Herbal Supplements: Efficacy, Toxicity, Interactions with Western Drugs, and Effects on Clinical Laboratory Tests
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An evenhanded study of pharmacological interactions between Western drugs and herbal supplements
Today, a significant percentage of Americans turn to complementary and alternative medicine practices. Despite their popularity and wide use, these products do not undergo the same pre-market testing for safety and efficacy that is required of pharmaceuticals. In Herbal Supplements: Efficacy, Toxicity, Interactions with Western Drugs, and Effects on Clinical Laboratory Tests, editors Amitava Dasgupta and Catherine Hammett-Stabler present a comprehensive introduction to both safe and unsafe herbal supplements. The book emphasizes the pharmacological interactions identified between Western drugs and herbal supplements, and the effects of herbal supplements on clinical laboratory tests.
Herbal Supplements provides a guide to the interpretation of abnormal test results in otherwise healthy subjects due to use of herbal remedies. Focusing on interactions between herbals and pharmaceuticals, sources of contamination in herbal supplements, and analytical techniques used in the investigation of herbal remedies, the book details:
- Pharmacological interactions between Western drugs and herbal supplements
- Effects of herbal supplements on clinical laboratory tests
- Key interactions between herbal supplements and various pharmaceutical drugs
- Medicinal plants and toxic effects
- Contamination of herbal supplements from metals, pharmaceuticals, and plant poisoning
- Analytical techniques, including immunoassays, used in the investigation of herbal remedies
Unbiased and literature-based, this text offers toxicologists, clinical chemists, analysts, and pharmacologists a no-nonsense take on the efficacy, toxicity, and drug interactions of herbal supplements and medicines.
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AMITAVA DASGUPTA is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and the director of clinical chemistry, toxicology, and point of care testing at the Memorial Hermann Hospital, the main teaching hospital of the medical school. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry and a prolific author and editor.
CATHERINE A. HAMMETT-STABLER is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the Director of the Core Laboratory of the McLendon Clinical Laboratories, UNC Health Care. Dr. Hammett-Stabler has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and books.
