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http://clusty.com/search?input-form=simple-clusty&query=Before+using+an+herb+you+are+unfamiliar+with%2C+find+out+its+medicinal+properties.+Research+it+thoroughly+and%2For+consult+with+an+appropriately+qualified

HERBAL SAFETY GUIDELINES

Before using an herb you are unfamiliar with, find out its medicinal properties. Research it thoroughly and/or consult with an appropriately qualified practitioner or expert. If you are taking prescription drugs, or have a medical condition check with an appropriately qualified practitioner before using herbs medicinally. Herbs have shown overwhelming evidence that they work. Just because a small amount works well does NOT mean that more is better. As individuals we all have different constitutions, sensitivities, allergic reactions and possible health conditions. The following are merely guidelines. They include herbs offered on our websites. This list does not help with administering information on possible interactions and contraindications with prescription medicine. This needs to be discussed with your physician.

SHOULD I CHECK WITH MY DOCTOR OR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER BEFORE USING A SUPPLEMENT?
This is a good idea, especially for certain population groups. Dietary supplements may not be risk-free under certain circumstances. If you are pregnant, nursing a baby, or have a chronic medical condition, such as, diabetes, hypertension or heart disease, be sure to consult your doctor or pharmacist before purchasing or taking any supplement. While vitamin and mineral supplements are widely used and generally considered safe, you may wish to check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking these or any other dietary supplements. If you plan to use a dietary supplement in place of drugs or in combination with any drug, tell your health care provider first. Many supplements contain active ingredients that have strong biological effects and their safety is not always assured in all users. If you have certain health conditions and take these products, you may be placing yourself at risk

SOME SUPPLEMENTS MAY INTERACT WITH PRESCRIPTION AND OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICINES.
Taking a combination of supplements or using these products together with medications (whether prescription or OTC drugs) could under certain circumstances produce adverse effects. Be alert to advisories about these products, whether taken alone or in combination. For example: Coumadin (a prescription medicine), ginkgo biloba (an herbal supplement), aspirin (an OTC drug) and vitamin E (a vitamin supplement) can each thin the blood, and taking any of these products together can increase the potential for internal bleeding.

SOME SUPPLMENTS CAN HAVE UNWATED EFFECTS DURING SURGERY.
It is important to fully inform your doctor about the vitamins, minerals, herbals or any other supplements you are taking, especially before elective surgery. You may be asked to stop taking these products at least 2-3 weeks ahead of the procedure to avoid potentially dangerous supplement/drug interactions -- such as changes in heart rate, blood pressure and increased bleeding - that could adversely affect the outcome of your surgery.

NOT TO BE USED DURING PREGNANCY, OR IF YOU ARE NURSING:
Alkanet, Aloe, Angelica, Anise, Anise Star, Arnica, Ashwaganda, Barley Grass, Barberry, Basil, Bitter Melon, Black Cohosh, Bladderwrack, Blessed Thistle, Blood Root, Blue Cohosh, Blue Flag, Blue Vervain, Borage, Buckthorn, California Poppy, Cascara Sagrada, Catnip, Celandine, Celery, Chervil, Cinnamon, Club Moss, Comfrey, Coltsfoot, Cubeb, Dong Quai, Elecampane, Ephedra, False Unicorn, Fenugreek, Feverfew, Ginger, Golden Seal, Gravel, Guarana, Gymnema, Horehound, Horsetail, Hyssop, Juniper, Lemongrass, Licorice, Lobelia, Lovage, Lungwort, Mace, Motherwort, Mugwort, Muira Puama, Myrrh, Neem, Oregon Grape, Osha, Parsley, Pennyroyal, Pleurisy, Prickly Ash, Red Clover, Rhodiola, Rosemary, Rue, Sage, Sassafras, Sarsaparilla, Senna, Shepherds Purse, Spikenard, Turkey Rhubarb, Turmeric, Uva Ursi, Vitex, Watercress, White Sage, Wormwood, Yarrow

NOT FOR PERSONS WITH HISTORY OF KIDNEY STONES, LIVER DISORDERS, RENAL DYSFUNCTION OR INFLAMMATION.
Cubeb, Essiac, Horsetail, Hydrangea, Juniper Berries, Kava Kava, Parsley Root, Pennyroyal, Sheep Sorrel, Shepherds Purse, Suma, Sumac, Uva Ursi, Yellowdock, Yohimbe

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PERSON CURRENTLY TAKING BLOOD THINNING MEDICATIONS:
Alfalfa, Angelica, Cramp Bark, Cubeb, Dong Quai, Ginkgo, Meadowsweet, Red Clover, Sarsaparilla, Yohimbe

NOT FOR PERSONS WITH STOMACH INFLAMMATION/ULCERS SERIOUS DIGESTION AND/OR LIVER PROBLEMS. MAY CAUSE GASTROINTESTINAL UPSET:
Black Haw, Blue Flag, Chaparral, Club Moss, Crampbark, Devils Claw, Eucalyptus, Elecampane, Essiac, Gentian, Ginger, Licorice, Lobelia, Parsley Root, Pleurisy, Pygeum, Solomans Seal, Tribulus, Turmeric, Yohimbe

