The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7296 p517
24 April 2004

Valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in the safe, effective use of herbs

‘ESCOP Monographs: the scientific foundation for herbal medicinal products’, 2nd edition, by the European Scientific Co-operative On Phytotherapy. Pp 568. Price €125. Exeter/Stuttgart: ESCOP/Thieme Medical Publishers; 2003. ISBN 1 901964 07 8

In 1989, the European Scientific Co-operative On Phytotherapy founded a scientific committee consisting of academics, practitioners and producers of herbal medicine, with the remit of presenting to the European Union the scientific case for the official recognition of herbal materials as medicinal substances. The result has been an admirable example of Europeans working together and the ESCOP initiative has probably been an important factor in the introduction of the new classification of “Medicines based on traditional use” directive which is currently passing through the European Parliament. An important part of their work, achieved on a purely voluntary basis, has been the formulation of 80 “monographs” which give a detailed review of the literature dealing with the pharmacology, clinical use, toxicology and related factors of each herb covered. The monographs generally cover European and North American plants used in European herbal medicine but some more recent introductions from other cultures, eg, ginkgo, are also covered because of their widespread use in phytotherapy and in self-medication.

It can no longer be claimed that herbal products have no means by which to be scientifically appraised because several good quality publications have been issued over the past 10 years, among which this book should be included. It covers much of the same material and period of literature cited as the second edition of ‘Herbal medicines’ by Barnes, Anderson and Phillipson (Pharmaceutical Press) so there is considerable overlap. However, I counted almost 20 pieces of material not covered in ‘Herbal medicines’ and the amount of clinical data is arguably greater in the ESCOP monographs. In a field where much research is in progress, a work such as this is inevitably out of date as soon as it is published and some monographs, eg, for St John’s wort, have more recent references (up to 2002) than others (eg, sage), depending on when the last revision took place. These facts should not, however, disguise the fact that this book will be a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in the safe, effective use of herbs. It should be useful to community pharmacists, who increasingly will be consulted about the safety and efficacy of herbs, as well as academics, information pharmacists and other members of the medical, pharmaceutical and nursing professions.


Peter J. Houghton

Peter Houghton is professor in pharmacognosy at the Department of Pharmacy, King's College London