BACKGROUND There is widespread use of herbal medicines across the world and the need for regulatory measures to ensure their safety, efficacy and quality is therefore imperative. Conventional microbiological methods are used in carrying out quality control analysis of herbal medicines but these are often slow, may be less sensitive or specific and labour-intensive. In this study we investigated...

In the present review, the main objective was to report the incidence and causes of herbal medicines induced anticholinergic poisoning in Hong Kong during 1989-2012 and to emphasize the importance of pharmacovigilance, investigations and preventive measures. Relevant papers, official figures and unpublished data were obtained from Medline search, the Department of Health and the Drug and Poison...

Standardbred trainers from 1 racetrack and 7 off-track training facilities were surveyed to determine the most common drugs, and prevalence of concurrent herb administration. Furosemide (on-track) and anti-inflammatory drugs (off-track) were the most common drugs administered. Among horses on-track, 9.8% received herbs compared with 13.8% off-track horses; 67% and 58% of these horses, respectiv...

The global burden of disease has driven a broad shift from communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional causes to noncommunicable diseases. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the most prevalent cause of human morbidity and mortality all over the world [1]. According to the survey by Global Burden of Disease Study, 29.6% of all deaths worldwide were caused by CVDs in 2010 [2]. It is esti...

Despite the development of assisted reproductive technology (ART), it is difficult to increase the implantation rate. In Korea, Traditional Korean Medicine, including herbal medicine, is an important component of infertility treatment. Korean medical doctors who are treating infertility often use herbal medicine to promote implantation. In this article, as one of the research works on moderniza...

eutectic mixture of lidocaine and prilocaine (EMLA cream): comparison with placebo cream and no local premedication. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand 1987;31: 735-9. 8 Hallen B, Olsson GL, Uppfeldt A. Pain-free venepuncture. Effect of timing of application of local anaesthetic cream. Anaesthesia 1984;39:%9-72. 9 Hopkins CS, Buckley CJ, Bush GH. Pain-free injection in infants. Use of a lignocaine-priloca...

The commercial significance of medicinal plants was known since millennia but its popularity has grown remarkably in terms of herbal drugs, herbal cosmetics and nutraceuticals during the last few decades. The primary reason being increased interest of developed countries in herbal medicines for safer and natural health care system. This has intensified research on medicinal plants of developing...

Plants have been used throughout human history for their medicinal properties and herbal medicines are popular worldwide. Since, all herbal medicines are mixtures of more than one active ingredient, such combinations of many substances obviously increase the likelihood of interactions taking place. Although herbal medicines have been used as remedies for number of illnesses, many of them have s...