Whilst there is still some push-back against the CS&HISC decision to discontinue the Advanced Diplomas of Naturopathy, Western Herbal Medicine, Nutritional Medicine, and Homoeopathy, ARONAH has come out in support of the decision. The Australian Register of Naturopaths & Herbalists (ARONAH) makes their position clear – that the future of these professions lies with Bachelor […]
Archive | Herbal Medicine
Dosage calculations & extract equivalency in herbal medicine
Over a number of years of teaching, one of the common issues I’ve noticed is that students often find calculating dosage equivalents rather challenging. It is important to be able to convert between liquid extract quantities and dry herb amounts, and vice versa. So I thought this would be a good place to discuss the issues and provide some […]
ATMS Seeks to Maintain the Lowest Standards
As you may have seen in my recent posts (here and here), the CS&HISC recently made a decision to remove the Advanced Diplomas of Naturopathy, Western Herbal Medicine, Nutritional Medicine, and Homoeopathy from the Health Training Package in December 2015. This came after almost 18 months of discussion and consultation, and majority support amongst stakeholders. […]
Detecting coffee adulteration
Scientific American reports on a new method to detect coffee adulteration. Coffee, like many high-demand crops, is subject to adulteration, especially as prices rise. Adulteration is the addition of different chemical and/or plant material to a sample, usually intentionally, which is not declared and should not be present. This is a common problem in the […]
Premixing or Individualised Dispensing – Legality
It is great to see Oborne Health Supplies, in their August newsletter, reminding everybody of the regulations around extemporaneous dispensing of herbal liquids, and what we absolutely should not be doing. Liquid extracts and tinctures are made specifically for extemporaneous dispensing by practitioners. The Australian Regulatory Guidelines for Complementary Medicines (November 2013) states the following on […]
ABC HerbClip: Review of cocoa and human health
The American Botanical Council’s HerbClipTM service recently provided a summary of a paper entitled Cocoa & human health. The review provides an interesting summary of some of the epidemiological and interventional studies on humans which have demonstrated positive benefits on a number of cardiovascular risk factors, discusses some of the known constituents, and potential […]
Industry or Profession … Which are we?
I often hear people refer to the disciplines of naturopathy and herbal medicine as an “industry”, and I have to say it grates on me every time. Why? Because we are a profession, not an industry. What is an Industry? According to the Oxford Dictionary of English an “industry” is … “economic activity concerned with […]
Lyndsay Shume at the NHAA Sydney Chapter
Last night the NHAA Sydney Chapter hosted Lyndsay Shume, fourth generation herbalist and Life Member of the NHAA, as the guest speaker. It was great to hear Lyndsay speak about old-school herbal medicine in Australia, and discuss some of his time proven formulae. He also spoke about his past experiences with the NHAA, discussing historical […]
My mission is to inspire, educate and help people with herbal and naturopathic medicine. I bring more than 20 years of clinical, academic, and industry experience - and a Masters degree in Herbal Medicines - to this passion.