Pal Sanjoy Kumar, Shukla Yogeshwer
Environmental Carcinogenesis Division, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, P.O. Box No. 80, M.G. Marg, Lucknow 226 001, India.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2003 Aug-Dec;4(4):281-8.
The number of patients seeking alternate and herbal therapy is growing exponentially. Herbal medicines are the synthesis of therapeutic experiences of generations of practicing physicians of indigenous systems of medicine for over hundreds of years. Herbal medicines are now in great demand in the developing world for primary health care not because they are inexpensive but also for better cultural acceptability, better compatibility with the human body and minimal side effects. However, recent findings indicate that all herbal medicines may not be safe as severe consequences are reported for some herbal drugs. Most herbal products on the market today have not been subjected to drug approval process to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness. Thousand years of traditional use can provide us with valuable guidelines to the selection, preparation and application of herbal formulation. To be accepted as viable alternative to modern medicine, the same vigorous method of scientific and clinical validation must be applied to prove the safety and effectiveness of a therapeutical product. In the present review we attempted to describe the present scenario and project the future of herbal medicine.
寻求替代疗法和草药疗法的患者数量正呈指数级增长。草药是数百年来历代传统医学执业医师治疗经验的结晶。如今，草药在发展中国家的初级卫生保健中需求量很大，这不仅是因为它们价格低廉，还因为它们具有更好的文化接受度、与人体更好的兼容性以及最小的副作用。然而，最近的研究结果表明，并非所有草药都是安全的，因为一些草药药物已报告有严重后果。当今市场上的大多数草药产品尚未经过药物审批程序来证明其安全性和有效性。数千年的传统使用可以为我们提供有关草药配方的选择、制备和应用的宝贵指导。要被接受为现代医学的可行替代方案，必须采用同样严格的科学和临床验证方法来证明治疗产品的安全性和有效性。在本综述中，我们试图描述草药医学的现状并预测其未来。
