Word: herbs
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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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...
...Reports of liver damage have been piling up in Europe and the U.S.--including the case of a previously healthy 45-year-old American woman who took kava and suddenly needed a liver transplant. Last week the Food and Drug Administration finally issued a kava alert. Sales of the herb had already been halted in France and Switzerland and suspended in Britain. German authorities are in the process of reclassifying it as a prescription drug...
...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 a lot of resources," acknowledges Dr. Christine Taylor, who heads the FDA office that handles dietary supplements...
...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 and St.-John's-wort. It wasn't long before kava vaulted out of the health-food ghetto...
...much kava is too much? The 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...