Subject: LONG: FAQ for medicinal herbs - scientifically biased

From: [email-masked] (Hetta)
Date: 24 Mar 1995 16:07:27 GMT

(LONG) A scientific -biased FAQ for Medicinal Plants on AFH
Version: 1.00
Last updated: 24.3.1994

Editor: Henriette Kress ([email-masked])
Contributors so far:
  Ken Rice ([email-masked]),
  Larry London ([email-masked])
  Rob Bidleman ([email-masked])
  Camilla Cracchiolo ([email-masked])
  W.Fred Shaw ([email-masked])
  Billi Goldberg ([email-masked])

==========
CONTENTS
-----
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Frequently asked questions
  2.1 Valeriana/Valium
3.0 Wonder medicines of the month - don't take these seriously:
  3.1 Essiac and Kombucha
  3.2 The Ming Dynasty Web site
4.0 Good Printed Sources
  4.1 Good Books on Herbal Medicine for the beginner
  4.2 Good Books for further studies - for the scientifically minded
  4.3 Good Magazines
5.0 Other sources
  5.1 Napralert - commercial database
  5.2 Medline - commercial (?) database
  5.3 Good Shareware Herbprograms for DOS
  5.4 Good Shareware Herbprograms for Mac
6.0 Apprenticeships offered lately
7.0 Check these sites
  7.1 Medicinal Herb Archives at sunSITE.unc.edu
  7.2 Rob Bidleman's server
8.0 Mailing lists
  8.1 The Herblist
  8.2 The Aromatherapy list
  8.3 The Holistic list
  8.4 The Kombucha list
9.0 Related newsgroups
10.0 Standard Herb Disclaimer

==========
1.0 Introduction 
----- 
Hello folks, it's FAQ time.
Feel free to suggest additions. Only the good ones will be added...
Corrections and comments are welcome, also.

==========
2.0 Frequently asked questions
-----
Not too many, yet, that are easily answered, and come up every 2 months.
In fact only 1 that is disturbing enough to be in this FAQ. <G>

==========
2.1 Valeriana/Valium
-----
The best post to date on this subject was seen on AFH on 30 Apr 1994.
Sadly, I couldn't find this one in the archives, but luckily I'd saved
it way back when:
-----
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Sleep Problems:   HELP !!!
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>
From: [email-masked] (Ash (K.A. Rice))
Date: 30 Apr 1994 01:07:11 GMT

A couple of posters have said that Valium is derived from valerian. 

I'm pretty sure that Valium and the active principle of valerian are
totally unrelated chemically.  Valerian contains

       valeric acid  = propylacetic acid 

Valeric acid modulates GABA receptors and it is known to be a CNS
depressant. 

There is a synthetic CNS depressant, FDA-approved (U.S.) as an
anticonvulsant, which is derived from valerian.  It is

  valproic acid = 2-propylvaleric acid = di-n-propylacetic acid.

Like valeric acid, valproic acid modulates GABA.

Valium (diazepam) is a benzodiazepine, and neither of these compounds
look anything like a benzodiazepine.  (Diazepam is cyclic, and valeric
acid is not, e.g.)

All of the preceding can be verified from the Merck Index.
 
Another a.f.h.  subscriber in email cites a cyclic compound called
valtratum that is said to be an active component of valerian, and gives
as a reference _Farmakognosi_ by Gunnar Samuelsson, 1982. 

Of course this doesn't prove that valerian doesn't contain a valium
analogue, but it does show that a substituted valeric acid (which isn't
related chemically to benzodiazepines) is a CNS depressant, and that
valeric acid is sufficient to account for the sedative properties of
valerian. 

I would be genuinely pleased if someone could come up with a reference
which shows Valium to be derived from valerian, and which shows the
compound in valerian from which Valium is said to be derived. 

No one was able to do so last time this came up in a.f.h.

On a related etymological note, the amino acid valine, which takes its
name from valerian, is 2-aminovaleric acid. 

