OBJECTIVE: To examine long-term safety and efficacy for weight loss of an herbal Ma Huang and Kola nut supplement (90=192 mg=day ephedrine alkaloids=caffeine). DESIGN: Six-month randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial. SUBJECTS: A total of 167 subjects (body mass index (BMI) 31.8 4.1 kg=m) randomized to placebo (n1⁄4 84) or herbal treatment (n1⁄483) at two outpatient weight control re...

The transformation of digitalis from a folk medicine, foxglove, to a modern drug, digoxin, illustrates principles of modern pharmacology that have helped make drugs safer and more effective. Digitalis was improved because its preparation was standardized, first by bioassay and then by chemical methods; however, few of today's herbs are standardized by methods that can ensure a consistent produc...

BACKGROUND Neurodegeneration is characterized by progressive neurological deficits due to selective neuronal loss in the nervous system. Huntington's disease (HD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder. Neurodegeneration in HD patients shows aging-dependent pattern. Our previous study has suggested that a herbal formula B401 may have neuroprotective effects in the brains of R6/2 mice. OBJ...

The present report describes a 63-year-old female who presented with fulminant hepatic failure requiring liver transplantation caused by a weight loss dietary supplement containing conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Thorough investigation, including liver biopsy, revealed no other cause of hepatotoxicity. In the last few years, a considerable number of reports have been published on toxic hepatiti...

A herbal food supplement advertised as a potency pill was screened for the presence of PDE5 inhibitors. The resulting signals were characterised by UV, LC-MS in ESI-negative mode, and NMR spectroscopy using 1D and 2D experiments. Several substances were identified, bearing the basic chemical structure of sildenafil, but were not supposed to exhibit PDE5 inhibition. These compounds may be proces...

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most serious chronic complications of diabetes; 20-40% of diabetic patients develop into end stage renal disease (ESRD). However, exact pathogenesis of DN is not fully clear and we have great difficulties in curing DN; poor treatment of DN led to high chances of mortality worldwide. A lot of western medicines such as ACEI and ARB have been demonstrated to protec...

The popularity of herbal products, especially plant food supplements (PFS) and herbal medicine is on the rise in Europe and other parts of the world, with increased use in the general population as well as among specific subgroups encompassing children, women or those suffering from diseases such as cancer. The aim of this paper is to examine the PFS market structures in European Community (EC)...

objective: we conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study to determine the efficacy of an herbal sexual supplement (vigrx) on premature ejaculation (pe). method: a randomized double blind study was conducted on a fixed dose of herbal vigrx at roozbeh psychiatry hospital, tehran university of medical sciences. the sample consisted of 85 married patients diagnosed with primary pe according...

Background: It is important to know the herbal products and food supplements used by individuals with diabetes in management of type 2 diabetes. This study aims examine use products/food glycemic control diabetes.Method Material: descriptive study, three government hospitals Diabetes Monitoring Education Clinic Turkey, was performed 118 who volunteered participate. The data were collected using...