C HAPTER 7. P ERIODICALS AND N EWS ON H ERBAL M EDICINE

C HAPTER 7. P ERIODICALS AND N EWS ON H ERBAL M EDICINE

Overview

In this chapter, we suggest a number of news sources and present various periodicals that cover herbal medicine.

News Services and Press Releases

One of the simplest ways of tracking press releases on herbal medicine is to search the news wires. In the following sample of sources, we will briefly describe how to access each service. These services only post recent news intended for public viewing.

PR Newswire

To access the PR Newswire archive, simply go to http://www.prnewswire.com/. Select your country. Type “herbal medicine” (or synonyms) into the search box. You will automatically receive information on relevant news releases posted within the last 30 days. The search results are shown by order of relevance.

Reuters Health

The Reuters’ Medical News and Health eLine databases can be very useful in exploring news archives relating to herbal medicine. While some of the listed articles are free to view, others are available for purchase for a nominal fee. To access this archive, go to http://www.reutershealth.com/en/index.html and search by “herbal medicine” (or synonyms). The following was recently listed in this archive for herbal medicine:

• Britain to ban kava herbal medicines Source: Reuters Health eLine

Date: December 23, 2002

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• Chinese herbal medicines may contain modern drugs Source: Reuters Health eLine Date: November 05, 2002

• Chinese herbal medicines may contain drugs Source: Reuters Medical News

Date: November 05, 2002 • Chinese herbal medicine plus interferon seems effective in HBV treatment

Source: Reuters Industry Breifing Date: October 09, 2002

• Herbal medicines linked to liver inflammation Source: Reuters Health eLine

Date: July 05, 2002 • EU aims to regulate herbal medicines

Source: Reuters Industry Breifing Date: January 17, 2002

• Herbal medicines pose risk during surgery: report Source: Reuters Health eLine Date: July 10, 2001

• Japanese herbal medicine may treat infertility Source: Reuters Health eLine

Date: June 25, 2001 • Strychnine poisoning linked to herbal medicine

Source: Reuters Health eLine Date: April 19, 2001

• Physicians advised to make the effort to understand herbal medicines Source: Reuters Medical News

Date: April 02, 2001 • Herbal medicine proven effective in allergic rhinitis

Source: Reuters Health eLine Date: January 30, 2001

• Chinese herbal medicine cuts airway response in mice Source: Reuters Industry Breifing

Date: December 14, 2000 • Herbal medicines of uncertain value in asthma therapy

Source: Reuters Medical News Date: November 29, 2000

• Chinese herbal medicine effective against murine asthma Source: Reuters Medical News

Date: November 09, 2000 • Doctors unsure if herbal medicines work for asthma

Source: Reuters Health eLine Date: October 24, 2000

• Physicians called upon to change attitudes toward herbal medicines Source: Reuters Industry Breifing Date: August 14, 2000

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• Compound derived from herbal medicine prevents liver cell death in mice Source: Reuters Medical News Date: February 22, 2000

• Chinese herbal medicines gaining acceptance in West Source: Reuters Health eLine

Date: October 26, 1999 • Stop herbal medicines before surgery

Source: Reuters Health eLine Date: May 07, 1999

• UK's Xenova receives award to study Mayan herbal medicines Source: Reuters Medical News

Date: December 23, 1998 • Publishers of the PDR introduces guide to herbal medicines

Source: Reuters Medical News Date: October 20, 1998

• Herbal Medicine: Physicians Should Know What Patients Are Taking Source: Reuters Medical News Date: March 30, 1998

• Australian Physicians Call For Standardization Of Herbal Medicines Source: Reuters Medical News

Date: December 29, 1997 • Herbal Medicine Derivative Exhibits Anti-HIV-1 Activity

Source: Reuters Medical News Date: June 10, 1997

• Herbal Medicines Staging A Comeback Source: Reuters Medical News

Date: August 27, 1996 • Chinese Herbal Medicine As Effective As Conventional Therapy for Treating

Cirrhosis In Rats

Source: Reuters Medical News Date: April 08, 1996

• Chinese Herbal Medicine Reduces Incidence of HCC in Cirrhosis Patients Source: Reuters Medical News

Date: September 04, 1995

The NIH

Within MEDLINEplus, the NIH has made an agreement with the New York Times Syndicate, the AP News Service, and Reuters to deliver news that can be browsed by the public. Search news releases at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alphanews_a.html. MEDLINEplus allows you to browse across an alphabetical index. Or you can search by date at the following Web page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/newsbydate.html. Often, news items are indexed by MEDLINEplus within its search engine.