Peace,
Ash
-- 
 | Ash |  K.A.Rice | [email-masked] | [email-masked]    |
                   | [email-masked] | [email-masked] |

==========
3.0 Wonder medicines of the month
-----
If you wish for a shorter FAQ here is your chance: get these wonder
medicines off AFH. Any new wonder medicine will be added to this part
of the FAQ as soon as it is recognized as such.

==========
3.1 Essiac and Kombucha
-----
As this is the SCIENTIFICALLY biased FAQ for AFH I wish to include the
following post on this topic:
-----
From: Billi Goldberg <[email-masked]>
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: More on Herbs
Date: 8 Dec 1994 14:57:17 -0600
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

Poison by Prescription: Essiac and Kombucha for HIV 
Disease by W. Fred Shaw, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac 

Many herbal therapies have been promoted in the past few years as the
cure du jour for HIV disease.  Unfortunately, the promotion of these
formulas has been based purely on anecdotal "evidence".  In fact, there
is no scientific evidence supporting the usefulness of any herbal
therapy for HIV disease.  There are a number of organizations and
individuals that promote and sell herbal therapies, often at a high cost
to the HIV+ community.  The cost may not just be financial, since many
herbs can further compromise the immune system and accelerate disease
progression.  This is the case with the Kombucha mushroom and the
formula Essiac. 

An examination of the Kombucha mushroom and the Essiac formula reveals
scientific and medical facts that are extremely important for HIV+
persons that use, or are thinking of using, herbal formulas.  This
includes the expected outcome and hazards of using herbs for a long
time, or for the rest of one's life, as is the usual recommendation for
persons with HIV. 

The Kombucha "mushroom" has been promoted as a panacea for such things
as rheumatism, gout, hemorrhoids, intestinal disorders, aging, hair
loss, gray hair and cancer.  The latest spin on Kombucha is that it is
"antiviral" and can "reverse the symptoms of AIDS".  The instructional
literature distributed with this "mushroom" says to place it in a glass
bowl in the closet, together with water, tea and sugar, and cover with a
cloth.  The culture is left to grow for one week, at which time the
sugar-tea water from the bowl in which the Kombucha grew is strained off
and refrigerated, to be drunk on a daily basis for the following week. 
The Kombucha grows a "baby" during its week in the closet, which can be
given to someone else, thrown away or kept for the next weekly culture. 
Since the culture doubles itself every week, it is not difficult to find
free sources.  However, Laurel Farms of Los Angeles will sell a culture
for fifty dollars and claims that cultures will be sent free to persons
with AIDS. 

The truth about this "mushroom" is that it is not a mushroom at all - it
is a fungal infusion that includes a mixture of yeast, bacteria, and
sadly, a lot of hype.  As with other herbal therapies, the stories of
miraculous recoveries and cures have not been scientifically verified. 
Promoters of these therapies often demonize and blame the FDA or the
government as the reason for their inability to conduct scientific
research. 

Kombucha is very risky therapy in HIV disease.  Paul Stamets, a
mycologist in Olympia, Washington offers three words of advice about
Kombucha: "don't drink it".  Stamets points to the contamination of
Kombucha cultures grown in closets - particularly from a mold known as
Aspergillus, some types of which are known to be poisonous or
carcinogenic.  Aspergillosis is an opportunistic disease seen in HIV
patients that can be fatal and has been reported with increasing
frequency.  The invasion of this fungus in the lungs can be seen on
chest x-rays as focal infections or cavitation. 

The Kombucha yeast culture also appears to contain antibiotic substances
that may be toxic.  The long-term use of Kombucha by HIV+ patients has
the potential for developing resistant germs.  Further,
immune-suppressed persons should remember that the sugar and yeast in
the Kombucha drink may contribute to a friendly environment for
candidiasis. 

Essiac is an herbal formula that has enjoyed popularity in the HIV+
community.  While Essiac was originally promoted as an anti- cancer
therapy, the latest spin on this formula is that it stimulates the
immune system.  Supposedly acquired from an Indian medicine man in 1922
by Rene Caisse, this formula acquired her last name spelled backwards. 
The marketers of this formula, Essiac USA, claim that HIV patients using
it are reporting "increases in their T cells".  The product literature
states that Essiac "contains INULIN, a powerful immune system modulator
which attaches to white blood cells (T cells) and makes them work
better." A representative of Essiac USA, Bob Zendels, could not provide
more details regarding his claims, and admitted that there have been no
studies regarding the efficacy or safety of this formula.  Further,
inulin is a food starch, and there is no evidence that inulin makes
white blood cells "work better". 

