The dosages recommended Kerry Bone and MediHerb are determined by the best available evidence. Appropriate dosages for modern phytotherapy should be consistent with: D osages used by important historical movements in western herbal medicine, eg the Eclectics. D osages currently recommended in pharmacopoeias or by expert committees (such as the German Commission E and ESCOP); dosage ranges used in other important herbal traditions eg China and India. D osages established from pharmacological and clinical research. The recommended dose for all MediHerb liquids are contained on each product entry. There is also a summary dosage chart on page 102.
Children’s Dosage For calculating doses for children a number of methods can be used. These values are only approximate because of the complex metabolic changes that occur during growth and maturation. MediHerb and Kerry Bone recommend Salisbury’s Rule for children over 2 year as it is based on weight rather than age and Fried’s Rule for children under 2 years.
Salisbury Rule (Children over 2 years) weight (kg) x 2 (if weight is less than 30kg)# weight (kg) + 30 (if weight is greater than 30kg)# #
This gives the percentage of the adult dose
Liquid Fundamentals
Herbal Liquid Dosage & Blending
Fried’s Rule (Children under 2 years old) age in months ÷ 150* * multiply this result by adult dose
Preparing a Formula Based on Weekly Dosages
Age in months x adult dose = child’s dose ___________ 150
Arriving at a formula can be done in a variety of ways but one of the easiest is to use weekly doses. If a patient is to take 5 mL of a formulation, 3 times a day (15 mL per day), the total amounts to 105 mL which can be rounded down to 100 mL. The herbs in the formula can then be assigned appropriate doses by referring to their weekly dosage range. Generally formulations should contain less than 7 herbs. If using 1:5 tinctures, fewer herbs should be used in the formulation to ensure no less than the weekly dosage. This 100 mL formula can then be multiplied by the number of weeks you would like to the patient to take the formula for. An example formulation is below:
Liquid
Weekly Dose Range
Selected Dose
Dose for 2 weeks
Elder Flower 1:2
15-40 mL
20 mL
40 mL
Echinacea Angustifolia 1:2
20-40 mL
25 mL
50 mL
Licorice 1:1
15-40 mL
20 mL
40 mL
White Horehound 1:2
15-40 mL
25 mL
50 mL
Ginger 1:2
5-15 mL
10 mL
20 mL
100 mL
200 mL
Total
Liquid Blending Considerations Incompatibilities when blending liquid extracts can occur and can affect the efficacy of the formulation. Generally avoiding any precipitation of blended herbal liquids is impossible which is why liquid mixtures should always carry the directions “Shake the bottle well before pouring” There are some simple guidelines which can be followed to avoid these incompatibilities: 1. Tannin containing herbs (eg Agrimony) are incompatible with alkaloid containing herbs (eg Golden Seal). If blended a precipitate will form. Tannins and alkaloids should be dispensed separately and taken at different times. 2. Bladderwrack is also not compatible with tannin containing herbs. 3. Herbs extracted in a high percentage of alcohol (eg Ginger, Myrrh) often contain resins that precipitate when mixed with liquids of lower alcohol percentage. To avoid this include a small amount of Licorice (10%) in the formula. The saponins in the Licorice act as an emulsifying agent keeping everything in suspension. The Licorice should be added first before adding the resinous liquid. 4. Mix herbal liquids in ascending order in terms of their ethanol content. 5. Mucilaginous herbs (eg Marshmallow root) are not compatible with high ethanol extracts and should be dispensed separately.
Glycyrrhiza glabra
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