Treatment of Early Allergic and Late Inflammatory Symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis with Leaf Extract (Ze 339): Results of a Noninterventional Observational Study in Switzerland.

The primary objective of this noninterventional, observational study was to assess the effectiveness of the leaf extract (Ze 339) on early allergic and late inflammatory symptoms of allergic rhinitis in Swiss outpatients. This study was conducted by general practitioners and allergologists. Data from 226 patients were collected during three documented visits.

Effect of CIMicifuga racemosa on metaBOLIC parameters in women with menopausal symptoms: a retrospective observational study (CIMBOLIC).

Purpose: To compare the influence of Cimicifuga racemosa extract (CR, Ze 450) and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) on metabolic parameters and body weight in symptomatic menopausal women.

Methods: In this monocentric retrospective cohort study, women over 40 years old with a first consultation between 2009 and 2016 were screened. Included in the final analysis were women treated with either MHT or CR and having at least one follow-up consultation.

Petasol butenoate complex (Ze 339) relieves allergic rhinitis-induced nasal obstruction more effectively than desloratadine.

Background: Allergic rhinitis symptoms of itching, sneezing, rhinorrhea, and nasal obstruction significantly decrease patients' quality of life. Compared with histamine and leukotriene receptor antagonists, the petasol butenoate complex Ze 339 displays pharmacologically distinct properties. In vitro it inhibits the biosynthesis of leukotrienes and mediator release from activated eosinophils.

Perceptions and attitudes of Bhutanese people on Sowa Rigpa, traditional Bhutanese medicine: a preliminary study from Thimphu.

Background: Many claims are made that the use of traditional medicine is a substantial and growing part of healthcare behavior around the world. In Bhutan traditional medical practice is one of the country's tangible heritages. The country hosts two forms of traditional medicines: local healing practices and the official traditional medical system known as sowa rigpa, meaning "the science of healing".

Disseminating knowledge about 'Local Food Plants' and 'Local Plant Foods'.

Ethnobotanical approaches to the study of Mediterranean food plants offer novel ways for analyzing and preserving traditional knowledge and agrobiodiversity in the Mediterranean area. This article highlights our strategy to increase the awareness within traditional knowledge systems and encourage the continuous evolution of it, avoiding the loss of substantial parts of the local cultural and biological diversity. The strategy is part of a broader stream of thought, which does attempt to disseminate information locally in a multitude of ways, e.

'Local Food-Nutraceuticals': bridging the gap between local knowledge and global needs.

Food use is changing very fast all over the world. This and other changes (e.g.

Ta chòrta: wild edible greens used in the Graecanic area in Calabria, Southern Italy.

Dietary patterns change rapidly all over the world. The body of available local food knowledge, which forms the basis of many local traditions, is decreasing dramatically. At the same time, consumers demand novel types of tasty food, which is easy to prepare.

Knowledge and use of complementary and alternative medicine among British undergraduate pharmacy students.

Aim: Attitudes and practice concerning complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are currently an area of considerable importance. However, little is known about the overall importance of CAM in groups of health care professionals. Therefore, the primary objective was to analyse the knowledge about and use of CAM in an ethnically diverse student population at the London School of Pharmacy.

Food for two seasons: culinary uses of non-cultivated local vegetables and mushrooms in a south Italian village.

The use of non-cultivated plants in a daily diet based on local cuisines is potentially of considerable interest to nutritional scientists, because of the plants' role as local products and their potential as sources of novel nutraceuticals. In many Mediterranean regions these traditions are at risk of disappearing, hence the urgent need to study such knowledge systems. Accordingly, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the 850 inhabitants of the village of Castelmezzano, in central Lucania, which is located in the inland southern Italy.

Questionnaire surveys: methodological and epistemological problems for field-based ethnopharmacologists.

The classical scientific approach is empirical. One of the favoured means of gathering quantitative data in the health and social sciences, including ethnopharmacology and medical ethnobotany, is by use of questionnaires. However, while there are numerous published articles discussing the importance of questionnaire content, the fact that questionnaires themselves may be inappropriate in a number of cultural contexts, even where literacy is not a factor, is usually ignored.

Ethnopharmacology of liakra: traditional weedy vegetables of the Arbëreshë of the Vulture area in southern Italy.

An ethnobiological field study on food plants and medicinal foods traditionally consumed in three Arbëresh (ethnic Albanian) communities in northern Lucania (southern Italy) document approximately 120 botanical taxa used for these purposes. Non-domesticated food vegetables (liakra), mostly gathered during the spring season, play a central role as traditional functional food. Quantitative ethnobotanical, ethnotaxonomical, ethnoecological, ethnogastronomical, and ethnopharmacological aspects related to gathering, processing, cooking and consumption of liakra are discussed.

Ethnopharmacy of the ethnic Albanians (Arbëreshë) of northern Basilicata, Italy.

Intercultural studies about the methods of use and perceptions of traditional remedies in Europe are strategically important in understanding how pharmaceutical means in our multicultural modern societies are differently accepted by diverse ethnic groups. In this survey, we analysed the biological means traditionally used in the ethnomedicine of three Arbëreshë (ethnic Albanians) communities in the Vulture area (northern Lucania, southern Italy). The majority of remedies are represented by plants belonging to 54 botanical taxa.