One of the herbs in Essiac is rhubarb, which is one of the strongest
purgatives of traditional Chinese medicine.  Unfortunately, the use of
rhubarb in the disease process associated with HIV is contraindicated by
Chinese medicine.  Essiac USA claimed secrecy and would not reveal the
amount of rhubarb in Essiac.  In one recent case, an HIV+ patient lost
more than twenty (20) pounds due to diarrhea over a two month period. 
While thoroughly questioning the patient, he finally admitted that he
began taking Essiac two months earlier.  The patient was advised to stop
taking Essiac immediately.  Shortly after, the diarrhea stopped and the
patient began gaining weight. 

Biomedical research of rhubarb reveals that it contains an anthranoid
laxative (also found in aloe, cascara and frangula) substances which may
play a role in colorectal cancer.  The use of Essiac for a long time
appears to cause a dark greenish or black discoloration on the surface
of the abdominal viscera, known as pseudomelanosis coli.  Given the
association between immunodeficiency and different types of cancer, the
chronic use of Essiac may increase the chances of colorectal cancer. 

Another Essiac herb is sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella).  Biomedical
research on various Rumex species reveals cases of acute oxalate
poisoning.  One fatality reported in the literature involving the
ingestion of Rumex crispus, with the pathological findings of
"centrolobular hepatic necrosis and birefringement crystals in the liver
and kidneys." Another Essiac herb is burdock root, Arctium lappa. 
Recent studies of extracts from this plant found that it had no effect
on in vitro cultures of HIV-1. 

In conclusion, HIV+ persons should never use any herbal formula on a
continuous basis.  Instead, herbs may be used for short periods of time
and for well-defined conditions that may arise during the course of HIV
disease.  In the state of California, only acupuncturists are licensed
to prescribe herbal substances.  Although herbs are readily available,
get advice from an acupuncturist that is familiar with treating HIV
disease.  Finally, be suspicious of the promotional hype surrounding all
herbal claims for HIV disease.  Be wary of secret ingredients, research
from foreign countries, claims of Native American origins, newly
discovered plant species, names spelled backwards and psychic visions
that result in herbal prescriptions.  All of these claims are commonly
used to bolster herbal therapies for HIV disease. 

W.  Fred Shaw, L.Ac, Dipl.Ac., is a licensed acupuncturist and
herbologist in San Diego.  Shaw has a Master's degree in Traditional
Oriental Medicine, a B.S.  in Biology and an M.S.  in Computer Science
and is engaged in the research of alternative treatments for immune
disorders.  Shaw can be reached at P.O.  Box 34047, San Diego, Ca. 
92163 or at [email-masked]. 

==========
3.2 The Ming Dynasty website
-----
I strongly object to being objected to Ming Dynasty web addresses every 
day of the week. Also, opinions of people who have visited the site have 
been negative. If you don't buy anything we'll be rid of this one soon
enough.

==========
4.0 Good Printed Sources

==========
4.1 Good Books on Herbs and Herbal Medicine
-----
The list so far:

1) Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West.
   Michael Moore, 1993, Red Crane Books, 826 Camino de Monte Rey, Santa
   Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA.
   ISBN 1-878610-31-7 (paperbound); listprice USD 19.95.

2) Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West.
   Michael Moore, 1989, The Museum of New Mexico Press, P.O.Box 2087,
   Santa Fe, New Mexico 87503, USA. They do not accept VISA.
   ISBN 0-89013-182-1 (paperback); listprice USD 11.95.

If you think I'm biased towards Michael Moore you're right.  His books
on herbal medicine are the best I've seen to date, and they're fun to
read, too. 

3) The Herb Book.
   John Lust. Anyone know the details? (I don't have it, yet.)

