Medicinal plants and rational herbal therapy

ABSTRACT

Continuing education programmes in botanical medicine for the conventional healthcare professionals have become important since the 1990's. The literature on evidence-based herbal therapy has been growing. But getting reliable data about Caribbean herbs in particular remains a difficult matter. Every herbal extract (phytomedicine) is a complex mixture of different chemical constitutents. Each herbal product must be evaluated on its own merits for safety and efficacy for the benefit of public health. Some herbs are hazardous to health. Others may be harmless placebos which result in good theraputic responses for the patients. But the continuing consumer demand for herbal medicines has increased the likelihood of adverse herb-drug interactions being reported in the literature. The range of herbal medicinal products available to the public is expanding rapidly, and the modern healthcare professionals need to update their knowledge about herbal remedies so as to give good counsel to their patients (AU)