Issue:
94
Page: 12
The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs Now Available Online: Electronic Publication Enriches Comprehensive Herbal Reference Book
by Gayle Engels, Lindsay Stafford
HerbalGram.
2012; American Botanical Council
The American
Botanical Council (ABC) recently announced online publication of The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs at www.herbalgram.org. Originally released as a reference
book in 2003, The Guide is a 400-plus
page, science-based, peer-reviewed text containing complete therapeutic
monographs and clinical study details on 30 of the best-selling herbs in the
United States at that time. Most of these herbs are still present on the lists
of top-selling herbs used as teas or dietary supplements.
Adding the Guide to
ABC’s online resources always has been part of the organization’s web content
plan, as was the case with the online versions of ABC’s first 2 books: The Complete
German Commission E Monographs–Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines (1998) and
Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission
E Monographs (2000). Online publication of The Guide helps carry out ABC’s nonprofit educational mission to
make as much credible information on herbs and phytomedicines available to the
widest audience as possible.
ABC members who use
the online Guide will benefit from the electronic version’s global and advanced
search functions and enhanced interactivity, which enables users to view any
specific section of the Guide by simply clicking their selection from the
hyperlinked Table of Contents. The user can also download PDFs of the full
monographs—including the main monograph, the clinical overview, and the patient
information sheet for each herb—as well as PDFs of the proprietary product
monographs.
Because the book was
published in 2003, ABC has taken the opportunity to correct any typographical
errors, and also has updated and revised several sections. The “Accreditation
for Continuing Education” page, for example, has been updated and the expired
test and applications for continuing education credit are no longer available.
Several parts of the online version also link to more recent information. The
outdated “Introduction on Recent Market and Consumer Use Information” and
“Top-Selling Herbal Supplements in Food, Drug, and Mass Market Retail Outlets”
sections now link to the Market Report section of ABC’s printed, peer-reviewed
journal, HerbalGram, so that the user
will always have access to the most recent data.
Additionally, ABC has
clarified that the Recent Studies were recent “as of April 2003” and provide
links to HerbalGram and HerbClips
online for information on new research developments and relevant breaking news.
Additionally, the online Guide now states that Company Contact information in
the Branded Products sections of the monographs and in the Appendix was current
“as of April 2003” and has not been updated due to the ease of using Internet
search engines to find up-to-date and revised contact information for
clinically tested branded product manufacturers.
A benefit of ABC
membership at the Professional level and above, the online Clinical Guide can
be accessed on ABC’s homepage by clicking the “ABC Guide” link, located on the
left side of the page, or the “Programs & Services” link, at the top of the
homepage. For a limited time, ABC is offering members at the Individual and
Academic levels the opportunity to upgrade to the Professional level at a 20%
discounted rate. For more information, contact ABC’s membership department.
—Gayle Engels and Lindsay Stafford
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