4) A Modern Herbal, in two volumes. (Yes, you need them both.) 
   Maud Grieve, 1931, reprinted in 1971, Dover Publications, Inc., 180
   Varick Street, New York, N.Y. 10014, USA.
   ISBN 0-486-22798-7 (I), 0-486-22799-5 (II), listprice USD 9.95 each.

5) The Honest Herbal.
   Varro Tyler, 1993, Pharmaceutical Products Press, an imprint of The
   Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA.
   ISBN 1-56024-287-6 (paperback).

6) The Complete Book of Herbs.
   Lesley Bremness, 1988, Viking Studio Books, Penguin Books Ltd., 
   27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England.
   ISBN 0-670-81894-1.

7) Herbal Emissaries - bringing Chinese Herbs to the West.
   Steven Foster, Yue Chongxi; 1992, Healing Arts Press, One Park Street, 
   Rochester, Vermont 05767.
   ISBN 0-89281-349-0 (paperback). Listprice USD 16.95.

8) Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine.
   Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno; 19xx, Prima Publishing, P.O. Box
   1260MP, Rocklin, California 95677.
   ISBN ....  Listprice USD 18.95.

9) CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs.
   James A.Duke; 1985, .....
   ISBN ....  Probably expensive.
   This book has proper scientific citations. (anyone know the details?)

10)Herbal Remedies: Harmful and beneficial effects.
   S.Talalaj and A.S.Czechowicz, 19xx, Hill of Content Publishing Pty Ltd,
   86 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3000, Australia.
   ISBN ....

==========
4.2 Good Books for further studies (for the scientifically minded)
-----
So now you feel you've read enough books, but you're still glassy-eyed
from reading the 'constituents' -part of the books - time to go shopping
for some heavier stuff:
-----
- Pharmacognosy, 9th edition. Varro Tyler.
- A basic chemistry textbook to help you understand what Tyler is talking
  about.
- A good biochemistry textbook. I have Stryer, 3.ed., so now even I 
  understand something about enzymes.
- The latest Merck Manual, which lists main illnesses plaguing mankind - 
  not for us hypochondriacs. You might need a medicinese - english 
  dictionary to understand it.
- The latest Merck Index, which lists medicines by their constituents; 
  meaning you can check which plant is used in which over-the-counter
  medicine for what illness.

(This is how I did it - read some books, got glassy-eyed, enrolled in a
pharmacognosy course, got more glassy-eyed, got some more books - way to
go...)

==========
4.3 Good Magazines
-----
The Herb Companion; not so much Medicinal Herb Uses as Herb Uses.
Interweave Press, Inc., 201 East Fourth Street, Loveland, CO 80537.
(303) 669-7672. ISSN 1040-581X. 6 issues a year, USD 24.00.

========== 
5.0 Other sources
==========
5.1 Napralert
-----
Will be added as soon as permission to post received.

==========
5.2 Medline - commercial (?) database
-----
This entry is based on the Medline FAQ by Gregory W. Froehlich, M.D.,
edited by [email-masked].

> I've been hearing a lot about "med-line".  What exactly is it, what
> is it used for, and can you access it via internet?

I'll quote from the National Library of Medicine:

"Thousands of new books and articles in biomedicine are published every
month.  How can a health professional or investigator easily locate
literature relevant to a particular area of patient care or research?

Since the early 1970's, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has made
searching the biomedical literature faster and easier by providing
online information retrieval on the MEDLARS, (MEDical Literature
Analysis and Retrieval System) family of databases.  MEDLINE - NLM's
premier database - has over 7 million citations to biomedical articles
and is searched more than eighteen thousand times a day.

The cheapest way to access Medline is to attend a school or
university with a medical library.  Many schools give free medline
access to students.  Some university medical libraries will provide
free Medline access to the public: this varies with the school and
the state in which it's located.  It's worth checking out.  A few
municipal public libraries also offer free access.

It's also possible to get a direct account and search Medline from
your home.  However, there is no free way to do this.

