Concise Handbook of Psychoactive Herbs: Medicinal Herbs for Treating Psychological and Neurological Problems

by Spinella; Marcello

• ISBN13: 9780789018588
• ISBN10: 0789018586
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-02-25
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Find out how plant-derived drugs react with your brain to produce either healing or harmful results! The Concise Handbook of Psychoactive Herbs will give you a better understanding of herbal products that have psychological effects. The book explores how they work, how effective they are, and what is known about their safety. Geared towards non-specialist professionals and curious individuals, this guide shows how herbal preparations can affect the brain, mental state, and behavior of a user and includes treatment methods, tables, illustrations, a glossary, and a bibliography. The Concise Handbook of Psychoactive Herbs contains chapters on several types of psychoactive herbs, including: stimulants cognition-enhancers sedatives painkillers hallucinogens With the Concise Handbook of Psychoactive Herbs, you'll examine the effects of psychoactive drugs on the nervous system--both positive and negative. Each chapter discusses a type of herbal medicine, its action on the brain and other systems of the body, side effects, and the potential for addiction. The book closely examines possible drug interactions with prescription medications and emphasizes the caution you need to take when using herbal health products. In the Concise Handbook of Psychoactive Herbs you will learn about the psychoactive actions of such medicinal plants as: coffee tobacco cannabis ginseng chamomile cocoa opium poppy peyote gingko biloba

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction	1	(14)
Plants As Medicines	1	(3)
The Use of Herbal Medicines	4	(5)
Why Do Plants Make Drugs?	9	(1)
How Humans Came to Use Herbal Medicines	9	(1)
The Science of Herbal Medicines	10	(3)
Summary	13	(2)
Chapter 2. How the Brain Works	15	(14)
Mind, Brain, and Behavior	15	(4)
Communication in and Between Neurons	19	(5)
Structure of the Nervous System	24	(5)
Chapter 3. How Drugs Work	29	(10)
How the Body Affects Drugs	29	(4)
How Drugs Affect the Body	33	(2)
Relationships Between Drug Doses and Effects	35	(4)
Chapter 4. Stimulant Herbs	39	(30)
Pharmaceutical Stimulants	39	(2)
Caffeine Stimulants	41	(9)
Tobacco and Tobacco-Like Stimulants	50	(8)
Amphetamine and Amphetamine-Like Stimulants	58	(10)
Summary	68	(1)
Chapter 5. Cognition-Enhancing Herbs	69	(22)
Discussion and Treatment of Dementia	69	(4)
Ginkgo	73	(5)
Ginseng	78	(3)
Tobacco	81	(2)
Solanaceous Vegetables: (Tomato, Potato, and Eggplant)	83	(1)
Discussion and Treatment of Parkinson's Disease	84	(3)
Fava Beans	87	(2)
Summary	89	(2)
Chapter 6. Sedative and Anti-Anxiety Herbs	91	(20)
The Problem of Anxiety	91	(1)
Insomnia	92	(1)
The Structure of Sleep	93	(1)
Central Nervous System Depressants	94	(3)
Valerian	97	(3)
Kava	100	(5)
Passionflower	105	(2)
Chamomile	107	(1)
Other Reputed Sedative Herbs	108	(1)
Summary	109	(2)
Chapter 7. Herbs for Mental Illnesses	111	(18)
The Era of Psychotherapeutic Drugs	111	(2)
Depression and Anxiety	113	(3)
St. John's Wort	116	(4)
Ginger	120	(3)
Ginkgo	123	(2)
Schizophrenia and Psychosis	125	(4)
Chapter 8. Herbal Painkillers	129	(30)
What Is Pain?	129	(1)
The Pain Systems	130	(2)
The Analgesia System	132	(1)
Herbal Analgesics	133	(2)
Opium Poppy	135	(6)
Myrrh	141	(1)
Willow	142	(3)
Meadowsweet	145	(1)
Feverfew	145	(2)
Ginger	147	(1)
Chili Peppers	148	(3)
Stimulant Analgesics	151	(3)
Local Anesthetic Herbs	154	(5)
Chapter 9. Herbal Hallucinogens	159	(24)
What to Call Them?	159	(2)
The Historical Uses of Hallucinogenic Plants	161	(1)
LSD-Like Hallucinogens	162	(13)
Collective Issues with LSD-Like Hallucinogens	175	(2)
The Nightshade Hallucinogens	177	(4)
Fly Agaric	181	(2)
Chapter 10. Cannabis	183	(16)
History	183	(2)
Cannabis and the Human Body	185	(8)
Cannabis Addiction	193	(1)
Therapeutic Uses of Cannabis	194	(3)
Summary	197	(2)
Chapter 11. Use, Abuse, and Addiction	199	(22)
Definitions	200	(4)
Evolutionary Basis for Drug Abuse	204	(1)
Psychological Perspective	205	(4)
Addiction in the Brain	209	(3)
Are Addictions Limited to Drugs?	212	(1)
Treatment	213	(2)
Treatment Methods	215	(3)
Prevention	218	(1)
Conclusions	219	(2)
Glossary	221	(18)
Bibliography	239	(32)
Index	271