NOT FOR LONG-TERM USE:
Bilberry Leaf, Black Walnut, Blessed thistle, Borage, Cascara Sagrada, Comfrey, Coltsfoot, Chaparral, Elecampane, Ephedra, Flax, Horsetail, Gentian, Goldenseal, Guarana, Juniper berries, Licorice, Lobelia, Lungwort, Mullein, Nettle Root, Rhubarb, Sage, Sassafras, Sarsaparilla, Senna, Sheep Sorrel, Wild Cherry, Wormwood, Uva Ursi, Yohimbe

TO BE USED ONLY UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF AN EXPERT QUALIFIED IN THE APPROPRIATE USE OF THIS SUBSTANCE:
Calamus, Horse Chestnut, Lobelia, Licorice, Mandrake, Poke, Tonka

DO NOT USE IF YOU HAVE ABDOMINAL PAIN OR DIARRHEA, DISCONTINUE IF THESE OCCUR. CONSULT HEALTH PRACTITIONER PRIOR TO USE IF PREGNANT, NURSING, AND TAKING MEDICATION OR HAVE A MEDICAL CONDITION. DO NOT EXCEED RECOMMENDED DOSE. NOT FOR LONG TERM USE:
Aloe, Buckthorn, Cascara Sagrada, Senna, Turkey Rhubarb, Yohimbe

MAY CAUSE PHOTO TOXICITY IN SOME INDIVIDUALS AT HIGH DOSAGE. AVOID LONG EXPOSURE TO SUN IF USING INTERNALLY:
Angelica, Celery Seed, Orange Peel, Rue, St. Johns Wort

SEEK ADVICE FROM HEALTH PRACTITIONER PRIOR TO USE IF PREGNANT, NURSING, HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART OR THYROID DISEASE, DIABETES, DIFFICULTY IN URINATION DUE TO PROSTATE ENLARGEMENT, OR IF TAKING MAO INHIBITOR OR OTHER PRESCRIPTION DRUG. REDUCE/DISCONTINUE USE IF NERVOUSNESS, TREMOR, SLEEPLESSNESS, LOSS OF APPETITE OR NAUSEA OCCUR. DO NOT EXCEED RECOMMENDED DOSE. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN:
Ephedra, St. Johns Wort, Yohimbe

SEEK ADVICE FROM A HEALTH PRACTITIONER BEFORE USE IF YOU HAVE/MAY HAVE HAD KIDNEY OR LIVER DISEASE. DISCONTINUE USE IF NAUSEA, FEVER, FATIGUE OR JAUNDICE (DARK URINE, YELLOW DISCOLORATION OF EYES) SHOULD OCCUR:
Boldo, Chaparral

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http://herbalgram.org/ogdenpress/CommissionE/monographexplanation.html

Duration of Administration   (back to top)

The amount of time that a person consumes any medicine, natural or synthetic, is of considerable therapeutic relevance. Accordingly, Commission E has limited the period of use of 45 approved herbal drugs. The old monograph format contains a Duration of Use section after the Mode of Administration section; the new format contains this information in the Special Cautions for Use section found under the Clinical Data heading.

The Commission stipulated either specific ranges of use or a maximum period of use for the approved remedy. This was done for two reasons. First, there were safety concerns; second, in several of the monographs, duration of use was specified as either a minimum or optimum period required for the botanical to provide effective beneficial action. Examples include Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract (six to eight weeks minimum use, depending on the indication), Ginseng root (up to three months with a repeated regimen being "feasible"), and Hawthorn leaf with flower (six weeks minimum).

Regarding issues of safety, of particular note is the limitation of the use of stimulant laxatives (Aloe, Buckthorn bark and berry, Cascara Sagrada, Senna leaf and pod, and Rhubarb root) for a period not to exceed one to two weeks. With respect to herbal drugs used for diarrhea (Bilberry fruit, Blackberry leaf, Jambolan bark, Lady's Mantle, Psyllium seed (Approved - Approved) and husk, etc.), the monographs suggest that if the diarrhea persists more than three to four days, a physician must be consulted. Licorice root preparations with a content of 300 mg glycyrrhizin should not exceed four to six weeks. With respect to the popular herb Uva Ursi, used as a urinary tract antiseptic, Commission E stipulates that medicines containing the chemical arbutin should not be taken more than one week or more than five times per year.

For herbs containing hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) (Comfrey leaf and herb, Comfrey root, Petasites root) a duration not to exceed four to six weeks is advised. In both Comfrey monographs the PA level is required to be no more than 100 micrograms per dose; the Comfrey preparations are approved for external use only. In the German market there are specially cultivated varieties (cultivars) of Comfrey that do not contain PAs (Schilcher, 1997b). At any rate, the 100 micrograms PA in the Comfrey monographs is limited to external use only, whereas the monograph for Petasites root is limited to only 1 microgram PA, due to its approval for internal use.

