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Call for Doctor John

Dr John

While I no longer want to compare this site with the old one I did find on the old one some usefull additions that I think would be of utmost help to some here.

Those are a medical encyclopedia as well as a drug site where the side effects of drugs are listed.

I was reading in the Stroke forum there and someone was asking about Valerian and was one of the side effects a higher blood pressure reading. I looked on the net and found nothling specific.

I don't want to go over to the other site to see but I thilnk I may just have to do it as a higher blood pressure is dangerous for those who have had a stroke.

What say you if possible that these additions be made here.

thank you for reading and taking the time to respond?

In anticipation Best regards Thelma

Hi Thelma,
We do have a Medications forum.
here is the link to the useful sticky for it-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=2864

I just added a group of Medication Links to those that were there already.
There might be some others on the Vitamins, Nutrients, Herbs and Supplements forum too.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

So much Jo they will be usefull,haqrd to sort through book with bad hands.
:hug: Sue

Many herbs today have vague general warnings posted about them, because studies have not thoroughly been done concerning them.

You often see~~
do not use if pregnant
do not use if you take blood thinners
do not use if you have high blood pressure
do not use in small children
etc
and discuss with your doctor (but this is not always a valid statement since many physicians haven't got a clue)

Here is an up to date monograph on Valerian:
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Valerian.asp

Quote:

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, researchers evaluated sleep parameters with polysomnographic techniques that monitored sleep stages, sleep latency, and total sleep time to objectively measure sleep quality and stages [17]. Questionnaires were used for subjective measurement of sleep parameters. Sixteen participants with medically documented nonorganic insomnia were randomly assigned to receive either a single dose and a 14-day administration of 600 mg of a standardized commercial preparation of valerian (LI 156) or placebo. Valerian had no effect on any of the 15 objective or subjective measurements except for a decrease in slow-wave sleep onset (13.5 minutes) compared with placebo (21.3 minutes). During slow-wave sleep, arousability, skeletal muscle tone, heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory frequency decreased. ...
Can valerian be harmful?
Few adverse events attributable to valerian have been reported for clinical study participants. Headaches, dizziness, pruritus, and gastrointestinal disturbances are the most common effects reported in clinical trials but similar effects were also reported for the placebo [14-17]. In one study an increase in sleepiness was noted the morning after 900 mg of valerian was taken [14]. Investigators from another study concluded that 600 mg of valerian (LI 156) did not have a clinically significant effect on reaction time, alertness, and concentration the morning after ingestion [27]. Several case reports described adverse effects, but in one case where suicide was attempted with a massive overdose it is not possible to clearly attribute the symptoms to valerian [28-31].

Here is another:

Quote:

Safety Issues

Valerian is on the FDA's GRAS (generally recognized as safe) list and is approved for use as a food. In animals, it takes enormous doses of valerian to produce any serious adverse effects.25 Valerian has shown an excellent safety profile in clinical trials.64.....There have been no reported drug interactions with valerian, and two studies found reasons to believe that valerian should not raise or lower the blood levels of too many medications.55,60 Nonetheless, there are at least theoretical concerns that valerian might amplify the effects of sedative drugs. A 1995 study was somewhat reassuring on this score because it found no interaction between alcohol and valerian.40 However, animal studies have found that valerian extracts may prolong the effects of some sedatives,41,42 and there have been some worrisome case reports suggesting that the combination of valerian and alcohol can lead to excessive sedation in some people.50 For this reason, we recommend that you do not combine valerian with central nervous system depressants except under doctor’s supervision.

from http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetCo...chunkiid=21879

both of these links are excellent resources.

Here is another source:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/valerian-000279.htm
This one goes into detail about paradoxical reactions. Since Valerian is sometimes called mini-Valium it has often been thought
to have some compounds that act like benzodiazepines. This family of drugs does cause paradoxical excitation in a rare group of people with mental disorders.

Quote:

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) gives valerian a class 1 safety rating, which indicates that it is a safe herb with a wide dosage range.

Nevertheless, some people have a "paradoxical reaction" to valerian. This means that instead of feeling calm or sleepy, they suddenly feel nervous, anxious, and restless after they take valerian and may experience palpitations (a feeling of a racing heart).

This website is also very good and has an overview explaining herbs:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/h...ine-000351.htm
and http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ general index

Herbs are mini-drugs, and should be approached with that in mind. Use on a very reputable supplier, as contaminants are common.

Are you asking for links to be added somewhere to our site to these two resources? I couldn't find a medical encyclopedia (just a dictionary, that, while interesting, was confusing for me to use because of where they placed their google ads). Here's the drug info link:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html

The dictionary is here:

http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/omd/

if I am understanding correctly, i think Thelma is referring to having a link at the top of each page that would lead to a good medical encyclopedia with drug interaction references etc

the ones linked at the top of all pages on "the old site" ;) are as follows

Public Library of Science | Dictionary & Thesaurus | Medical Dictionary | PubMed | Drug Info |

I personally find The Health Encyclopedia at iHerb very good to find potential interactions between drugs and herbs and a whole lot more

hope I understood what you were requesting correctly, Thelma :)

in my opinion...

It would be nice to have PubMed linking, and a medical dictionary or whatever reference is available free.

But you know general sites like that do not often answer detailed questions, like this valerian example. I think that is what this whole board is for, posing questions for help.

But a medical dictionary would be nice for those who are reading their medical reports etc... And PubMed is really nice since studies are there.
If a link bar is created, I'd suggest linking our photo album there too, since it is rather buried in the quick links and people may not find or discover it there.

JMO.

These may already be posted somewhere... but in addition to the site on Iherb, I sometimes check:
PDRhealth (prescription drugs)
PDRhealth (over the counter)
PDRhealth (supplements)

This one can be interesting, too, based on patient input~
http://www.askapatient.com/index.asp

Thanks for the links (on top right of screen), DocJohn!

KD

Our Photo Gallery • PubMed • Drugs • Medical Dictionary is available now.

Thank You, Thank You, Doc John!

This is megamondokool!:You-Rock: