Word: herbal
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...JOHN'S-WON'T The herbal remedy St.-John's-wort appears to be no more effective than a placebo for the treatment of moderately severe depression, according to an NIH-sponsored clinical trial. But some psychiatrists and advocates of the supplement say the herb may still work for milder forms of the disease...
What took the FDA so long? The answer says a lot about a regulatory loophole created by the 1994 Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act. Under this law, herbal products like kava are classified as dietary supplements. Neither food nor drugs, they don't have to be proved safe or effective before being sold in the U.S. If there's something wrong with them, the burden of proof falls on the FDA, which does not have the money or the staff to evaluate every new herb, vitamin, mineral and enzyme that comes to market. "We don't have...
...kava came to market is part of what makes its story so interesting. The Western world has known about kava's powers since the 18th century, when Captain Cook spotted Polynesians chewing its roots. But it didn't catch on in the U.S. until 1996, when a group of herbal-product purveyors called the Kava General Committee decided to pool their resources and make kava America's herb du jour. That year, supported by a heavy promotional campaign, retailers moved $15 million worth of the stuff, elevating it to the pantheon of big-name herbal remedies like ginkgo biloba...
...American Botanical Council recommends that people who have liver trouble or who drink a lot of alcohol stay away from the herb. Everybody else should be careful not to take kava every day for more than four weeks straight and not to exceed the recommended dosage. In Germany, where herbal supplements are scrutinized much more closely than in America, 60 mg to 120 mg of kavalactone (the active ingredient in kava) is considered a reasonable daily dose. When you buy a kava product, be sure to check the kavalactone concentration listed on the label. And above all, try to relax...
...years of training and to spend at least a year in a conventional hospital. Treatments range from the familiar and soothing, like abhyianga, a body massage with medicated oil administered by two masseuses working in tandem, to the out-there, like vasti, a cleansing enema of oil, milk or herbal water. Some more traditional Ayurvedic centers offer therapeutic purging and leeching, but most tourist spas stick to the treatments that actually feel good, like massages and herbal or flower baths...