Why was the ODS started?  Dietary supplements can have an important impact on the prevention and management of disease and on the maintenance of health.  Dietary supplements in the United States are usually defined as comprising plant extracts, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and hormonal products that are available without prescription and may be consumed in addition to the regular diet......
 

I was skimming through one of the chats on susanlovemd.com and came across a reference to a new service intended to rectify that problem:

http://www.consumerlab.com/
from their "About Us" page:

"ConsumerLab.com LLC ("CL") provides independent test results and information to help consumers and healthcare professionals evaluate health, wellness, and nutrition products ... "

So far, the list of product types they've tested is fairly short, but they have plans for more - evidently "phytoestrogen" testing is in the works right now.

My only beef is that you have to buy a subscription to get the complete product reports. Still, what's on their Web site is highly informative.

   Source and extent of review
   Misidentification, adulteration, and contamination
   Counselling of patients about herb-drug interactions
   References 

Concurrent use of herbs may mimic, magnify, or oppose the effect of drugs. Plausible cases of herb-drug interactions include: bleeding when warfarin is combined with ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), garlic (Allium sativum), dong quai (Angelica sinensis), or danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza); mild serotonin syndrome in patients who mix St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) with serotonin-reuptake inhibitors; decreased bioavailability of digoxin, theophylline, cyclosporin, and phenprocoumon when these drugs are combined with St John's wort; induction of mania in depressed patients who mix antidepressants and Panax ginseng; exacerbation of extrapyramidal effects with neuroleptic drugs and betel nut (Areca catechu); increased risk of hypertension when tricyclic antidepressants are combined with yohimbine (Pausinystalia yohimbe); potentiation of oral and topical corticosteroids by liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra); decreased blood concentrations of prednisolone when taken with the Chinese herbal product xaio chai hu tang (sho-saiko-to); and decreased concentrations of phenytoin when combined with the Ayurvedic syrup shankhapushpi. Anthranoid-containing plants (including senna [Cassia senna] and cascara [Rhamnus purshiana]) and soluble fibres (including guar gum and psyllium) can decrease the absorption of drugs. Many reports of herb-drug interactions are sketchy and lack laboratory analysis of suspect preparations. Health-care practitioners should caution patients against mixing herbs and pharmaceutical drugs. 

"Poisons and medicines are oftentimes the same substances given with different intents." 
Peter Mere Latham (1789-1875)
Many medicinal herbs and pharmaceutical drugs are therapeutic at one dose and toxic at another.

 Synergistic and iatrogenic potentials when certain herbs are used  concurrent with medical treatment or medical health care.Copyright 1995 by Michael Moore. Use it, share it, just don't sell it or change it in any way (unless you get my permission) 

 THE REASON FOR THIS LIST:
 A list of side-effects written by a toxicologist or a pharmacognosist  will deal ONLY with potential problems that a particular constituent may cause, and seldom treats a plant as a Gestalt.  They don't understand HERBS. 

 A list of side-effects written by most herbalists will deal with side  effects from over-dosage or adulteration, and will seldom consider the  implications for drug or procedural medicine.  They don't understand MEDICINE. 

 I feel fairly secure in both worlds, so this list of potential synergies and contraindications is meant to honor BOTH approaches. I am talking  strictly to the working practitioner; these are PRACTICAL concerns, not theoretical ones. 

 THE FOCUS OF THIS LIST: 
 My intent in this list is to wed both approaches: 
 A. What herbs may present overt drug reactions. 
 B. What herbs may present synergistic effects to 
     1. a person undergoing a particular metabolic stress 
     2. a person undergoing drug therapies 
C. What herbs have side-effects BUT that are frequently  used without adequate warnings, marketed with an anti- medical bias, or taken unwisely by those that feel NO herb can be harmful because it is natural. 

 PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: 

 If you are used to viewing biologically active agents as analogs to drugs, you need to suspend those standards when dealing with most herb  preparations. Some of these plants CAN be reduced to the pharmacology  of specific constituents, and they are so noted. The majority of  potential reactions occur when an herb STIMULATES metabolic processes  that are already in an excited state. The usual models of drug toxicology will fail to predict such reactions; these are NOT, strictly speaking,  drug reactions, but often predictable idiopathic synergies. Predictable,  that is, if you are willing to view most herbs as multi-systemic wholistic medicines, offering a "profile" of effects that can help OR aggravate,  depending on the PERSON using them. Herbs should be free of side effects within their therapeutic window and when used by a person whose constitution is complimented,  not antagonized by the herbs. Whether or not you accept any value to  Botanical Medicine, this is Conventional Wisdom amongst herbalists. Side effects from herbs are unwanted, both by herbalists wishing to  strengthen, not denigrate homeostasis, and by skeptics who doubt any  value to herbs except from placebo or accidental drug effects.  On the other hand, a careful evaluation of potential drug therapy  starts with the basic understanding that drugs HAVE side effects at the proper dose, and the value must be weighed against the detriment. Most possible problems I have listed will only occur in potentiated states, and may be subtle enough to be ignored by Believers (Don't be so  defensive!), magnified totally out of proportion by Skeptics (Don't be  so judgmental!). We all tend to be too isolated in our peer groups,  always preaching to our particular choir. Some physicians feel any self-treatment with biologically active  agents is dangerous. Many people consider this either professional  arrogance or the attempt to stifle competition. I have nearly always  observed the attitude to derive from a very real concern; a physician's biochemical tools are drugs. By extension, docs may rightly presume that any agent capable of promoting change probably has similar potential for  side effects. Carried to an irrational extreme, some medical folks  feel that anything WITHOUT potential side effects is quackery. This, of course, leaves any alternative approach in a Catch-22 bind. There is little intrinsic danger in using herbs, since few have the potential for DRUG side effects. The side effects are usually  idiosyncratic or idiopathic, and not predictable by drug standards. This brings me back to why I have assembled this list. 

 NOTES: 

 [1] Some of these plants are illegal, not from the pseudo-scientific  rationale of law-inforcement (except Cannabis and Lophophora) but for the practical legality that THEY AREN'T SAFE. Nonetheless they still find their way into personal use. I have developed the libertarian attitude that permeated 19th and early 20th century pharmacy: "Let them take what  they want to...it's a Free Country. If they don't know any better, let's thin the herd!". We, however, have a generation or two of people that  EXPECT a warning label on everything, and that have come to doubt common sense. Of course many dangers in modern life do not warn by taste, smell or appearance...radiation, pollution, etc. Given this, plant drugs like Yohimbe and even Ma Huang should, in my opinion, not be available in the same marketplace as Peppermint and Sarsaparilla. But they are. 

 [2] Some of these herbs are only encountered in "ethnic" use, but, with most ethnic groups suffering diminished coherence of tradition, a Wise Woman or folk herbalist may not be around to give appropriate advice. 

 [3] A few of these herbs are seldom encountered in the herb trade but  rather are wildcrafted and used inappropriately. Some of this may be MY fault, since I write about the use of plants that are low-dosage botanicals and presume that the reader has Common Sense...not always a  reality. Many of us distrust ANY authoritative limits...this anti-author- itarianism may be encountered in the way some people use even sensible herb books. 

 [4] Herbal Cure-Alls and thinly-veiled Phytopharmaceuticals are a growing part of the health-food industry. In Europe they are usually dispensed under medical supervision; they have no place in American Standard Practice but instead have entered the alternative health marketplace as  "Herbs". They are more concentrated, more refined, have little of the  biochemical buffering or "fuzz" that whole plants offer, and are NOT  metabolic tonics but substances intended for specific subclinical  pathologies...Little Drugs if you will. Their use is intended for  conditions that have been medically diagnosed...not for self-treatment  based upon sometimes inaccurate self-diagnosis. It's one thing to take  aspirin for a headache or use a bitter to trigger improved upper digestive  function. It's another thing to take proven immunostimulant or anti- oxidant substances (even if derived from plants) if based on "I get sick  a lot" or "I bet my liver needs cleansing". Not only is this an entirely new realm of potential iatrogenesis, but it has a corruptive influence by my way of thinking. It centralizes the MARKETING of herbs into the hands of a few, but without offering guide- lines for DIAGNOSIS. And it seduces folks from the sensible heart of  self-treatment...self-knowledge. 

