAM on Pubmed – good place to quickly look for Evidence; always try scientific name (Latin binomial) as well as common name Facts and Comparisons = Efacts EMBASE – often has articles not references on Pubmed or Medline; use scientific name Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database – good for synopsis of known information; especially good for mechanism of action and interactions; also can search for ingredients by product name. Natural Databse also has created some useful files of useful herbs by symptom and overviews of management of selected common health conditions. Natural Standard – very clear methods for synthesizing data and lots of herbs/natural products covered.

2. Try to familiarize yourself with at least one traditional herbal book.
This will help you to understand the traditional usage of herbs and give you a better understanding of why people use herbal medicines. Some examples of books that are readily available at local libraries, bookstores and online include:

•	The New Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman, •	Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar •	Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health, and Vitality by Rosemary Gladstar •	A Modern Herbal (Volume 1, A-H) by Margaret Grieve •	The Male Herbal: Health Care for Men and Boys by James Green •	Healing Wise (Wise Woman Herbal Series) (Wise Woman Herbal Series) by Susun S. Weed

3. Resources online include:
www.google.com – you know this one; great place to search on the product to see to whom and why it is being sold. It also now has a scholars section, which can be used to look for academic articles about herbs.

www.consumerlab.com – look here for specific products that have been tested and met ConsumerLab’s criteria; can get membership for nominal fee, but also can see those that have passed without that; limitation is number of products tested so far, but growing all the time. Consumer Lab also has some nice monographs on selected herbs and dietary supplements.

www.nsf.org – also does independent testing but limited number of products at this time; click on ‘Consumer’ tab on home page, then ‘Dietary Supplements’ on sidebar to get to the search page http://www.nsf.org/certified/dietary/

4. Resource on your handheld
If you have Epocrates on your handheld, it also has herbal information and an herbal interaction checker; limitations are same as for pharmaceuticals – scant information but great on-the-fly in clinic.

5. Some books on drug/herb interactions
•	Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions Third Edition by Francis Brinker and Nancy Stodart •	The A-Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions: How to Improve Your Health and Avoid Problems When Using Common Medications and Natural Supplements Together by Steve Austin •	Botanical Safety Handbook by Michael McGuffin