In order to make searching even easier and provide a user-friendly way
to use the MEDLARS system, NLM, in 1986, developed a software package
called Grateful Med.  The simplicity and efficiency of searching with
Grateful Med have made it immensely popular -more than 50,000 copies of
the software have been sold since its introduction." (You can also
access Medline through commerical services like PaperChase, etc- more
costly).

Step 1:  Get a user ID/password.  You can call the National Technical
Information Service at 1-800-423-9255 for info, or write to them at:

              NTIS
              5285 Port Royal Road
              Springfield, VA 22161

Or, you can be a cyberstud and get the application form 'userid.txt'
by anonymous ftp from nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov in the directory /online/medlars.

Step 2: Decide whether to use a front end (Grateful Med) or to learn
how to communicate directly with MEDLINE (HINT: pick door #1).
Download it from the same server above (check through the /grateful
directory for the files you need) or order it from NTIS (see Step 1, or
get the order form 'gmorder.txt' in the directory /online/medlars).
It's $30 or so the latter way.

Step 3: If you decide against using Grateful Med, you can access
MEDLINE through programs like Telnet at medlars.nlm.nih.gov.  You'll
need an ID/password.  You can also access MEDLINE through commercial
services such as PaperChase (Telnet to pch.bih.harvard.edu, enter
pch,signup when it asks for password)

$$$: NTIS charges for access; I seem to pay about a dollar a search.
Hourly charges work out to about $20/hour, but some searches, where
abstracts are retrieved can be more expensive.  Commercial services
like PaperChase (available on CompuServe) are also more expensive.

==========
5.3 Good Shareware Herbprograms for DOS
-----
Healing Powers of Herbs and Herb Power v. 2.0, by Klaus Hoferichter, found
by ftp at oak.oakland.edu (or mirrors) in /Simtel/msdos/food:
891879 Mar 15 18:00 herbp21.zip and 795135 Mar 10 18:19 hph2.zip

==========
5.4 Good Shareware Herbprograms for Mac
-----
Critical suggestions welcome - I don't have a Mac so I can't test them.

==========
6.0 Apprenticeships offered lately
-----
Howie Brounstein, Columbines and Wizardry Herbs, Inc.
<[email-masked]>
-----
Michael Moore, Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.
His offer is found by ftp at sunSITE.unc.edu, as outlined in 
(7.1) below. Look for SWSBM.School_Catalogue_ASCII; It's 12343 bytes,
so we won't include it here.

While you're there, get the .jpg -pictures.  And have a good look around
the other goodies that are offered on site. 

If you are not a beginner, get the Herbal Materia Medica, the Herbal
Repertory, the Herbal/Medical Dictionary, the Herbal-Medical
Contraindications, the Specific Indications, and the Herbal Tinctures,
as well. 

These are summaries of how to prepare and use plants you already
know in ways you already know. 

==========
7.0 Check these sites:
-----
Among the goodies you'll find the AFH archives.

==========
7.1 Medicinal Herb Archives at sunSITE.unc.edu
-----
WAIS (also available via telnet, follow login instructions)
World Wide Web (lynx available via telnet for vt100 users)
  URL for the herb archives is:
  gopher://sunsite.unc.edu/11/.pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/
Anonymous FTP
Ftpmail (Send e-mail to [email-masked] for helpfile on ftpmail usage)
Gopher:
Link-Info:
Name=Alternative Healthcare Information
Type=1
Port=70
Path=1/../.pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare
Host=calypso.oit.unc.edu
Go to these menus:
The Worlds of sunSITE
  browse sunSITE archives
    academic
      medicine
        alternative healthcare
          herbs

Anonymous ftp:
  ftp sunSITE.unc.edu
  Login: anonymous
  Password: (enter your Internet E-Mail ID)
  cd pub/academic
  cd pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare
  [Herb Research Foundation & Southwest School of Botanical Medicine are here]
  cd herbs

For more information contact:
  Lawrence F. London, Jr.
  [email-masked]

