Herbal Medicines, Homeopathy, & Dietary Supplements

Biological Abstracts
IBIDS (International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements)
International Pharmaceutical Abstacts (IPA)
MICROMEDEX
PubMed (free version of MEDLINE) - Also consider limiting your search results to the Complementary Medicine subset

The following is a list of selected journals available on the UW-Madison campus. Click on the link to view location information in MadCat, the online catalog.

The following is a list of selected books available on the UW-Madison campus. Click on the link to view location information in MadCat, the online catalog.

The Complete German Commission E Monographs [electronic and print holdings]
Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs [electronic and print holdings]
Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database [print holdings]
PDR for Herbal Medicines [print holdings]
PDR for Nutritional Supplements [print holdings]
Tyler's Herbs of Choice: The Therapeutic Use of Phytomedicinals [print holdings]
The United States Pharmacopeia. The National formulary [print holdings]

American Botanical Council
American Herbalists Guild
Association of Natural Medicine Pharmacists
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN): Dietary Supplements
DrugDigest.Org (consumer information)
Herb Research Foundation
Homeopathy: Real Medicine or Empty Promises? (FDA document)
HomeoWatch: Your Skeptical Guide to Homeopathic History, Theories, and Current Practices
MedlinePlus: Herbal Medicine (consumer information)
MedlinePlus: Vitamins (consumer information)
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
NutriWatch: Your Guide to Sensible Nutrition
Office of Dietary Supplements (National Institutes of Health)
Rosenthal Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine: Botanical Medicine Information Resources

Scope

Herbal Medicines:The study of medicines derived from botanical sources.

Homeopathy: A system of therapeutics founded by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), based on the Law of Similars where "like cures like". Diseases are treated by highly diluted substances that cause, in healthy persons, symptoms like those of the disease to be treated. The dilutions are repeated so many times that there is less than one molecule per dose and it is suggested that benefit is from the energetic life force of the original substance.

Dietary Supplements: Products in capsule, tablet or liquid form that provide essential nutrients, such as a vitamin, an essential mineral, a protein, an herb, or similar nutritional substance. (FDA Backgrounder, June 15, 1993, p2)

Call Numbers

Primary Call Number Range: (National Library of Medicine Classification)

QU 145.5 Dietary Supplements
See also names of specific supplements, e.g., Vitamins QU 160-220
QV 738-772Drug standards, pharmacognosy, medicinal plants
QV 752 Pharmacognosy. Natural history of drugs
QV 760 Materia medica
QV 766 Medicinal plants
A drug derived from a plant is classified with the drug.
WB 925 Herbal medicine
WB 930 Homeopathy

Primary Call Number Range: (Library of Congress Classification)

QK 99 Botany
RM 147-180 Administration of drugs and other therapeutic agents
RM 259 - Vitamin Therapy
RM 300-666: Drugs and their actions
RM 666 Herbals
RS 1 - 441Materia Medica including pharmacopoeias, formularies, dispensatories
RS 160-167 Pharmacognosy
RS 400-431 Pharmaceutical Chemistry
RX Homeopathy

Subject Headings

MeSH terms:(about MeSH)
Combine the following MeSH terms with a term or a phrase for a specific disease

     Dietary supplements
     Drugs, Chinese Herbal
     Ethnobotany
     Homeopathy
     Medicine, Herbal
     Medicine, Traditional
     Pharmacognosy
     Phytotherapy
     Plants, Medicinal
     Plant extracts
     Plants
     Plant roots
     Also search by scientific name of the plant

International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA) subject terms:

     Alternative medicine
     Plants medicinal
     Drug interactions medicinal plants)
     Drug utilization alternative medicine
     Dietary supplements
     Natural products
     Toxicity medicinal plants
     Drug information medicinal plants
     Standards medicinal plants
     Folk medicine
     Extracts
     Also search by scientific name of the plant