 One-size-fits-all is not self-empowerment 

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
 PREGNANCY 
 TERATOGENIC/MUTAGENIC 
 UTERINE VASOCONSTRICTORS 
 UTERINE VASODILATORS 
 CATHARTICS/SACRAL IRRITANTS
 OXYTOCIN SYNERGISTS 
 OVERT DRUGS 
 MISCELLANEOUS WlERDNESS 
 MAY BE PRESENT IN MILK 
 NEUROENDOCRINE 
 SYMPATHOMIMETICS 
 PARASYMPATHOMIMETICS 
 ANTICHOLlNERGlC 
 VASOPRESSOMIMETlC 
 THYROID STlMULATlNG 
 THYROID DEPRESSING 
 ALDOSTERONE SYNERGISTS 
 FLAVIN-MAO-INHIBITING 
 METABOLIC 
 "ANABOLIC" 
 ANTICOAGULANTS/"BLOOD THINNING" 
 CYANOGENIC POTENTIAL 
 ALLERGIC/ATOPIC POTENTIAL 
 HYPO-HYPERGLYCEMIC (REACTIVE)
 CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM 
 CARDIOGLYCOSIDE POTENTIATING 
 BRADYCARDIC/HYPOTENSIVE 
 TACHYCARDIC 
 HYPERTENSIVE POTENTIAL 
 PHARMACOKINETICS 
 HERBS THAT CAN ALTER LIVER METABOLlSM OF DRUGS 
 HERBS THAT CAN ALTER GI ABSORPTION 
 IMMUNOSTIMULANT HERBS THAT CAN RAISE WBC COUNT 
 HEPATIC 
 HERBS THAT CAN ALTER SGOT/SGPT READINGS 
 PYRROLIZIDINE ALKALOID HERBS 
 HERB-SPECIFIC PROBLEMS 
 WITH MISCONCEPTIONS 
 WITH HIDDEN or THRESHOLD EFFECTS 
 LACKING ANY SOCIALLY REDEEMING VALUE 

note: to see the above lists, visit the URL above

RxList monographs for alternative products have been carefully prepared using the current applicable literature. While these documents resemble the RxList monographs for prescription drug products they differ in the following ways:

These products are not under the jurisdiction of the FDA and the information in the alternative monographs, therefore, have not been reviewed or approved by the FDA.

The alternative monographs may, at times, present contradictory information which must be considered before using these products.

Some of the studies presented in the alternative monographs may be of small sample size, unblinded, poorly designed, or have been influenced by the authors' bias.

Please use your best judgment and caution when using these substances. RxList does not warrant the accuracy of this information or the efficacy of any alternative product for any reported use. In addition, there may be unreported adverse effects, toxicities, and/or drug interactions that have not been widely recognized. Please consult with your physician before using any alternative products.

There are many different brands of Chinese medicinal formulas and, as with medicinal herbs, care should be taken with purchasing. Incorrectly labeled products and/or the presence of contaminants, adulterations, or substitutions have all been reported in conjunction with Chinese medicinal formulas. Contaminants such as heavy metals and/or substitutions with pharmaceutical drugs (over the counter and prescription) are a serious health hazard.

The American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM) has published a list of manufactures and medicinal formulas that have been reported with adulterations and/or contaminants. The AAOM states that this list is not all-inclusive. Just because it is not on the list does not necessarily mean it is safe. Consultation with a Chinese medical practitioner is advised before purchasing any Chinese
medicinal formula. The AAOM is requesting it's medical practitioners to require spectrographic proof of purity from the manufacturers before prescribing a specific patent medicine.

A large and increasing number of patients use medicinal herbs or seek the advice of their physician regarding their use. More than one third of Americans use herbs for health purposes, yet patients (and physicians) often lack accurate information about the safety and efficacy of herbal remedies. Burgeoning interest in medicinal herbs has increased scientific scrutiny of their therapeutic potential and safety, thereby providing physicians with data to help patients make wise decisions about their use. This article provides a review of the data on 12 of the most commonly used herbs in the United States (chamomile, echinacea, feverfew, garlic, ginger, gingko,ginseng, goldenseal, milkthistle, goldenseal, St John's wort, saw palmetto, valerian). In addition, we provide practical information and guidelines for the judicious use of medicinal herbs. 

• Search by Name, Common Name or Family. 
• Search for a Edible, Medicinal or Other Use. 
• Search for plants native to a particular Area. 
• Search for plants which grow in a particular habitat. 
• Search every field for a particular Word. 
• Advanced search, combines searches for native areas, habitats, and other chateristics like height, and soil types. (separate page). 
• Or browse by Family (separate page). 
• Or look at list of Common Names (separate page). 
• Or look at some Canned Queries (separate page). 
• Or look at the general Help or the help on Edible UsesMedicinal UsesOther Uses or Native Ranges.

Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
Disclaimer 

WARNING: Do not consult these databases unless you agree not to hold the compilers or the USDA liable for any errors or omissions. Data were gathered rather randomly from the literature on economic plants, none of which will ever be completely known phytochemically. These data were compiled by human beings, mostly Jim Duke and Stephen Beckstrom-Sternberg, from published, or rarely, personally communicated sources by human beings. To err is human! For any serious studies, values, especially deviant values, need to be rechecked with original sources. Neither the compilers nor the USDA recommend self diagnosis or self medication; the compilers do urge serious studies of herbal alternatives, believing that in many cases, the herbal alternative may contain several synergistic compounds that will, in fact, do what empirical trials have suggested, as recorded in the folklore (See ETHNOBOTANY database). Where these biologically active compounds occur in the edible portions of long established food species, we could be dealing with promising "food farmacy" alternatives. Synergies often double the rates of biological activities, but sometimes increase them an order of magnitude or two or more. Plants usually contain synergistic suites of phytoprotective chemicals which are often responsible for their medicinal uses as well. Evolution would favor synergies and disfavor antagonisms in such suites of compounds. If we have learned anything in the preparation of this database, it is that the levels of biologically active compounds vary widely, often one or two, sometimes more orders of magnitude. An increase in one compound from a suite of compounds is usually compensated for by a decrease in another compound(s). All plants, like all animals, contain toxins and carcinogens. Even commonly ingested food plants, like peanuts, can be fatally allergic to sensitive people. 

 There is no specific book on vitex, though other specific books on botanicals are listed. But there are many books on rainforest herbs, ethnobotany, and herb resources in general. Phone for information: USA -Texas 1-512-331-8868 or email for customer service on ordering books at [email protected]. 

 This is not meant to be an advertisement, but rather an information source for educational materials on herbs and botanicals. 

BTW: The herbal books listed under "Women's Topics" are: 

 The Complete Woman's Herbal - McIntyre  $25 
 Herbal Healing for Women - Gladstar  $12 
 The Roots of Healing - Soule  $12.95

 So this leads to the speculation that basically these self-created "poisons" or deterrents in these plants were an attempt to control other species, and not necessarily be viewed as a nutrient source or a commonly ingested daily item for animal consumption. 

 Which is why herbal medicaments would need to be viewed with respect, and their use not just for wholesale enjoyment or recreational experimentation. What about the reports of lowered sperm counts in male marijuana users? Why are reproductive control hormones found in plants? What use do they serve the plant? 

 And finally not by way of an advertisement, but for information only  there is a non-profit educational group called the American Botanical Council which produces a catalogue of books on herbs that have met their criteria for efficacy. Dr. Varro Tyler is on their Board of Directors. They publish their book catalog at www.herbalgram.org They do not sell herbal products. And they do have translations of the German Commission E Monographs. 

 Here is their blurb about the HerbalGram: The HerbalGram is a scientific, peer reviewed, quarterly publication that includes feature length articles, research reviews, conference reports, and book reviews. The focus is on herbs and medicinal plants, the history of their use, ethnobotany, modern clinical research that confirms historical usage and legal and regulatory developments. 

 The mission and goals of the American Botanical Council are to educate the public about beneficial herbs and plants and to promote the safe and effective use of medicinal plants by: ....disseminating responsible, scientific information on herbs, and to .......contribute information to professional and scientific literature that helps establish accurate, credible toxicological and pharmacological data on numerous types of plants and plant materials ....... 

 General information can be obtained at [email protected] 
shelly

The therapeutics intitiative newsletter no 25 <Herbal Medicines: An Evidence Based Look> is worth reading, unfortunately they do not cover the main herbs currently being promoted by some  for menopause. 

Kathryn

Extract from http://www.tnp.com/tnp.asp?file=howto
The TNP Natural Health Encyclopedia

• Conditions A–Z: Discover TNP's encyclopedic guide to health conditions and illnesses. (For more comprehensive coverage of selected conditions, see also Communities.)
• Herbs & Supplements A–Z: Get the latest scientific research on natural remedies and their uses with TNP's authoritative guide to hundreds of herbs, supplements, vitamins, and minerals.

Drug Interactions A–Z: Some natural substances might be interacting with your medications. If you're taking prescription or over-the-counter medicines, check here for important information on drug-herb and drug-supplement interactions.