Botanical Medicine for Women's Health

710 Pages·2009·26.44 MB·English

by  Aviva Romm CPM RH(AHG)

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BOTANICALMEDICINEFORWOMEN’SHEALTH ISBN:978-0-443-07277-2
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Romm,AvivaJill.
Botanicalmedicineforwomen’shealth/AvivaRomm;forewordsbyMaryL.Hardy,
SimonMills.
p.;cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-443-07277-2(hardcover:alk.paper) 1. Women–Diseases–Alternative
treatment.2. Herbs–Therapeuticuse.
I.Title.
[DNLM:1. GenitalDiseases,Female–drugtherapy.2. Phytotherapy.
3. Pregnancy.4. Women’sHealth. WP140R766b2010]
RC48.6.R662010
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2009008683
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C
ONTRIBUTORS
Kathy Abascal, BS, JD, Herbalist RH (AHG) Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH
Vashon, Washington AssistantProfessor, Department of Family Medicine
Boston University Medical Center
Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO
Boston, Massachusetts
Naturopathic Oncologist
President, American Association of Naturopathic Wendy D Grube, MSN, CRNP, RH
Physicians Advanced SeniorLecturer
Naturopathic Specialists,LLC University of Pennsylvania Schoolof Nursing
Scottsdale, Arizona Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Bhaswati Bhattacharya, MD, MPH, MA Christopher Hobbs, LAc, AHG
CAM Advisory Council Chair Ph.D. Candidate(UC Berkeley)
New York, NewYork Co-founder, American HerbalistsGuild
Davis, California
Mary Bove, ND, RH, Dip Phytotherapy
Naturopathic FamilyMedicine practitioner David Hoffmann, BSc (Hons), FNIMH, AHG
Brattleboro Naturopathic Clinic California Schoolof Herbal Studies
Brattleboro, Vermont Forestville, California
Isla M. Burgess, Dip Herb Med Sheila Humphrey, BSc, RN, IBCLC
M.N.Z.A.M.H, DirectorInternational Collegeof Herbal LaLecheLeague Leader
Medicine www.HerbCollege.com OB-GYNNurse
Masters inHolistic Science (Student) MarineonSt. Croix,Minnesota
Schumacher College/University of Plymouth,
Angela J. Hywood, ND
Devon, England
Founderand CEO
Bevin Clare, MS, RH (AHG), CNS TonicAustralia
Clinical DivisionChair, Herbal Medicine Department Sydney, Australia,and Boston, Massachusetts
TaiSophia Institute
Laurel Lee, CNM, MSN, NP
Laurel, Maryland
Founder
Mitch Coven, BS, Herbalist LaurelLee Holistic Women’sHealthcare
President, CEO Portland, Oregon
Vitality Works,Inc.
Roberta Anne Lee, MD
Albuquerque, New Mexico
ViceChair, Department of IntegrativeMedicine
Robin Dipasquale, ND BethIsraelMedical Center
Chair, Botanical Medicine Department Boston, Massachusetts
Bastyr University
Clara A. Lennox, MD
Kenmore, Washington
Herbalist, Holisticand Family Medicine Practitioner
Margi Flint, BS, Herbalist Melrose, Massachusetts
Adjunct Professor, Tufts University Schoolof Medicine
Elizabeth Mazanec, MEd, CPM
Adjunct Professor, MassachusettsCollege of Pharmacy
Faculty, North ShoreCommunity College Founder/Director &Clinical Herbalist
Heaven&Earth Midwifery &Healing Arts Center
Founder, Earthsong Herbals
Leominster, Massachusetts
Marblehead, Massachusetts
Amanda McQuade Crawford, BA, MNIMH
Lisa Ganora, BS
AssociateDirector, International Collegeof Herbal
Adjunct Faculty
Southwest Collegeof Naturopathic Medicine Medicine
FoundingMember, AmericanHerbalists Guild
Louisville, Colorado
Founder,National Collegeof Phytotherapy
LosAngeles, California
vi
CONTRIBUTORS vii
Linda Ryan, RH (AHG), ND (Aus) David Winston, RH (AHG)
BHlthSc (ComplMed) Founder/Director, David Winston’sCenter for Herbal
Director,Natural PathwaysConsulting Studies
LakeOrion, Michigan President, Herbalist &Alchemist, Inc.
Broadway, NewJersey
Jillian E. Stansbury, BS, CMA, ND
Ownerand Medical Director,Battle GroundHealing Eric Yarnell, ND
Arts Assistant Professor, Department of Botanical Medicine,
Chair, BotanicalMedicine Department Bastyr University
Board of Directors, NaturalDoctors International Chief MedicalOfficer, Northwest Naturopathic Urology
Portland, Oregon, and BattleGround, Washington President, Botanical Medicine Academy
Chief FinancialOfficer, Healing MountainPublishing,
Ruth Trickey, ND, Dip Ac, FNHAA
Inc.
Herbalist, NaturalTherapist Vice President,Heron Botanicals, Inc.
Director,Melbourne Holistic Health Group Seattle, Washington
Adjunct Senior Lecturer,Department of Natural and
ComplementaryMedicine Suzanna M. Zick, ND, MPH
Southern Cross University,Lismore, NSW Assistant ResearchProfessor, Department of Family
Melbourne, Australia Medicine
Co-founder, Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Roy Upton, RH (AHG)
Research Center
Executive Director,American Herbal Pharmacopoeia(cid:2) University of Michigan
VicePresident, American HerbalistsGuild
AnnArbor, Michigan
Soquel, California
Susun S. Weed, Herbalist
Founder, WiseWoman Center
Editor-in-chief, Ash TreePublishing
Woodstock, NewYork
F
OREWORD
Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health is being published migratefromtheircountries oforigintomoreindustria-
at an interesting time and speaks simultaneously to a lized areas, they often bring their traditional practices
numberofconvergingconstituencies.Itisatimeofgrow- with them. In modern industrial countries, at least 20%
ing stress on both the medical system and the patient. to30%ofpeopleregularlyuseherbalmedicines.Forcer-
Medical care is in crisis with large numbers of under- tainconditions,suchasHIV,cancer,orotherchronicdis-
insured or uninsured patients needing care. Costs are eases, the numbers have reportedly been much higher.
rising from the practice of increasingly technical medi- Under-insured patients often substitute herbs or dietary
cine while patients complain of thedecreasing time and supplements for drugs because of poor access to care or
