Herbal agents

The use of herbs has also been fueled by the increased awareness of clinical depression and its treatment as a result of the marketing efforts of major pharmaceutical companies. That effort has transformed prescription antidepressants into one of the largest dollar sales category in pharmaceuticals such that the sales for a block buster antidepressant can be more than 2 billion dollars per year. Not surprisingly, then, herbal remedies or phytomedicine has also become a multibillion dollar industry in the United States with an estimated one in ten Americans having used herbal agents within the past year, with or without their physician s knowledge. 

Stimulant drugs commonly abused in the USA include methamphetamine ("crank," "crystal"), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy"), and cocaine ("crack") as well as pharmaceuticals such as pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) and ephedrine (as such and in the herbal agent Ma-huang) (see Chapter 32). Caffeine is often added to dietary supplements sold as "metabolic enhancers" or "fat-burners" and is also sometimes combined with pseudoephedrine in underground pills sold as amphetamine substitutes. 

Chen, C. Q., T. X. Lu, and H. Q. Min. 1996. Prospective study of radiosensitizing activity of three Chinese herbal agents in combination in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Zhongguo Zhongliu Linchuang 23 483-485. 

Herbal drugs have many unknown and undocumented risks, side effects, and drug interactions. Like contemporary, rigorously tested pharmaceuticals, herbal medicines have some risk associated with their consumption. The fact that a plant is completely natural does not necessarily make that plant entirely risk-free. Several plants, when consumed in their most natural form, can cause grave illness or even death to humans and animals. A partial list of some of these natural herbal agents with the potential to harm is listed in Table 2. Herbalists, scientists, and the general public routinely avoid many of the plants listed in Table 2 because of their impending risks. However, hundreds of additional herbs and alternative medicines... 

Conover, E. 2003. Herbal agents and over-the-counter medications in pregnancy. Best Bract. Res. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 17, 237-251. 

Conover, E. and Buehler, B. 2004. Use of herbal agents by breastfeeding women may affect infants. Pediatr. Ann. 33. 

The treatment of depression with herbal agents or nutriceu-ticals remains controversial. Studies evaluating the efficacy of therapies such as St. John s wort have been conflicting. In addition, concerns regarding the safety and integrity of the products have been raised. 

Herbal supplements also have been used to induce labor. The most commonly mentioned agents are evening primrose oil, black haw, black and blue cohosh, and red raspberry leaves. Midwives have been the most common group of clinicians using these agents. Currently, there is no evidence to support the safety and efficacy of herbal agents. ... 

Another application of liposomes is in the cosmetics industry. Liposomes can be formed that encapsulate a vitamin, herbal agent, or other nutritional element. When applied to the skin, the liposomes pass easily through the outer layer of dead skin, delivering their contents to the living skin cells beneath. As with the pharmaceutical liposomes, these liposomes, sometimes called cosmeceuticals, fuse with skin cells. Thus, they directly deliver the beneficial cosmetic agent directly to the cells that can benefit the most. 

The history of anaesthesia reportedly stretches back to ancient times and through the medieval period. It is documented that as far back as 1500 bc opium-based preparations were in use for anaesthetic purposes. In the Middle Ages the use of the Spongia somnifera was reported. This was a sponge, soaked with a mixture of herbal agents (poppy, henbane, mandrake), and was allowed to dry and then, when the operation was due to commence, the sponge was placed over the nose of the patient and treated with hot water. The infusion produced the anaesthesia. Alcohol was also commonly used to produce a state of anaesthesia in historical times. 

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