At the Center of Health™ we access a number of excellent reference sites to check for any interactions between your medications, supplements and herbal products. At the conclusion of this article I have listed a number of sites that should prove valuable.

For a good understanding of the complexity of the subject of herb and drug interactions click on this site. News & Treatment Information from the BC Persons With AIDS Society

With reference to the very good safety record of Ephedra I think an excellent overview of the real story is found at Dulloo's Editorial On Herbal Thermogenics. The gist of this editorial is: "The International Journal of Obesity recently published the results of a six-month study of herbal thermogenic supplements. If you're familiar with the medical research, you will not be surprised to learn that the study found herbal ephedra/caffeine "promoted body weight and body fat reduction and improved blood lipids without significant adverse events"" (1). As a note there is an educational service site devoted to Ephedra exclusively at Ephedrafacts.com. Their mission statement: Ephedrafacts.com is designed to provide current, science-based information to the public, policy makers, health care professionals and the media about dietary supplements that contain Ephedra. This site should be reviewed by anyone considering taking the herbal medication.

IBIS, Integrative BodyMind Information System™ has been a long standing herbal repitror for many practitioners. Their site contains a wealth of good reliable information. IBIS

The Herb Research Foundation has an extensive up to date overview of many of the issues concerning herbs ,legal aspects, labeling, etc. Herb Research Foundation

An additional reference is Drug.com references

A rudimentary grouping of herb and drug interactions is available on the site, The Pulse of Oriental Medicine. To view it, click here.

The American Academy of Clinical Care Nursing April 2002 has an interesting overview of a number of drug/herbal iterations. The final conclusion by the author is to avoid herbs when used with certain classes of prescriptions. My clinical experience and that of many other physicians suggests otherwise. Critical Care Nursing

As an additional resource you should find the following search via the National Library of Congress useful.

Need some professional help with your health? Please contact Dr. Kadish at the Center via e-mail at drk@centerofhealth.com, or contact us at 541.773.3191 // Fax 541.779.5647