title: Current progress in the use of traditional medicines and nutraceuticals.
abstract: Traditional medicines in the form of botanical dietary supplements and nutraceuticals have found a place in 21st century healthcare. They nonetheless all contain compounds that are foreign to humans (i.e. xenobiotics) and that are subject to the same pharmacological issues encountered by synthetic therapeutic agents. It is crucial therefore for all parties, the medical profession, investigative scientists, the regulatory agencies and the public, to understand the particular characteristics of botanicals and nutraceuticals and their potential for success and failure in preventing and confronting disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, McCallum Research Building, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1918 University Boulevard, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA. sbarnes@uab.edu
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Jeevan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prasain
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity