My Life and Rollercoaster Career: The Life of a Pharmacognosist AND Are Drugs Better Than Herbs?

MY LIFE & ROLLERCOASTER CAREER consists of two books by the author. In the first, The Life of a Pharmacognosist, his background, upbringing, education, and different careers are described. The second book is his major work, Leung's (Chinese) Herb News, LCHN, published between 1996 and 2004, now republished as Are Drugs Better Than Herbs? It highlights Dr. Leung's research and thoughts from decades of his involvement in the dietary supplement industry. They have had a positive impact on the research, identity, and quality of herbal supplements over the past 30 years. It is especially for those who are interested in the truth-health aspects of dietary supplements that not only include simple, well-characterized synthetic chemicals but also complex herbs, and how these materials impact people's health. The premise that neither modern drug therapy nor traditional herbal therapy is scientific is discussed throughout this combined volume, so are workable alternatives to break the vicious cycle of modern toxic drugs that cause new diseases requiring more drugs to counter. Because breaking this vicious cycle can genuinely and beneficially impact our health, Dr. Leung hopes you will be among those who can help us do that. Your understanding and awareness of this vicious cycle can be our first tiny step towards improving global health, reducing human suffering, and saving lives. The republished LCHN also contains more than a hundred samples of traditional tips and food/herbal remedies from the Chinese herbal literature. They should be of interest to consumers who wish to be afforded some safe herbal alternatives to the only one now currently available - toxic synthetic drugs. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of October, 1994, regulates herbs as foods but scientists treat them as drugs. This is no different than insisting on testing pectin in apple and call pectin apple, or chlorogenic acid in Echinacea and call that Echinacea. It is obvious neither chemical is the food or herb. Hence, all research on traditional herbs designed to verify their traditional value (e.g., safety & efficacy) has yielded wrong or ambiguous results. The reason is that none of such research has used a clearly identified material. It is invariably assumed that some chemical in the herb accounts for most of its documented traditional attributes and standardizes it to that chemical. Based on knowledge and practical experience, Dr. Leung frankly and courageously discusses issues resulting from this oxymoron. He goes beyond hype to tell you honestly what real herbal supplements are and suggests ways to rectify the problems.