-----
HINT: the alt.folklore.herb archives have moved. You'll nowadays find them
under .../alternative-healthcare/herbs/discussion-groups/... ; so you can 
sharpen your ftp tools and dig in. (I hadn't been able to access afh-
archives for a while because I tried the old address.)  ;) 
-----
Contents of the Medicinal Herb Archives - partial list - 3/16/1995

drwxr-xr-x  2 rmccaleb      512 Mar 14 10:21 Herb-Research-Foundation
drwxr-xr-x 10 london        512 Feb  1 21:57
                                Southwest-School-of-Botanical-Medicine
drwxr-xr-x  3 london        512 Jan 10 22:17 herbal-medicine
-rw-r--r--  1 london     127549 Jan 22  1992 herbdata.zip
drwxr-xr-x 14 london        512 Feb  1 21:54 herbs
-rw-r--r--  1 london      75981 Jan 10  1993 herbs001.zip

Herb-Research-Foundation:      (not for ftp, but for www) (I tried it...)
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb    13803 Feb  8 11:00 Immunity_boosters
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb    12205 Feb  8 18:21 Travel-Herbs
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb     2516 Feb  8 17:54 Welcome-HRF-info
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb     1498 Feb 21 13:58 Welcome.html
-rw-r--r--  1 rmccaleb    81514 Feb  7 15:29 arctosta.jpg
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb    13479 Mar 14 10:21 globe.gif
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb      878 Feb 21 13:00 hib-sml.gif
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb     3574 Feb 21 13:01 hrfinfo.htm
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb     3574 Feb 21 13:27 hrfinfo.html
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb    18667 Oct 25 00:41 immune.rtf
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb     1530 Feb 21 13:13 join.htm
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb    18758 Feb 21 13:14 planet_2.gif
-rw-rw-r--  1 rmccaleb    17275 Oct 25 00:41 travel.rtf

Southwest-School-of-Botanical-Medicine:    Here are the files by M.Moore!
-rw-rw-r--  1 ftp         36596 Jan 24 04:33 HERBAL-MEDICAL.CONTRAINDICATIONS
-rw-r--r--  1 london        273 Jan  6 18:35 INDEX
-rw-r--r--  1 london     178287 Dec 22 11:44 Med_Herb_Glossary_1.1
drwxr-xr-x  7 london       2560 Jan  7 07:03 Medicinal-Plant-Images
-rw-r--r--  1 london        151 Jan  6 18:35 README
-rw-r--r--  1 london      12343 Dec 27 13:54 SWSBM.School_Catalogue_ASCII
drwxr-xr-x  3 london       3072 Jan  6 12:18 herb-pictures
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Dec 29 21:50 herbal-repertory
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Dec 29 21:50 herbal-tinctures
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Dec 29 21:50 herbal.materia-medica
drwxr-xr-x  6 london        512 Dec 29 21:50 mac
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Dec 29 21:50 specific-indications

herbs:
drwxr-xr-x  6 london        512 Jan  5 07:03 LYSATOR-ftpsite
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Nov 17 06:47 RFI
drwxr-xr-x  5 london        512 Dec 30 21:19 discussion-groups
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Nov  7 13:14 faqs
drwxr-xr-x  2 london       1024 Mar 12 12:48 general
-rw-r--r--  1 london      11804 Dec 31 20:54 herb-faqs
drwxr-xr-x  6 london       1024 Feb 14 09:24 herbal-medicine
drwxr-xr-x  2 london       1536 Mar 12 13:18 literature
drwxr-xr-x  2 london       1024 Jan 28 22:56 mail-order
-rw-r--r--  1 london       2673 Jan 28 15:26 medherb-info
drwxr-xr-x  4 london       1024 Oct 23 18:15 mini-databases
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Mar 12 13:17 net-resources
drwxr-xr-x  2 london       1024 Jan 29 21:22 newinfo

herbs/LYSATOR-ftpsite:
-rw-r--r--  1 london        119 Jan  4 13:56 INDEX
-rw-r--r--  1 london        263 Jan  4 13:58 README
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Jan  1 22:12 general
drwxr-xr-x  4 london       1024 Jan  1 22:22 medicinal
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Jan  1 22:36 miscellaneous

herbs/discussion-groups:      This is what you were looking for-
                              The AFH -archives!
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Dec  8 23:06 1993
drwxr-xr-x  3 london        512 Mar  9 22:38 1994
drwxr-xr-x  2 london        512 Mar  9 22:38 alt.folklore.herbs
  
