Unique aspects of herbal whole system research

Suzanna M Zick; Herbert Schwabl; Andrew Flower; Bibhas Chakraborty; Kristine Hirschkorn

doi:10.1016/j.explore.2008.12.001

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Unique aspects of herbal whole system research

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Unique aspects of herbal whole system research

Suzanna M Zick, Herbert Schwabl, Andrew Flower, Bibhas Chakraborty and Kristine Hirschkorn

Explore (New York, N.Y.), Vol.5(2), pp.97-103

03/2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2008.12.001

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/116087

PMCID: PMC2685174

PMID: 19272580

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2008.12.001View

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Abstract

Congresses as Topic

Herbal Medicine - methods

Holistic Health

Plant Extracts

Humans

Biomedical Research - organization & administration

Clinical Trials as Topic

International Cooperation

Phytotherapy - methods

Evidence-Based Medicine

Research Design

Whole systems of healthcare offer unique methodological and theoretical challenges for researchers. Herbalism has its own set of methodological and philosophical research issues that are beyond those presented for whole system research in general. It was our objective to explore various conceptual and methodological issues surrounding whole system herbal research. An International Society for Complementary Medicine Research workshop, Challenges in Herbal Whole System Research, was presented. Starting from a definition of herbalism, the most important challenges to herbal whole system research were elicited with inputs from both the workshop presenters and the audience. Five major challenges unique to herbal whole system research were identified: (1) defining herbalists and herbalism, (2) the role of the natural products industry in herbal research, (3) designing placebos and delivering active herbal treatments as given by herbalists, (4) researching the herb as a living entity, and (5) designing trials to investigate and develop multicomponent herbal therapies. Unique methods and theoretical frameworks are required to design studies of herbalism. Solutions to these methodological challenges need to be addressed to conduct research that examines herbal systems of medicine versus conducting trials on individual herbs given out of their original therapeutic context.

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Title: Unique aspects of herbal whole system research
Creators: Suzanna M Zick - Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. szick@umich.edu
Herbert Schwabl
Andrew Flower
Bibhas Chakraborty
Kristine Hirschkorn
Publication Details: Explore (New York, N.Y.), Vol.5(2), pp.97-103
Publisher: United States
Grant note: K07 CA102592 / NCI NIH HHS K07 CA102592-01A2 / NCI NIH HHS R21 DA019800 / NIDA NIH HHS K02 DA015674 / NIDA NIH HHS P50 DA010075 / NIDA NIH HHS P50 CA101451 / NCI NIH HHS
Identifiers: 99900547440201842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article