Counseling cancer patients about herbal medicine

More than half of all cancer patients now use some form of complementary/al ternative medicine, yet the majority of these patients do not disclose this use to their physicians. Health care practitioners need to educate themsel ves about the complementary/alternative medicine products their patients ar e using. Eight herbal products (astragalus, essiac, Asian ginseng, Siberian ginseng, green tea, garlic, Horsey formula and iscador) commonly used by c ancer patients are reviewed here and a list of recommended reference texts is provided. In addition, health care providers are encouraged to initiate discussions about complementary/alternative products and therapies with the ir patients so that they may help them make safe and informed decisions abo ut these products. Not knowing what patients are taking is definitely a les s desirable option. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reser ved.