WORKSHOP Thursday, May 25, 11:00-12:30
The Hidden Gotcha in Botanical Trials: Do You Really
Know What You are Testing?
Speakers: Mary Hardy, MD, Susan Kidder, Paula Brown,
MSc, Robert Tilton, PhD
NCCAM is currently investing funds in half a dozen
large botanical research centers and a number of large-scale clinical
trials of herbal products. To date, the results of most of the trials
have proven to be negative. Some industry leaders suspect that part
of the reason for the failure of researchers to find any benefit in
herbal products is due to poor procedures or poor products. This session
will examine the pitfalls encountered by researchers with an incomplete
knowledge of their study products and will demonstrate state of the
art techniques to confirm identity, phytochemical composition and biological
activity. The implications of the use of these techniques for development
of novel research questions and for the regulation of botanical supplements
will also be discussed.