Herbs combinations

Although health care practitioners may intervene and help patients avoid harmful drug-herb combinations, patients may not inform their health care providers (physicians, pharmacists, and nurses), voluntarily or following inquisition, about their use of unconventional therapies. 

Relatively few reports have examined the benefits or perils of herb combinations. Because the activity of a particular herb in a mixture might differ from its activity as a single component, it would be prudent to test the effects of prescribed formulas. The potential for herbal formulae to affect the immune system are increasingly being found in the use of Kampo (Japanese herbal) medicinals as described in an excellent review by Borchers and colleagues. [94], For example, Shosaiko-to is a seven-herb mixture that has been shown to protect patients from viral hepatitis via modulation of several cytokines such as IFN-a/p, G-CSF, and TNF-a. Animal studies have been conducted to evaluate the immunomodulatory effects of the various herbs in Shosaiko-to. Interestingly, four of its individual constituents induced several-fold higher levels of TNF-a when... 

Despite neuropharmacolgical and animal data to support sedative and anxiolytic effects of passionflower, there have not been any such controlled studies in humans. Two studies have been published that examined the effects of combined herbal extracts on anxiety, including passionflower (Bourin et al. 1997). Although there were significant and experimentally controlled effects, a combined herbal treatment confounds the ability to selectively identify the effects of passionflower. A second controlled study was similarly confounded by the use of a three-herb combination (Gerhard et al. 1991). 

Holt SMD, Linda C. (1998) Miracle Herbs How Herbs Combine with Modern Medicine to Treat Cancer, Heart Disease, AIDS and More, Caro Publishing Group. 

Chinese hamster ovary cells overexpressing the prolactin receptor, was active . Protein synthesis stimulation. Sterol fraction of the extract, in cell culture at a concentration of 25 (xg/mL, produced weak activity on CA-LNCAP. A concentration of 50 (xg/mL was active on CA-PC3 h PSA production inhibition. Ethanol (70%) extract of PC-SPES (a Chinese herb combination of chrysanthemum, dyers woad, licorice, reishi, san-qi ginseng, rabdosia, saw palmetto, and baikal skullcap), in cultured prostate cancer cell line at variable doses for 24 hours, produced a significant effect in supressing cell growth in all the cell lines h... 

In particular, this formula suggests the herb combinations for eliminating pus from the Lung. 

It was with great pleasure that I read the first book of Yifan Yang in 2002. This was Chinese Herbal Medicines Comparisons and Characteristics. What was so refreshing about Comparisons and Characteristics was the clear and detailed description of the functions of the different temperature and taste properties, so that the reader understood why different herbs have different actions. The author then developed this into the excellent contrasts of similar herbs based on differences in temperature, taste, and action. This is vital to the clinical practice of herbal medicine. If the practitioner does not understand the detailed differences between herbs, then they cannot make effective herb combinations. 

Chinese Herbal Formulas Treatment Principles and Composition Strategies carries on this good work and greatly enlarges upon it. To make safe and effective herb combinations, the practitioner must understand the structure of herbal formulas and the principles underlying their construction. 

We can say that herb combinations are made up of working units single herbs, herb pairs and herb trios. For each of the main syndrome groups, whether Exterior Wind syndromes or Deficiency syndromes, Yifan Yang discusses the main herb pairs, herb trios, and single herbs that are the foundation for herb formulas to treat that syndrome. 

The law of analogy should always be observed, therefore the season, day, purpose for which the herb is required, and the astrological associations to the herb, combined with the current planetary movements, must all be taken into consideration before harvesting. Along with these points the day must be fine and clear, and the harvester purified in mind and body. Meditational exercises and a purification bath would... 

Wound dressings have been used since the dawn of time. Dressings have progressed from herbs combined with leaves or rags used by primitive man to a complex product involving synthesized polymeric materials compounded with an engineered multi-layer textile structure. 

The term pasaon flower is used to denote many of the approximately 400 species of the herb. F saon flower has been used in medicine to treat pain, anxiety, and insomnia. Some herbalists use the herb to treat symptoms of parkinsonism. F saon flower is often used in combination with other herbs , such a valerian, chamomile, and hops, for promoting relaxation, rest and sleep. Although no adverse reactions have been reported, large doses may cause CNS depression. The use of passion flower is contraindicated in pregnancy and in patientstaking the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Fission flower contains coumarin, and the risk of bleeding may be increased when used in patientstaking warfarin and pasaon flower. 