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http://www.herbs2000.com/miss/tannins.htm

Other related examples of polyphenols are arbutin from uva ursi (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), rugosin-D from meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), and sanguin H-6 from raspberry leaves (Rubus idaeus).

All tannins have a number of properties in common:

• they are soluble in water and alcohols, but not in organic solvents
• they form precipitates with proteins (especially proline-rich proteins like gelatine and salivary proteins), nitrogenous bases, polysaccharides, some alkaloids and a few glycosides (they have been used therapeutically as antidotes to alkaloidal poisoning on the basis of their ability to form insoluble tannates with them -incidentally only dilute solutions of tannins are necessary for this job)
• much of the tannins ingested remains unabsorbed in the gut but a variable proportion reaches the body fluids as soluble tannate and is excreted by the kidney as such.

These properties bear significantly on the application of tannin-rich plants as remedial agents. These have been popular in most traditions, particularly for treating wounds and burns. Here their ability to complex with exposed tissues to form a tough impermeable 'leather' film has obvious advantages in protecting the wound from further harm and infection and hastening underlying healing. With third-degree burns the use of very strong tannin sources is the most effective traditional technique for preventing septicaemia and saving life. Pouring a strong decoction of tannin-rich material on the open flesh produces a sealing 'eschar' that provides almost a temporary new skin. The technique is still applied in rural China as part of the primary health-care system, and it is recommended as a first-aid measure where emergency services are defective. The technique involves repeated washings with the tannins. A useful bonus is provided by the fact that bacteria are killed by such exposure, so that tannins can be considered locally antiseptic too.

Taken internally, these properties are carried to the wall of the gut: tannins 'curdle' mucus secretions, and contract or pucker the exposed cell walls of the lining epithelial membranes and so further inhibit cellular secretions. With the slender boundary between outside and interior found in the gut wall, the tannins' anti-inflammatory effect (involving lymph stasis and neutralization of autolytic enzymes) is more pronounced so that it finds particular application in controlling the symptoms of gastritis, enteritis, oesophagitis and inflammatory bowel problems.

The traditional application of tannin remedies for controlling diarrhea is an example of this: in rural circumstances most diarrhea (and this symptom is the main proximal cause of death in most of the world) is caused by inflammation or irritation in the small intestine - enteritis. The diarrhea, of course, involves the large bowel but this is a reflex response originating higher up and designed to remove the offending material as speedily as possible. Although diarrhea in this sense is a healthy response, it can, if prolonged, lead to dehydration and death very quickly. To control its ferocity, the use of good astringent remedies is indicated, and these work, not by 'stopping up' the flow, but by reducing the inflammation up in the small intestine.

In modern developed societies looseness of the bowel is often due to other causes than small-bowel infection, and these can include bowel spasm and degenerative inflammatory disease of the small or large bowel. Clearly the uses of tannins may be limited in such cases: however, as long as there is some local irritation involved, there is the chance that tannins will reduce the intensity of the reflex intestinal hurry. Although the application is a purely symptomatic one it differs from the use of such agents as kaolin and morphine by actually encouraging healing of the affected bowel wall, and some checking of any unwelcome pathogenic population.

Such beneficial effects of tannins in the bowel should be balanced against possible problems in their widespread use. It was noted that tannins form precipitates with all proteins. These include dietary proteins, of course. Once precipitated such protein-tannin complexes are far less likely to be absorbed into the bloodstream as they become resistant to the action of digestive enzymes. This fact should limit the time in which tannin-rich remedies are used. More importantly it casts a shadow over the widespread use of coffee and particularly tea. The astringent taste of over-steeped tea is familiar, and it is generally recommended that tea should be taken only lightly brewed. The whole picture is typically complex: caffeine, as an alkaloid, is also complexed by tannin -this means that it is less available to the body in the more tannin-rich tea than in coffee. There may even be advantages in the tannin effect: it is known that milk added to tea permanently changes its quality. This involves the formation of complexes with the milk proteins; for those allergic to cow's milk this may mean that milk taken in tea is acceptable (however, this should not be taken for granted); conversely, adding milk to tea's tannins effectively engages them so that they can do less to other proteins in the digestive tract.

Interference can also occur between tannins and alkaloidal and other pharmacological constituents: one must therefore expect some reduced activity in some plants if they contain high levels of tannin or if tannin-rich remedies are added to them in the same mixture.

Tannins are like mucilages in that they work as astringents only at point of contact, on the surface or on the gut wall. They have no appreciable astringent action on internal organs or tissues, although astringent plants may contain other constituents with this function.

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http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/AR/arbutin.html

Safety (MSDS) data for arbutin

General

Synonyms: hydroquinone-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 4-hydroxyphenyl-beta-D-pyranoside, arbutine
Molecular formula: C₁₂H₁₆O₇
CAS No: 497-76-7
EINECS No: 207-850-3

Toxicology

No toxicological data available.

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