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BackgroundNatural health products (NHPs) such as herbs, vitamins and homeopathic medicines, are currently available for sale in most Canadian pharmacies. However, most pharmacists report that they have limited knowledge about these products which have been regulated in Canada as a specific sub-category of drugs. In this paper, consumers' and practicing pharmacists' perceptions of pharmacists' professional responsibilities with respect to NHPs are examined.MethodsA total of 16 focus groups were conducted with consumers (n = 50) and pharmacists (n = 47) from four different cities across Canada (Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, and Halifax).ResultsIn this paper, we illustrate the ways in which pharmacists' professional responsibilities are impacted by changing consumer needs. Many consumers in the study utilized a wide range of information resources that may or may not have included pharmacists. Nevertheless, the majority of consumers and pharmacists agreed that pharmacists should be knowledgeable about NHPs and felt that pharmacists should be able to manage drug-NHPs interactions as well as identify and evaluate the variety of information available to help consumers make informed decisions.ConclusionThis paper demonstrates that consumers' expectations and behaviour significantly impact pharmacists' perceptions of their professional responsibilities with respect to NHPs.

The juice of freshly macerated unripe hulls of the black walnut (Juglans nigra) has been used for many years in folk medicine as a treatment for localized, topical fungal infections such as ringworm. It has been proposed that the biological activity of the walnut hulls is due to the presence of the simple naphthoquinone, juglone (5‐hydroxy‐1,4‐naphthoquinone), which has been isolated from the unripe hulls by sublimation. Since the fresh juice of unripe walnut hulls is utilized for the treatment of ringworm, and since it has been speculated that the activity is due to the presence of juglone, it was of interest to determine the efficacy of juglone as compared to standard commercially available antifungal agents. The comparative efficacy was determined by evaluation of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of juglone and the standard antifungal agents clotrimazole, triacetin, tolnaftate, griseofulvin, zinc undecylenate, selenium sulfide as well as two investigational antifungal antibiotics, liriodenine and liriodenine methiodide, for two dermatophytes, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum gypseum. MIC values for juglone showed it to have moderate antifungal activity and to be as effective as certain commercially available antifungal agents such as zinc undecylenate and selenium sulfide.

Due to the poor quality and content from unknown sources found on some Web sites, consumers who access Web sites for information regarding the use of NHPs in osteoporosis should do so cautiously and discuss results with their healthcare providers.

This article reviews the body of work aimed at elucidating the mechanisms of action by which natural products of plant origin exert a vasodilatory effect at the level of the vasculature. The search was restricted to 4 mechanisms: the nitric oxide system and (or) reactive oxygen species, the eicosanoid system, potassium channel function, and calcium channel function. The National Library of Medicine database was searched using "PubMed" without restriction to language. The search generated 266 references on 15 November 2005. Most studies were in vitro in nature and of these, most involved studies in the rat aorta. Many of the natural products evoked vasodilatation through an endothelium-dependent mechanism. The vasodilatation was attenuated or abolished by a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor and, in some of these studies, by an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase. A few studies reported a cyclooxygenase component, but most found no effect of the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin. The vasorelaxation evoked by several natural products was attenuated by various potassium channel blocking agents, suggesting that some natural products exerted their effect either directly or indirectly through activation of potassium channels. Finally, a significant number of natural products evoked vasodilatation either through blockade of calcium channels or by inhibiting the release of calcium from intracellular stores. Many natural products evoked vasodilatation through multiple mechanisms. The information in this review on mechanisms of action should facilitate good clinical practice by increasing the predictive capabilities of the practitioner, notably the ability to predict adverse effects and interactions among medications. The knowledge should also help to provide leads to the ultimate goal of developing new therapeutic medications.