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Business Wire

Business Wire is similar to PR Newswire. To access this archive, simply go to http://www.businesswire.com/. You can scan the news by industry category or company name.

Market Wire

Market Wire is more focused on technology than the other wires. To browse the latest press releases by topic, such as alternative medicine, biotechnology, fitness, healthcare, legal, nutrition, and pharmaceuticals, access Market Wire’s Medical/Health channel at http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_index?channel=MedicalHealth. Or simply go to Market Wire’s home page at http://www.marketwire.com/mw/home, type “herbal medicine” (or synonyms) into the search box, and click on “Search News.” As this service is technology oriented, you may wish to use it when searching for press releases covering diagnostic procedures or tests.

Search Engines

Medical news is also available in the news sections of commercial Internet search engines. See the health news page at Yahoo (http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/News_and_Media/), or you can use this Web site’s general news search page at http://news.yahoo.com/. Type in “herbal medicine” (or synonyms). If you know the name of a company that is relevant to herbal medicine, you can go to any stock trading Web site (such as http://www.etrade.com/) and search for the company name there. News items across various news sources are reported on indicated hyperlinks. Google offers a similar service at http://news.google.com/.

BBC

Covering news from a more European perspective, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) allows the public free access to their news archive located at http://www.bbc.co.uk/. Search by “herbal medicine” (or synonyms).

Newsletter Articles

Use the Combined Health Information Database, and limit your search criteria to “newsletter articles.” Again, you will need to use the “Detailed Search” option. Go directly to the following hyperlink: http://chid.nih.gov/detail/detail.html. Go to the bottom of the search page where “You may refine your search by.” Select the dates and language that you prefer. For the format option, select “Newsletter Article.” Type “herbal medicine” (or synonyms) into the “For these words:” box. You should check back periodically with this database as it is updated every three months. The following is a typical result when searching for newsletter articles on herbal medicine:

• Herbal Medicine and Lupus Source: Lupus News. 21(4): 1,4-5. Winter 2001.

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Contact: Available from Lupus Foundation of America. 1300 Piccard Drive, Suite 200, Rockville, MD 20850-4303. (800) 558-0121 or (301) 670-9292. Fax (301) 670-9486. Website: www.lupus.org/lupus.

Summary: This newsletter article discusses the use of herbal medicines by patients with lupus to treat their condition. No herbal medicines have been proven effective in treating lupus. Echinacea, thought to be effective in treating upper respiratory tract ailments, has caused kidney problems and lupus flares in patients with lupus. Thundergod vine, sometimes helpful in improving joint tenderness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, has caused rashes, gastrointestinal problems, and menstrual irregularities in patients with lupus. Wild yams, containing DHEA, a weak male hormone, is thought to modify immune response. A study in which lupus patients took DHEA in a purified form did result in modest improvement in lupus symptoms. Patients with lupus should discuss using alternative therapies and herbal supplements with their rheumatologist. 14 references.

Academic Periodicals covering Herbal Medicine

Numerous periodicals are currently indexed within the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed database that are known to publish articles relating to herbal medicine. In addition to these sources, you can search for articles covering herbal medicine that have been published by any of the periodicals listed in previous chapters. To find the latest studies published, go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed, type the name of the periodical into the search box, and click “Go.”

If you want complete details about the historical contents of a journal, you can also visit the following Web site: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/jrbrowser.cgi. Here, type in the name of the journal or its abbreviation, and you will receive an index of published articles. At http://locatorplus.gov/, you can retrieve more indexing information on medical periodicals (e.g. the name of the publisher). Select the button “Search LOCATORplus.” Then type in the name of the journal and select the advanced search option “Journal Title Search.”

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