"Doctor Werbach received
his education at Columbia College, Tufts University School of Medicine, the
National Institute of Mental Health and the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Among
his appointments, he has served as Consultant to the Pain Center at the City
of Hope National Medical Center, and Director of Clinical Biofeedback and
Psychological Services at the UCLA Pain Control Unit.
...
Doctor Werbach is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and
Neurology and holds a faculty appointment in psychiatry at the UCLA School of
Medicine. Listed in American Men and Women of Science as well as in several
Who’s Whos, he is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of
Nutritional Medicine (UK). the Journal of Optimal Nutrition (US), Health News
and Review (US), and Alternative Medicine Digest (US), an Advisory Panel
member of What Doctors Don’t Tell You (UK), consultant in nutrition to the
Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and a member of the advisory committee to
The Dead Sea Conferences (Israel), an international forum dedicated to
integrating mainstream, traditional and alternative approaches to medical
care. He is an honorary life member of the Biofeedback Society of California
and an honorary member of the Australian College of Nutritional and
Environmental Medicine. ... "
"Botanical medicine refers to the use of plants or plant
substances as medicinal agents. While the medicinal use of plants has
existed since the dawn of time, the scientific investigation of herbal
remedies is a recent development, and our knowledge of how plants actually
affect human physiology remains largely a mystery. As of today, even
though investigators are intent on proving whether or not medicinal
applications of plants and plant substances are effective and, if so, what
their mechanisms of action may be, many practitioners remain content to accept
empirical evidence of a plant's efficacy.
Botanical Influences on Illness
seeks to demonstrate the growing scientific basis for the medicinal
application of botanicals. The bulk of the text consists of a series of
chapters covering the major illnesses for which a reasonable amount of
scientific literature exists. Individual plants and plant substances are
discussed first, followed by any notable mixtures of two or more botanical
ingredients. Our emphasis in the selection of abstracts is on studies of
clinical interest, namely those that have investigated the efficacy of
preventive and therapeutic interventions. We have attempted to approach
the subject in an unbiased manner by selecting studies with negative, as well
as positive, outcomes and by including warnings of known contraindications and
side effects.
In each chapter. following the listing of a botanical
agent, we present a series of statements concerning that agent, each of which
is followed by selected abstracts from the literature which either
substantiate or refute it. None of these statements is a therapeutic
recommendation! When available, abstracts from review articles have been
included to provide the perspective if acknowledged experts. Randomized,
double-blind controlled studies are emphasized; however, because such studies
are often unavailable, uncontrolled studies (open trial), observational
(epidemiological) studies, animal experiments, in vitro studies and
even informal clinical observations are included.
Abstracts are presented in the order of their year of
publication, with the latest papers listed first. As it is not possible
to include all studies, preference has been given to the best, the most
relevant, and the most recent.
While Botanical Influences on Illness provides
information that can be used to make therapeutic decisions, it is meant to be
used as a sourcebook, not as a treatment manual, and therefore assumes that
the reader who wishes to utilize botanical medicines either has an appropriate
professional background or is under the guidance of a trained professional.
It is our hope that you will come away from this book with a
deeper appreciation of the state of this rapidly evolving field as it exists
today - and that the professional reader will be better able, not only to
utilize botanical medicines in practice, but to answer the many questions
concerning these important natural substances being asked by an increasingly
sophisticated public."
