Herbal medicine and cancer: an introductory overview.

摘要

OBJECTIVES: To present Western herbal medicine from the perspective of a food derived from mainstream medicine. Historical, political, and regulatory aspects of herbal medicine in the United States; core principles of herbal medicine in terms of the natural link between food and medicine; dietary chemopreventive plant compounds in the form of herbal medicines; and herb-drug interactions are briefly discussed, with an emphasis on beneficial interactions with conventional chemotherapy. DATA SOURCES: Literature on dietary chemopreventive compounds; phytotherapeutic training and clinical practice. CONCLUSION: Botanical medicine, based on dietary chemopreventive compounds plays an important role in integrative cancer treatment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Knowledge of the differences between herbal and conventional medicine in terms of a food, medicine, and poison model will help nurses facilitate patient decision-making choices in integrative cancer treatment.