The growing consumer interest in health and fitness has expanded the market for a wide range of products, from yoga mats to the multiple dietary supplements now on the market. Supplements are popular, but are they safe? Many dietary supplements are probably safe when used as recommended. However, since 1994 when Congress decided that they should be regulated as if they were foods, they are assumed to be safe unless the Food and Drug Administration can demonstrate that they pose a significant risk to the consumer. But there are many types of products that qualify as dietary supplements, and the distinctions can become muddled and vague. Manufacturers are not legally required to provide specific information about safety before marketing their products. And the sales of supplements have been steadily increasingâ€"all together, the various types now bring in almost $16 billion per year. Given these confounding factors, what kind of information can the Food and Drug Administration use to effectively regulate dietary supplements? This book provides a framework for evaluating dietary supplement safety and protecting the health of consumers.

Integration of complementary and alternative medicine therapies (CAM) with conventional medicine is occurring in hospitals and physicians offices, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are covering CAM therapies, insurance coverage for CAM is increasing, and integrative medicine centers and clinics are being established, many with close ties to medical schools and teaching hospitals. In determining what care to provide, the goal should be comprehensive care that uses the best scientific evidence available regarding benefits and harm, encourages a focus on healing, recognizes the importance of compassion and caring, emphasizes the centrality of relationship-based care, encourages patients to share in decision making about therapeutic options, and promotes choices in care that can include complementary therapies where appropriate. Numerous approaches to delivering integrative medicine have evolved. Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States identifies an urgent need for health systems research that focuses on identifying the elements of these models, the outcomes of care delivered in these models, and whether these models are cost-effective when compared to conventional practice settings. It outlines areas of research in convention and CAM therapies, ways of integrating these therapies, development of curriculum that provides further education to health professionals, and an amendment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act to improve quality, accurate labeling, research into use of supplements, incentives for privately funded research into their efficacy, and consumer protection against all potential hazards.

This remarkable new book is the first text dedicated to the topic of pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines. Taking a truly global perspective, this volume draws together contributions from a diverse group of experts, writing on current knowledge and practices in pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines, and on advances and innovation in monitoring the safety of this unique and complex category of products and preparations. In part one, the book discusses the current status of pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines, including the importance of natural products chemistry to harms, and its relevance in considering how pharmacovigilance for these products could be undertaken. Several other chapters discuss methodological approaches and ongoing challenges in pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines, including issues relating to nomenclature, coding and classification, and the nuances involved in causality assessment. Part two of the book focusses on pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines around the world, with chapters from authors in several different countries representing diverse historical, ethnic, cultural, social and political contexts. These chapters provide deeper insights and perspectives into spontaneous reporting for herbal and traditional medicines in those countries, and in the context of the local use, practice and regulatory landscape for these products. Part two also provides an overview and new analysis of international case safety reports for herbal medicines held in VigiBase (the World Health Organization's global database of individual case safety reports, maintained by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre). This book is aimed at pharmacists, doctors, nurses and other health professionals, herbal-medicine practitioners and organisations, herbal medicine and pharmaceutical industry personnel, pharmacovigilance specialists, medicines’ regulators, health and social science researchers and academics, pharmacovigilance and health professional students, and students of herbal and traditional medicine, throughout the world. It is an extremely valuable resource for all individuals whose work touches the intersection between herbal medicines and pharmacovigilance, and it provides both an introduction to the topic and a deeper, comprehensive, contemporary account of the topic.

Coronavirus Drug Discovery, Volume Two: Antiviral Agents from Natural Products and Nanotechnological Applications presents detailed information on drug discovery against COVID-19. Sections in this volume present chapters that focus on the various antiviral agents from natural products that have the propensity to be used as chemical scaffolds for the development of drugs against COVID-19. Also captured are the dietary sources of antioxidant bioactives that may help boost the immune system for the management of COVID-19. Other chapters describe the application of nanotechnology for efficient and effective delivery of drugs against COVID-19. Written by global team of experts, this book is an excellent resource for drug developers, medicinal chemists, pharmaceutical companies in R&D and research institutes in both academia and industry. - Presents the various antiviral bioactive compounds from natural products - Discusses the roles of antioxidant in the prevention and management of COVID-19 - Details the application of nanotechnology for efficient and effective drug delivery

Side Effects of Drugs Annual: A Worldwide Yearly Survey of New Data in Adverse Drug Reactions, Volume 43, first published in 1977, and continually published as a yearly update to the voluminous encyclopedia Meyler's Side Effects of Drugs, presents clinicians and medical investigators with a critical survey of new data and trends in adverse drug reactions and interactions. Topics covered in this new release include Central Nervous System Stimulants and Drugs that Suppress Appetite, Antidepressants, Lithium, Drugs of Abuse, Hypnotics and Sedatives, Antipsychotic Drugs, Antiepileptics, Opioid Analgesics and Narcotic Antagonists, Anti-Inflammatory and Antipyretic Analgesics and Drugs Used in Gout, and much more. - Provides a critical yearly survey of the new data and trends regarding the side effects of drugs - Authored and reviewed by worldwide pioneers in the clinical and practice sciences - Presents an essential clinical guide on the side effects of drugs for practitioners and healthcare professionals alike

This Special Issue is dedicated to gathering the latest advances in the food sources, chemistry, analysis, composition, formulation, use, experience in clinical use, mechanisms of action, available data of nutraceuticals, and natural sources that represent a new frontier for therapy and provide valuable tools to reduce the costs for both environment and healthcare systems.

Current Advances for Development of Functional Foods Modulating Inflammation and Oxidative Stress presents the nutritional and technological aspects related to the development of functional foods with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Specifically, analytical approaches for the characterization of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of healthy foods and functional constituents, as well as technological strategies for the extraction of compounds and fractions from raw materials to produce anti-inflammatory and antioxidant ingredients are addressed. In addition, the molecular mechanisms by which foods and their components can modulate inflammation and their oxidative stress effects on disease prevention are explored. Finally, clinical research addressing nutritional needs in pathological subjects with inflammatory diseases are considered. - Covers methods of analysis and extraction of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds - Offers an overview of the main anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds in foods - Provides a guide on the mechanisms of action and health benefits of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant dietary bioactives

“Personalised Nutrition” represents any initiative that attempts to provide tailor-made healthy eating advice based on the nutritional needs of each individual, as these are dictated by the individual’s behaviour, phenotype and/or genotype, and their interactions. This Special Issue of Nutrients is dedicated to the development, implementation and assessment of the effectiveness of evidence-based “Personalised Nutrition” strategies. In this regard, a selection of reviews and original research manuscripts will bring together the latest evidence on how lifestyle habits, physiology, nutraceuticals, gut microbiome and genetics can be integrated into nutritional solutions, specific to the needs of each individual, for maintaining health and preventing diseases.