Michael Thomsen, DBM, ND, MSc is one of Australia’s best known naturopaths. He works in private practice as a herbalist and is a consultant to the herbal medicine industry both in Australia and overseas.
• The extensively revised and updated 5th edition of the Phytotherapy Desk Reference has been published.
• This book has been designed as a reliable desk reference for the busy herbalist/phytotherapist. It contains short, precise descriptions of 236 of the most commonly used herbs in Australia and New Zealand.
• It is not an exhaustive materia medica describing the herbs in great detail. Practitioners not familiar with the herbs, should seek additional information elsewhere.
• The intention is to provide practitioners with a limited number of reliable therapeutic actions with some reliable indications for each herb and with the information organised in such a way as to be a valuable clinical tool.
• The short monographs also provide the main active constituents, the qualities of the herbs, known drug interactions and any caution or contraindications as well as the recommended dosage for liquid extracts.
• As a quick reference index, the herbs have been grouped together under their therapeutic actions and indications. These lists are of course not exhaustive and may be expanded with time. They do, however, include the actions and indications on which most authors seem to agree on. Information about the herbs has come from accepted textbooks (see bibliography) and other published material.