Herbal Medications - What are they?

Herbal medicines are extracts from plants and flowers used to prevent and treat illness. Herbal remedies have been used for a wide range of conditions, from headaches to depression, PMS to insomnia. Most health food stores contain hundreds of bottles or packages of tablets containing various herbal preparations. Some common herbs include:

Chamomile: Commonly used as a tea, chamomile may help promote relaxation and improve some digestive problems.

St. John's wort: Available as tablets and as a liquid extract, this herb may help to treat mild to moderate depression and anxiety. People who are taking prescription antidepressant medications, cyclosporine, AIDS medications, cholesterol-lowering medications, tetracycline, and thyroid medications should not take this herb.

Saw palmetto: Available in tablets, capsules, tea, and liquid forms, this herb may help improve the symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), a condition where the prostate gland is enlarged. This herb should not be taken with finasteride, flutamide, or other androgen medications.

Ginger: This herb may help decrease nausea caused by chemotherapy, pregnancy, and motion sickness. It's available as capsules and tablets. Since ginger may lower blood sugar levels, careful monitoring is necessary for people taking diabetes medications.

A word of caution

Although there is some scientific evidence showing that certain herbs have health benefits, much of the information is limited to individual reports. Most of therse substances have not yet undergone the same testing and approval procedure as prescription and over-the-counter medications.

If you're considering buying a herbal product, talk to your pharmacist or doctor first. Many herbs can affect prescription and non-prescription medications and should not be taken by people with certain medical conditions.

Make sure you know:

• if there is evidence to support the use of the herb
• if the herb can interact with other medications or vitamins
• what side effects are associated with the herb
• what medical conditions the herb should not be used in
• how to take and store the herb properly

Note that Health Canada has issued warnings about the use of certain herbal products because of toxicity, or due to harmful interactions with prescription or over-the-counter medications. These include the herbs kava and ephedra (ma huang).

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you are considering pregnancy, always talk to your doctor and pharmacist before taking any herbal products.