The Year That Was

It's been a little quiet on the blog front of late and all of a sudden 2012 has almost disappeared. The relativity of time will have to wait for another blog on another day however - bizarrely it seems the blog has become popular with over 10,000 hits to date!

It would be great to have some more comments on what people think and constructive criticism is always to be welcomed.

On the herbal front the UK is still waiting for news on the statutory regulation of herbalists. Will it ever happen? Is it necessarily a good thing? Nobody seems to have the answer although there is certainly discontent over the issue.

EU legislation meanwhile continues unabated however one interesting development earlier this year was the UK government's decision to review legislation under the mantle of 'Red Tape Challenge' - you can read all about it along with a few comments from yours truly here:
http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/medicines-traditional-herbal-medicine/

However more recently legislation in regards to supplements could see your vitamin and minerals reduced to therapeutically ineffective RDA levels. Given that supplements are generally safe when used appropriately (see http://www.anhinternational.org/news/anh-exclusive-natural-health-products-ultra-safe-and-drugs-dangerous-wa). The Food Supplements Directive has not been settled yet so there's still time to write in to your MEP. More info here: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/supplements/index_en.htm

The MHRA, the regulatory body for medicines in the UK has come out with several statements regarding herbs in the previous year on Butterbur for example, which I'm still looking at, but the recommendation that Echinacea use in children under 12 be discontinued is in my opinion largely unfounded and I base this statement on centuries of tradition and not a flawed meta-analysis and a few unreferenced papers.

Petition to reverse the decision is ongoing and was reported by both the Alliance for Natural health and the American Botanical Council:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Reverse_Decison_on_Banning_Echinacea_in_Children_by_the_MHRA_and_the_IMB/

There will be more on this soon...

I was voted in as president of the IRH again so I must be doing something right, and hopefully this will be an even better year for herbalism in Ireland with the great team I have working beside me.

There's much more to report but I'd only be repeating old posts so feel free to browse through the year that was and hopefully the blog will retain its level of popularity in 2013!