Although there is a common belief that natural herbs do no harm, emergent cases reported that renal failure was associated with chronic use of certain herbal preparations. Another important issue is the interaction between herbs and Western medication. There is a tendency, from that assumption, to neglect the possible side effects induced by the combination of both medications. Drug-drug interactions are listed in the following examples. 

Zhu, W. 8c Huang, X. (2004). Pharmacokinetic changes in the combination of herb medicine and western medicine. China Pharmacy, 15(6), 377-9. 

Elder by itself is pleasant-tasting and even children enjoy drinking it, but it is often combined with other herbs. 

When nano LC is combined with mass spectrometer detection, attamole detection can be achieved for low abundance components in biological fluids, drug metabolites, and natural products such as Chinese herb medicines. Nano LC-MS-MS has become an essential tool for complex biological and drug metabolite studies. Nano LC-MS presents two significant differences from conventional analytical HPLC (1) large enhancement factor for sample detection and (2) direct interface to MS without flow splitting. The enhancement in MS ion counts relative to a conventional 4.6 mm ID column is proportional to the ratio of the square of the column diameter ... 

Conversely, active constituents may have cooperative effects and together act in an additive or synergistic (supra-additive) manner. In such cases, it would be better to consume the whole plant or extract, because the combination of constituents would give a greater effect than one alone. Thus, to blindly advocate either the use of whole herb or refined single constituents is naive. To fully know what is best for the desired effect, herbs must be considered on a case-by-case basis and the nature of the interactions between the chemical constituents must be carefully considered. Not only must we understand what the plant s chemical constituents do, we must also investigate how they interact. The Use of Herbal Medicine The Current Prevalence of Alternative Medicine... 

While promising, the use of multiple herbs in studies makes their results of limited generalizability. However, studies such as the one by Petkov and colleagues (1993), which examine both the individual and combined effects, have conscientiously avoided this methodological problem. 

Like many psychotropic herbs, Kava seems to create its effects by a combination of effects that are mediated by severai of its constituents. To date, at least four mechanisms have been identified that appear to mediate the effects of kava. 

There have been no formal studies of the toxicity of passionflower, but adverse effects have not been reported. There is one report of a case of inflammatory vasculitis associated with a preparation of passionflower (Smith et al. 1993). Like other herbs in this category, its putative benzodiazepine action contraindicates its combined use with other CNS depressants. 

Some families and physicians may choose to use several brain protecting medications. We advise caution here. Medications, even over-the-counter herbs like ginkgo biloba, have side effects, and combining multiple medications (although sometimes necessary) increases the risk of delirium and other medical complications in these often-fragile patients. 

The term valence, of which ambivalence is not merely a variation, but a decidedly new and separate concept, derives from chemistry and atomic physics. Valence can refer to an extract or tincture, usually from an herb. In this connotation, it has obvious ties with the field of medical alchemy, or iatrochemistry. In the mid-i8oos, valence theory began to be used to signify the normal number of bonds that a given atom can form with other atoms—a register that links valence with philosophical materialism, matter, and Epicurianism. In recent scientific work, valence refers specifically to the number of electrons in the outermost shell of atoms. It is not provisional or occasional in its relation to the atom. Valence is atomicity. It defines a given chemical element, perhaps not in its essence, but in its capacity to combine with other elements—its potentiality. Valence is denoted by a simple number, and elements are said to be monovalent, bivalent, trivalent, quadrivalent, and so on. About one-fifth of all elements have a fixed valence (sodium is always i, or monovalent calcium is always 2, or bivalent and so on). Many elements have valences that are variable, depending on the other elements with which they are combined. 

Interactions between drugs were first recognised over 100 years ago. A drug interaction is said to occur when the response of a patient to a drug is changed by the presence of another drug, food, drink, herb or by some environmental chemical agent. The net effect of the combination may be ... 

The purple coneflower Echinacea purpura, and its close relatives, E. angustifolia and E. pallida, are the source of the herb Echinacea, which is widely popular as a nonspecific immune stimulant. These perennials are native to the prairies of North America and are now widely grown garden ornamentals. The root and aerial parts of the plant are the portions used, and the preparation s potency can be verified by the transient tingling sensation produced when it is tasted. Echinacea contains alkamides, caffeic acid esters (echinacoside, cichoric acid, caftaric acid), polysaccharides (heteroxylan), and an essential oil. Some echinacea products are standardized for their echinacoside content. In the past, adulteration with American feverfew (Parthenium integri-folium) was common. Echinacea is now sold either by itself or in combination with golden seal or zinc for the treatment of colds and influenza. 

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