4A Guide to Understanding Herbal Medicines - and Surviving the Coming Pharmaceutical Monopoly is the culmination of Dr. Michael Farley's 30] years of practicing medicine as well as the knowledge gained from his Native American heritage. Herbal medicines have stood the test of time and many of them grow right in your backyard. For thousands of years, civilizations have flourished using herbal remedies to treat common ailments, diseases, and injuries. Medicinal herbs can supply us with everything we need to cure our ailments, treating everything from arthritis, to bacterial infections, to diarrhea, to depression. If you don't know anything about medicinal herbs, no worries. That's the purpose of this book -- to educate. Presented in this book are many of the chemical constituents that exist in each herb. These constituents represent only a small percentage of phytochemicals found in each plant. Many herbs have well over 500 chemical constituents in them. To have listed them all would be an encyclopedia type task for both the writer and reader. However, the authors (Dr. Michael Farley, ND and Ty Bollinger) have tried to list the chemicals which, to date, seem to be the ones that have the herbal effects. According to Dr. Jim Howenstine, MD, author of A Physician's Guide to Natural Health Products That Work, "This guide is indispensable for anyone who wants to learn about herbal medicine. I highly recommend it." And in the words of M. Fanous, ND, "This book should be in everyone's library - health professionals and lay people alike. I will be recommending this book to my colleagues and my patients." This full-color book contains vivid photos of over 100 of the most important medicinal herbs, with detailed information on habitat and description, parts used, vitamins contained, traditional uses, self-help uses, and active components on each herb. This book will help the consumer of herbs, as well as physicians, learn to use herbs responsibly and knowledgeably. It will also enable the patient and physician to work together toward a safe program that will benefit all parties. In an emergency, the knowledge gained from this book may actually save your life!