Are herbal drugs totally devoid of adverse effects when used alone, as herbal formulations, or in concurrent use with modern medicines? Safety Concerns for Herbal Drugs examines that question and others like it to give you the information you need to judge for yourself the balance between the risks and benefits associated with the therapeutic use of medicinal plants. It stands out from other books by directing your attention to the aspects of safety and toxicity.
The authors venture into the relatively unexplored (or deliberately hidden) side of the picture. They present a survey of approximately 1500 medicinal plants and herbal products, 59 global (from 27 countries) and 75 Indian examples of toxic and adverse effects and drug interactions. Additionally, they present the current status of regulatory laws and their enforcement in 73 countries to support their contention that such laws and enforcement are inadequate, and that herbal drugs are unscientifically being promoted as totally safe.
To give you the full picture, the authors go on to examine such issues as danger from large-scale misuse and abuse, self-prescription, substitution, adulteration, concurrent use with modern medicines, hazardous but avoidable drug interactions, risk groups, and present status of drug regulations.
Introduction
Herbal Drugs: Wide Usage and Popularity
Causes for Alienation from Modern Medicine
Questions and Aims of the Study
Toxicity and Adverse Effects of Herbal Drugs
Introduction
Incidence
Classification and Factors Affecting Herbal Toxicity
Risk Groups
Global Picture
The Indian Scene
Introduction
Single Plants
Formulations
Regulatory Aspects
Introduction
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Benin
Bhutan
Botswana
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Bulgaria
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
China
Comoros
Congo
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ethiopia
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guinea
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Japan
Kenya
Korea
Maldives
Mali
Mauritius
Myanmar
Nepal
Netherlands
Nigeria
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Thailand
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United Republic of Tanzania
United States
Uzbekistan
Zambia
Critical Appraisal of the Available Data
Biography
Dr. Divya Vohora, M.Pharm., Ph.D., is a professor of pharmacology and in charge of the pharmaceutical medicine program for the Faculty of Pharmacy, Jamia Hamdard at New Delhi, India. She also is the assistant dean of Students’ Welfare. She has more than 17 years of teaching and research experience and has published 90 publications (including 2 books, 5 book chapters, 21 reviews, and 62 research papers) in reputed national and international journals with more than 700 citations. Her major areas of interest are central nervous system (CNS) pharmacology (with an emphasis on epilepsy, neurodegenerative disorders, and cognitive functions), osteoporosis, histamine, and clinical pharmacology.
Shashi B. Vohora, M.V.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc., retired as a professor and head of the Department of Medical Elementology and Toxicology, Hamdard University, New Delhi. Earlier, he worked for the Indian Council of Medical Research at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi; and later for the Institute of History of Medicine and Medical Research, New Delhi. He was an honorary project officer in the Drug Standardization Research Unit of the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine at New Delhi. He has over 30 years of teaching, research, and editing experience with more than 200 research publications, including 18 books.
"Professors Divya Vohora and S.B. Vohora deserve our thanks for bringing out this very useful and informative book which will undoubtedly help in the rational use of herbal products."
—Prof. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, National Professor of Pharmacology; Advisor, Dept. of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi, from the Foreword
