Customer Reviews

The Complete German Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines (CD-ROM)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This English translation of the German Commission E monographs belongs in every hospital drug information center. Its high price probably prohibits many people from buying it for their personal libraries. The monographs are relatively short; each includes a section of composition of the drug, use, contraindications, side effects, interactions with other drugs, dosage, mode of administration, duration of action, and actions. Depending on the drug, some monographs include information on pharmacological properties, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, use in pregnancy/lactation, and (I like this as a special section!) "effects on operators of vehicles and machinery". In addition, products which are NOT recommended for use have a final section entitled "Evaluation", which explains the reasoning. There are many charts and tables laying out uses/approved indications, taxonomic references, side effects, etc etc etc. This is not exactly your light bedtime reading, but it's a great reference.

I have worked with herbs for many decades and have shelves and shelves full of works on Herbs and Healing. The German Commission E Monographs is still an often used Reference that in my oppinion belongs on everyone's shelf who works with Herbs. True, it does not cover all that the herbs are capable of and due to lack of proof, many wonderful herbs are not approved, BUT, and this is most important, whatever you find in this book is scientifically proven and you can believe it. I VERY strongly recomend this book, and the CD as well. Whenever you explore a new herb, or need to know facts, check it out in the Commission E Monographs. Then you have a very good outline from where you can start to work with, and together with other herbals get to know and experiment to arrive at your own conclusion. And that is not to mention the inclusion of interaction with other drugs, side effects, mode of administration, active composition for each monograph and different chapters that cover all that is important. A MUST for every practitioner and professional. A MUST for Everyone involved in healing, period. If you can only buy one book on herbs, I would recomend this one. Herbs are gentle and effective healers as a rule. That does not mean that when handeled and prescribed wrong they can't be fatal and dangerous as well. Due to a long time of suppression, there's much information that is doubtful at best, plain wrong and harmful at worst. So even if it's not always approving old favorites, and not mentioning all properties of all herbs, it is an amazing work. Non Nonsense and you can count on everything it says to be true. Five Stars? No way, but that's the maximum available. I would give it many more if I could. But YOU be the judge. Check it out for yourself in a store if in doubt. But don't let this work pass you without giving it a chance. It is truly a treassure.

I love this book. I have yet to come across such a comprehensive manual that covers all of what we know about herbs to date. The German Commission E has been the leading group to study and report the beneficial effects and bad side effects, in some cases, of herbs since the 70's. With the explosion of alternative medicine in America, and with everybody and their brother claiming to be a nutritionist or herbalist (whatever that means) and understand herbs, we need a manual like this that tells the truth. This book also standardizes what the appropriate dosages of certain herbs are to help with certain ailments. I don't know about you, but I get a different dosage recommendation on every bottle and from every so called herbalist I meet. This is because the FDA does not require studies to be done on herbs and supplements in the US. Thus, we can only turn to what Germany has been doing for over 20 years to study these wonderful plants, because Germany does require that their use, dosage information and side effects be studied before they can be given to the public. Just because someone claims wonderful benefits from an herb or that it has been used for years does not mean there are no side effects. Marijuana and cocaine are natural and have been used for years too - I think the side effects have been well demonstrated. It is nice to have a reference that puts my mind to ease about whether what I'm putting in my body will help or harm me.

Very limited information in this book and it is not up to date. A great deal of more recent scientific research is not included.

If you want this type of book, the expanded version published in 2000 titled <<Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs>> is more complete, but it too has flaws, but not nearly as many as this book. I can't think of any reason to buy this book instead of <<Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs>>, unless for legal reasons one wants just the information from the Commission E Monographs and nothing more.

One very important difference between the Commission E Monographs and << Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs >> is the expanded book contains extensive references, photographs and additional resources. The Commission E Monographs contain none of the references used to evaluate the herb nor any photos.

Another related book is the << PDR for Herbal Medicines (Second Edition) >> it has considerably more monographs (700 herbs), but one serious flaw is the references are only listed at the end of each monograph. There is no way to know which reference a particular statement of fact came from. Thus it is very difficult to very a claim. At least the <<Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs>> cites the source with the body of the text so any fact or claim can be verified or clarified by going to the cited source. The PDR has more European references, especially German references (which will not be useful to the average non European unless they know German) compared to the Expanded Commission book.

Note, the third edition of the << PDR for Herbal Medicines >> has the references cited within the body of the text and the monographs are much expanded from the second edition. A fourth edition will soon be available.

Other than the above I have nothing new to say that the other reviewers haven't already said. I have met Paul Berger and I agree one hundred percent with his review for this book. He is an experienced clinical herbalist and published author with an excellent reputation.

The German equivalent of the FDA has a special section that approves or disapproves herbal medicines for sale, and states what claims may be made, and what cautions should be issued. The process for approval began more than 20 years ago, and approvals were finalized in the 1990s of a set of herbs. This book is a translation of the herb reports. The book is interesting historically, and perhaps legally, because here we have a modern industrialized country approving herbs for use, and not declaring them automatically to be either ineffective or dangerous without review, as is done by the US FDA. The book is almost useless, and sometimes dangerous for either the consumer or the herbal practitioner. The arcane rules and regulations of the commission have led to a book with bizarre contradictions and inconsistencies. Echinacea purpurea is approved for use. Echinacea angustifolia, the stronger herb in practice is not approved. To make matters more confusing, although Echiancea angustifolia is not approved, it is listed as contraindicated in autoimmune diseases because it might aggravate them. Which is it? Either it is an ineffective medicine or it is safe, it can't be both. The book is riddled with such inconsistencies. In some aspects of safety, the book is actually dangerous. In North American and British herbal practice, it is a common understanding that emmenagogue herbs (which promote menstrual flow) are contraindicated in early pregnancy. Several emmenagogues are described in the book, but none have any contraindication for pregnancy. In another matter, input into the monographs in the book was cut off in the early 1990s. A large body of research into herb side effects, and especially drug-herb interactions, has been published since that time, yet did not find its way into the book. The safety information is seriously out of date and incomplete. For reliability of the information, there is no way to check. By German law, the scientific references for the monographs are not available for review. This may be an important text in the history of herbal regulation in the modern world, but it is not recommended as a reference for common use.

This is an important work, helping to document the validity of herbal medicine. However, it is not an all-encompassing work and obviously isn't referenced. Nevertheless, the German Commission E's method of publishing monographs based on the information gathered from companies, researchers, and practitioners (but apparently kept confidential) serves a useful purpose. It is always helpful to consult this text to get some solid conformation for common traditional uses. Every practitioner and researcher should have this book, though it certainly cannot be used in a vacuum.

This book is a solid, science-based reference manual that will enable you to intelligently select your herbal remedies. Doses, contraindications, side effects, length of safe usage, etc- it's all in there. I also enjoy the inclusion of unapproved remedies that are included for their historical record of usage, but not necessarily "proven."

I had hoped this book could be my benchmark for herbal information. What I found was a book that was hard to use with little useful information. ... Otherwise, Facts and Comparisions' Review of Natural Products is a better choice.

The Complete German Commission E Monographs is a reference book that anyone dealing with natural medicine should have.

The knowledge gained from this book give one the tools to administer natural medicine in a much safer manner.

The book gives the uses,actions,doses,side effects,interactions with other medicines and contraindications.It also gives the duration of use for certain herbs.I highly recommend this book.

Cromwell Parris

If you work with Phythotherapy, you must have this book because it has real information. I believe that it is time to have the volume number wto. One is not enough.