attentiontheyarereceivingfromtheirmedicalproviders. costof therapy.
Further, the burden of chronic disease is growing in an Thesestatisticsandexamplesreflectthetrendofincor-
aging population. In one response to these stressors, porating traditional healing systems into modern life,
patient interest is forcing inclusion of alternative medi- moving from self-treatment of self-limiting illness to
cines and philosophies into mainstream practice. thecareofchronicandmoreseriousmedicalconditions.
However, in the case of herbal medicine, incorporation Despitethefactthattheseusersarealsoactiveconsumers
into conventional medicine would represent the return of conventional medical services, they often do not dis-
to(pardonthepun)thedeepestrootsofourownmedical close their use of herbal medications to their medical
tradition. practitioners. This withholding arises from a number of
The lineageof herbalmedicineislong,distinguished, causes. Often cited by patients is the belief that most
and of great importance to Western medical tradition. physicianswillreactnegativelytotheuseofnaturalpro-
Herbal medicine has been a significant component of a ducts, or worse, that physicians are not knowledgeable
widearrayofhealingsystemsbeginningearlywiththose about thenaturalproducts patientsare interestedin.
ofEgypt,Mesopotamia,Greece,andIslamwhilecontinu- Ironically, despite the fact that herbalists have been
ing through the development of medical practice in advising patients on the use of phytomedicines for mil-
Medieval and modern Europe. Traditional medical prac- lenniaandpatientsareincreasingtheiruseofherbalpro-
tices from Asia and Indiaas well as Aboriginal traditions ducts, herbal practitioners in North America have not
oneverycontinenthavealsousedextensiveherbalphar- generally been incorporated into conventional medical
macopeias. Many of our modern pharmaceutical drugs practice. These practitioners and their practices have
owe their origins to herbal medicine with more than been largely invisible to the conventional system for a
one hundred of the most commonly used drugs derived variety of reasons. Patients may self-prescribe from an
directly orindirectly fromplants. exploding array of natural health products without the
Itisparticularlyappropriatethatthisbookfocuseson benefit of consultation with an herbalist. In traditional
theherbaltreatmentofwomen’sconditions.Historically, medical systems, other components may be more recog-
women, when given theopportunity totrain inmedical nized than the herbal therapy. For example, for
professions or to operate as lay practitioners, often Traditional Chinese Medicine as practiced in the West,
focused their care on women and their children—either acupuncture is better known and more broadly used
by choice or necessity. Often, the transmission of this than Chinese herbal medicine. Most importantly, in the
tradition was suppressed or marginalized and women UnitedStates,thepracticeofherbalmedicineisvariable,
had to use the products of the natural world around eclectic, and without standardization or licensure.
them rather than the often more toxic products favored Whetherornotthedevelopmentofstandardherbalprac-
bytheirconventionalcounterparts.Thus,women’smed- ticewouldrepresentadesirableoutcome,itisafactthat
icine, overseen by female goddesses like Isis or practiced muchofthepublicandmostconventionalmedicalprac-
byfemalepractitionerssuchasHildegardof Bingen,was titioners are largely uninformed about what constitutes
largelybasedonherbaltherapies.Infact,rarelywerethe appropriate training for herbalists and what their appro-
contributions of these female herbalists recognized by priatescope of practice should be.
conventional medical history. So, for example, the ‘‘dis- Thus, the clash of cultures and lack of understanding
covery’’offoxgloveasatreatmentforcardiacconditions inherentinthecrisisofourcurrentmedicalsystemoffer
isattributedtoSirWilliamWitheringandhissource,the our greatest opportunity. We will need our traditional
old lady of Shropshire, is largely forgotten. Thus, I am knowledge to care for our aging population. Our tradi-
particularly satisfied that this important herbal textbook tional practitioners will have the opportunity to
isgivingseriousandscholarlyconsiderationtothistradi- become more closely integrated into the conventional
tional practice. medical model, and thus reach a broader array of
But herbal medicine is not a dead or esoteric art. The patients. Better communication between paradigms and
WorldHealthOrganizationestimatesthat80%ofpeople practitioners is crucial if we are going to meet the needs
in developing countries depend on herbal medicine and ofourpatientsandaddressthegrowing problemsinour
traditionalpractitionersfortheirprimarycare.Aspeople medical system. This book, and hopefully others like it,
viii
FOREWORD ix
willaidthisprocessbycontributingtoourmutualunder- Itismyhopethatinthecrisisofmodernmedicine,we
standing.Thecarefulexplicationofthepracticeoftradi- all take the opportunity this book offers to learn from
tional herbal medicine will be valuable to conventional other systems and perhaps reclaim some of the values
practitionersattemptingtofilltheirknowledgegapsand that have always been at the heart of the practice of the
advise their patients appropriately. On the other hand, art of medicine.
the inclusion of information from the Western conven- MaryLHardy,MD
tional paradigm, especially involving physiology or con- Simms/Mann-UCLACenterforIntegrativeOncology
ventional treatment, will help orient the traditional UniversityofCalifornia
LosAngeles,California
practitioner tomore conventional medical concerns.
June2008