Herbal Resources on the Internet

ABSTRACT

Available information on medicinal herbs is often exaggerated, anecdotal, or just wrong, and the growth of the World Wide Web has exacerbated the problem. However, the growing interest in alternative/complementary medicine by the U.S. public and the mainstream medical community has spurred new attempts to apply scientific principles to the analysis of herbal products and to disseminate more accurate information on their use and efficacy. This article identifies and describes important Web sites that provide access to information on herbs. Emphasis is on English-language information for popular Western herbs such as Echinacea and St. John's Wort, highlighting sites trying to bring traditional herbal knowledge into the mainstream of medical practice.

Key Words:

• Herbs
• herbal medicine
• phytomedicinals
• World Wide Web
• alternative medicine