-----
Accessing Culinary and Ornamental Herb Archives at sunSITE.unc.edu
-----
WAIS (also available via telnet, follow login instructions)
World Wide Web (lynx available via telnet for vt100 users)
  URL for gardening & herb information is:
  gopher://sunsite.unc.edu/11/.pub/academic/agriculture
           /sustainable_agriculture/gardening/
Ftpmail (Send e-mail to [email-masked] for helpfile on ftpmail usage)
Gopher:
Name=Alternative Healthcare Information
Type=1
Port=70
Path=1/../.pub/academic/agriculture/sustainable_agriculture
Host=calypso.oit.unc.edu
Go to these menus:
The Worlds of sunSITE
  Sustainable Agriculture Information
    gardening
  -or-
  browse sunSITE archives
    academic
      agriculture
        sustainable_agriculture
          gardening
Anonymous ftp:
  ftp sunSITE.unc.edu
  Login: anonymous
  Password: (enter your Internet E-Mail ID)
  cd pub/academic/agriculture/sustainable_agriculture/gardening

For more information contact:
  Lawrence F. London, Jr.
  [email-masked]

==========
7.2 Rob Bidleman's server
-----
ftp ftp.crl.com cd /users/ro/robbee/Herb
http://www.c2.org/~robbee/herbal.html

==========
8.0 Mailing lists

==========
8.1 The Herblist, the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants discussion list
-----
To post to the list: write an article and send it to:
  [email-masked]
To subscribe: write to [email-masked] with the following text:
  SUBscribe HERB <your full name>
If you only wish the digest (to get all posts for the previous day in
one email message) you can add another line
  SET HERB DIGEST

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8.2 The Aromatherapy list
----
To post to the list: write an article and send it to:
  [email-masked]
To subscribe: write to [email-masked] with the following text:
  subscribe aromatherapy-l
or, if you want it to another address than the one you're at when
subscribing:
  subscribe aromatherapy-l [email-masked]

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8.3 The Holistic list: Holistic Discussion Group
----
To post an article: write an article and send it to:
  [email-masked]
To subscribe: write to [email-masked] with the following text:
  SUBscribe HOLISTIC <your full name>
If you only wish the digest you can add another line:
  SET HOLISTIC DIGEST

==========
8.4 The Kombucha list
-----
To subscribe: write to [email-masked] with the following text:
  SUBSCRIBE
(If this doesn't work try HELP to the same address.)

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9.0 Related newsgroups
-----
You might want too check
  misc.health.alternative
  rec.gardens
  rec.food.preserving
  bionet.plants
  sci.med.*

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10.0 Standard Herb Disclaimer ([email-masked])
-----
              CAUTIONS ABOUT HERBAL MEDICINE:

There is nothing about herbs that automatically makes them
non-toxic just because they are natural.  Ever hear of
deadly nightshade or poisonous mushrooms?  They are drugs,
like other drugs, and should be approached with the same caution.

This means, for example, that pregnant women should be as
careful about medicinal herbs as they are about conventional
medicines.  Some medicinal herbs are clearly linked to birth
defects. People on certain medications, like anti-coagulants or
psychiatric drugs, can have serious problems from interactions
between the herb and the medicine they're taking. In the US, herb
labels do not list information about side effects, dangers and
contraindications on the label (which I think they should).  Many
physicians are not well informed about herbs, and so you cannot
always rely on your doctor to know about potential problems. And
if you have or suspect you have a serious illness, it is very
important to be under a doctor's care.  Self diagnosis is not always
accurate and self treatment doesn't always work.

I believe it is vital for any person who wishes to try herbs to
be very well read before attempting them. I strongly recommend _The
Honest Herbal_ by Varro Tyler to anyone who is considering or using
herbal medicines.  It is the one herb book that I have ever found that
relies solely on scientific studies instead of anecdotes *and* which
provides references.  Tyler himself has impressive credentials, being a
tenured professor of pharmacognosy (the branch of pharmacy that deals
with herbal medicine) in the school of pharmacy at Purdue University.

