title: Problems in the use of herbal and natural substances, with a specific example concerning the cardiovascular system.
abstract: 1. There has been increasing awareness and use of natural preparations for health purposes by consumers. 2. However, recent studies have repeatedly shown that many natural products marketed as nutraceuticals or health food do not deliver the health benefit as claimed and are inconsistent from batch to batch. 3. The present paper describes the scientific rationale of such inconsistency and uses an antihypertensive preparation as an example to demonstrate the significant value of natural products if developed scientifically and properly.
authors.affiliation: International Research and Development Program on Traditional Chinese and Natural Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. peter@cvtechnologies.com
authors.forename: Peter K T
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benishin
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lewanczuk
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001685:Biological Factors / Q000097:blood; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000187:drug effects*; D002356:Cartilage; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012754:Sharks; D014020:Tissue Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D001685:Biological Factors; D010936:Plant Extracts; D028321:Plant Preparations; D014020:Tissue Extracts; C064505:parathyroid hypertensive factor