Abstract
Herbal remedies are used in the treatment of menstrual irregularities, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), dysmenorrhea, and menopausal complaints in cases where stronger-acting drugs are not indicated or are declined by the patient. Two medicinal plants stand out in the frequency with which they are prescribed for gynecologic complaints: chasteberries (used chiefly for PMS) and black cohosh rhizome (used principally for menopausal complaints) (Schwabe and Rabe, 1998). Table 7.1 also lists four other herbs recommended by the German Commission E as having gynecologic indications. It can be seen that the range of recommended dosages (column 3 in Table 7.1) is greater for gynecologic herbal remedies than for any other class of phytomedicenes. Some of the dosages are many times lower than the traditional single dose of about 1–4 g of crude drug (i.e., dried herbal material) taken in a cup of medicinal tea. There is an urgent need for pharmacologic and clinical studies to investigate the dose-dependency of the actions and efficacy of these herbal drugs.
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Schulz, V., Hänsel, R., Blumenthal, M., Tyler, V.E. (2004). Gynecologic Indications for Herbal Remedies. In: Rational Phytotherapy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-09666-6_7
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