I personally regard herbal medicine as useful primarily in two
situations:

1) when a basically healthy person uses an herbal compound
for a short, self limiting condition such as a cold or the
flu, where over the counter remedies would normally be
appropriate.

and

2) in the case of serious illness, where no effective standard
treatment exists and where there is some evidence from the
scientific literature that a particular herbal compound may help.
An example of this would be the use of silymarin (an extract from
milk thistle) in the treatment of cirrhosis of the liver.  In this
kind of situation, I regard it as extremely important that the
person be under the close supervision of a physician well versed
in the disease in question and who has reviewed the available studies
on the herb to be used.

Herbal medicine has some very big problems.  The most important is
probably that herbs often have not been subjected to thorough
testing.  Even when an herb has many studies published about it,
almost always the studies are on animals; human studies are quite
unusual.  Studies to determine whether the compound can cause birth
defects are vanishingly rare, as are studies to determine whether
the compound can cause cancer.  Relying on traditional folklore is
not much help; very obvious or dramatic adverse effects may be
caught this way, but it doesn't tell us much about either long
term effects or problems caused in only a small percentage of people.

Another major problem is that the amount of pharmacologically
active ingredient available varies widely from plant to plant, so
accurately regulating dosage is difficult. The pharmacologically active
ingredient may also occur in conjuction with other toxic compounds.
Examples of toxic agents often found in herbs include pyrrolizadine
alkaloids (very toxic to the liver and cause both benign and malignant
liver tumors); coumarins (which decrease the ability of the
blood to clot); and allergens.  The latter can be quite important
to people who are allergic to ragweed; some herbs  in the
ragweed family (chamomile and yarrow are examples) can cause
severe allergic reactions in these folks.)  Most companies do
not list the source of their herbs or how they were grown.  Pesticide
contamination is a possibility and heavy metal contamination of some
herbs has been reported in the scientific literature.

Because of the problems mentioned above, I believe it is often better
to rely on an extracted and standardized compound (conventional drugs)
when possible.  However, some of the active ingredients of herbs cannot
be found in this form.

Yet another problem is with herb labelling.  Very few herbal
medicines marketed in the US have both the Latin name of the
herb and an expiration date marked on the bottle.  Often,
this is deliberate: fraud is rampant among companies marketing
herbs.  One brand that does have good labelling is Nature's Way.
Alternatively, if you live in a city with a large Chinese, Japanese
or Korean population, you can try the herb sellers in that
district.  I've personally found the herb sellers in Chinatown
here in L.A. to be very honest and knowledgable (although language
is often a problem, alas.  Gotta learn to speak Chinese one of
these days.)  :)

If you decide, after your research, to try herbal medicines,
you may wish to consult a trained herbalist.  Unfortunately, in
the US anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves an
herbalist. Lots of these people have no idea what they're doing.
I have found practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine to be
the best trained.  I don't accept the model that traditional Chinese
practitioners use to explain the effects of herbs (yin/yang,
hot/cold, damp/dry, etc.).  I also have problems with the
amount of unsupported anecdotal info mixed in with scientific
studies. But traditional Chinese doctors treat herbs with a lot of
respect and caution.  They are well up on the side effects
and counterindications.

And finally, very few herb books contain dosage information.
I have *a lot* of problems with Michael Tierra's herb books.  I
don't accept the medical models he endorses (traditional Chinese
medicine and Ayurveda).  I also don't like the fact that Tierra
doesn't distinguish between scientifically validated information
and folklore.  But Tierra's books are among the very few herbal
medicine books that discuss dosage.  Just making up a weak tea
is usually not enough to get a pharmacologically effective dose.
Tierra is the author of _The Way Of Herbs_ and _Planetary Herbology_.

Warning: Tierra's books should be used as supplemental sources
only and never as your primary source of information on herbs.  I
have spotted several places where he has left out important information
on toxicity.

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THE END
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