Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine

Chapter 2 / Herbs and Supplements 11
2 History, Regulation, Integrity,
and Purity of Herbs
and Supplements
Robert S. McCaleb
and Fredi Kronenberg, PhD
CONTENTS
HISTORY OF HERBS IN MEDICINE AND PHARMACY
CURRENT WORLDWIDE USE OF HERBS
GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF HERBAL PRODUCTS
TYPES OF HERBAL PRODUCTS
ABOUT EXTRACTS
GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING PRODUCTS
INTERPRETING SUPPLEMENT LABELS
INGREDIENTS
INTERNET RESOURCES
OTHER RESOURCES
PERIODICALS
COURSES FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
GENERAL HERBAL MEDICINE REFERENCES
REFERENCES
HISTORY OF HERBS IN MEDICINE AND PHARMACY
Herbs were our first source of medicine, and their use predates written
history by several thousand years. No one knows when humans first used
plants for medicine, but pollens of at least six medicinal plants were
found in a Neanderthal burial site estimated to be at least 60,000 yr old (1).
From: Contemporary Cardiology
Complementary and Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine
Edited by: R. A. Stein and M. C. Oz © Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
11