OBJECTIVE Limitations in the conventional medical management of osteoarthritis indicate a real need for safe and effective treatment of osteoarthritis patients. Herbal medicines may provide a solution to this problem. The aim of this article was to review systematically all randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of herbal medicines in the treatment of osteoarthritis. METHODS Comput...

In the recent days, most of the prevailing diseases and nutritional disorders are treated with natural medicines. The effectiveness of any herbal medication is dependent on the delivery of effective level of the therapeutically active compound. But a severe limitation exists in their bioavailability when administered orally or by topical applications. Phytosomes are recently introduced herbal f...

Herbal tea is essentially an herbal mixture made from leaves, seeds and/ or roots of various plants. As per popular misconception, they are not derived from the usual tea plants, but rather from what are called as ‘tisanes’. There are several kinds of tisanes (herbal teas) that have been used for their medicinal properties. Some of them being consumed for its energizing properties to help induc...

The hepatoprotective potential of a herbal mixture was evaluated against CCl4 induced liver injury in Swiss albino mice. Liv 52, a commercially available polyherbal hepatoprotective drug was evaluated for comparison. The potential toxicity of the above herbal hepatoprotective agents was also compared. It was observed that there was a reduction in the enzyme biomarkers (Aspartate and Alanine Tra...

OBJECTIVES This meta-analysis was conducted to examine the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine (either alone or with interferon alfa) in treating chronic hepatitis B. METHODS We searched the TCMLARS, AMED, CISCOM, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Collaboration databases and then hand-searched the articles' bibliographies. RESULTS Chinese herbal medicine significantly increased seroreversi...

BACKGROUND Despite the popularity of naturopathic and herbal medicine in New Zealand there remains limited data on New Zealand-based naturopathic and herbal medicine practice. In response, this paper reports findings from the first national survey examining the characteristics, perceptions and experiences of New Zealand-based naturopaths and herbal medicine practitioners across multiple domains...

BACKGROUND The use of herbal supplements in the United States has become increasingly popular. The prevalence of herbal use among primary care patients varies in previous studies; the pattern of herbal use among urban racially/ethnically diverse primary care patients has not been widely studied. The primary objectives of this study were to describe the use of herbs by ethnically diverse primary...

THERE IS ENORMOUS PUBLIC ENthusiasm for herbal medications. Two recent surveys have found widespread use among the presurgical population. Morbidity and mortality associated with herbal medications may be more likely in the perioperative period because of the polypharmacy and physiological alterations that occur. Such complications include myocardial infarction, stroke, bleeding, inadequate ora...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to assess pharmacists' current practice, perception and knowledge towards the use of herbal products in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study assessed the need for incorporating herbal medicine as a separate topic in under- graduate pharmacy student curricula. METHODS The study was done on 600 pharmacists employed in Abu Dhabi, who were contac...

BACKGROUND Traditional Chinese herbal medicines have been used for a long time to treat diabetes, and many controlled trials have been done to investigate their efficacy. OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of Chinese herbal medicines in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the following electronic databases: The Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), the Chinese BioMedical...