Herb Alert

The efficacy and safety of herbal remedies for the menopause have once again come under fire in the press following a report in the journal Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (1).

‘As the report correctly points out there are many poor quality, unlicensed herbal remedies on the market,’ says Dr Dick Middleton, director and past chairman of the British Herbal Medicine Association.  But as the report goes on to say this is exactly why it is so important when buying herbal remedies to look for ones carrying a product licence (PL) number, or a traditional herbal remedy (THR) number on the product label.

‘This means that the herbal remedy had has been assessed for quality and safety by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), ‘explains Dr Middleton. ‘It will also contain an approved patient information leaflet explaining how the remedy should be taken and any possible side-effects or drug interactions,’ he adds.

At the moment in the UK the only product containing Black cohosh approved by the MHRA with a THR number is Menoherb.  Visit www.menoherb.co.uk for more information.

1.Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin 2009;47:2-6