Donald R. Yance - Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism: Elite Herbs and Natural Compounds for Mastering Stress, Aging, and Chronic Disease

ADAPTOGENS
in Medical Herbalism

Donald Yance has yet again set a benchmark for complementary, botanical medical books. Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism is both thorough and accessible, and it provides clear understandings of the importance of these herbs in health and disease prevention. What distinguishes Donnies book from the many available in the field is his grasp of the essential issues and his deep exploration of the resources, demonstrated by his faultless referencing. It will become the standard by which future books will be judged.

DANIEL WEBER, PH.D., PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INTEGRATIVE ONCOLOGY AND CHINESE MEDICINE, EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL OF CHINESE INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE, AND VICE CHAIR OF ONCOLOGY AT THE WORLD FEDERATION OF CHINESE MEDICINE SOCIETIES

A breakthrough in herbalism! This book should be in every household.

CHRISTOPHER VASEY, N.D., AUTHOR OF THE ACIDALKALINE DIET AND OPTIMAL DETOX

This is a wonderful, deeply informative, and comprehensive book.... I strongly recommend Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism to anyone who is devoted to preventing, healing, or recovering from a chronic condition. It is my hope and prayer that this book becomes a mainstay in general public education and dialogue as well as in integrative medicine and integrative oncology.

ROBERT ZIEVE, M.D., PRESIDENT OF THE CENTER FOR HEALTHY MEDICINE AND AUTHOR OF HEALTHY MEDICINE: A GUIDE TO THE EMERGENCE OF SENSIBLE, COMPREHENSIVE CARE AND BEYOND THE MEDICAL MELTDOWN: WORKING TOGETHER FOR SUSTAINABLE HEALTH CARE

Western medicine needs medical herbalism, and Donnie Yance provides comprehensive natural medical knowledge of adaptogens and their companions along with insightful information on vitality and health. The book also contains useful monographs and extensive journal references for practitioners.

STEVEN MAIMES, COAUTHOR OF ADAPTOGENS: HERBS FOR STRENGTH, STAMINA, AND STRESS RELIEF

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DEDICATION

T his book has been several years in the making, and I am deeply grateful to those who have provided inspiration, support, and encouragement along the way.

The late Dr. Ben Tabachnik, my friend and colleague, was instrumental in the creation of the adaptogen formulas that I use today that have benefited so many people. Although I had used adaptogens in my clinical practice for many years, meeting Ben in 1999 deepened my interest in these remarkable healing plants. As a senior scientist for the National Research Institute of Sport in Moscow during the 1970s and 80s, Ben implemented scientific discoveries in biochemistry, pharmacology, and nutrition into the training programs of top-level athletes, including members of the Soviet Unions national Olympic sprinting team. In 1990, Ben immigrated to the United States, where he continued to coach elite athletes. Bens first book in English, Soviet Training and Recovery Methods, introduced to the American public the concept of using natural anabolic agentsherbal adaptogensfor improving athletic performance. Ben maintained that the same catabolism (breaking down) that occurs in elite, competitive athletes could also be seen in normal people under everyday stressful conditions. In our collaboration, Ben and I were inspired to create adaptogenic formulas to benefit a wide range of people, from my patients with chronic diseases like cancer to anyone interested in maintaining optimal health and vitality.

Donald Yance with Dr. Ben Tabachnik, March 2003

I would like to dedicate this book with love and gratitude to a very special man in my life, Shelley Shelley. Shelley, whom I consider to be my adopted father, is truly an amazing man who has given and taught me so much. At two years shy of one hundred years of age, he believes wholeheartedly in the benefits of herbal and nutritional medicine. He is involved in and supportive of all of my endeavors and encourages me with his steadfast faith in the work I do. I also want to thank Paul Dujardin, another wonderful man whom I have known as long as Shelley, and who has also believed in me and supported me.

I also thank God as I know him in the cosmos and through my personal Eastern-Christian Franciscan faith, God as we find him in one another through our love, and God as we find her in all of naturemost especially in those humble healers we often call weeds.

I am grateful for my loving, beautiful, and supportive wife, Jen, who has unwaveringly held the vision for this book from the very beginning, and who has worked by my side through the lengthy process of bringing it to fruition. To my children, Stella, Coltrane, and Clarissa: may you be inspired by these plants and infused with their healing properties and wisdom throughout your lives. To Laurel Vukovic, I offer my gratitude for your tremendous ability to capture my voice and articulate my message to the world in an eloquent way; you are a gifted writer and a joy to work with. And my thanks also go to Suzanne Sky, who acted as the master architect in the early stages of organizing material for this book.

Donald Yance and Shelley Shelley

FOREWORD

I have known Donnie Yance for over a decade and have actively collaborated with him for the past five years. We were drawn together by our mutual interest in developing a comprehensive approach to help people dealing with the challenges of cancer.

Following the completion of my medical training and internship in 1975, I began to explore what has become known variously as integrative, holistic (wholistic), or functional medicine. Many people with cancer who were interested in a similar approach sought me out as a clinician.

After studying many of the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches to cancer therapy and having practiced integrative medicine for twelve years, I became frustrated by the limitations of what I was able to achieve, and I decided I needed to study the other side. Later, I became more appreciative of what I had been able to achieve with CAM after being immersed in the somewhat futile approach of conventional oncology to metastatic cancers, with the exception of germ cell tumors, lymphomas, and leukemias.

I returned to hospital-based postgraduate training in 1988, completing an internal medicine residency at Los Angeles County Hospital, followed by residencies at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Stanford University Medical Center. I then pursued a three-year fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California, and did two years of research in tumor immunology in the immunology division of the Scripps Research Institute. After obtaining board certification in internal medicine, medical oncology, hematology, and, subsequently, nutrition, as well as integrative and holistic medicine (board certifications that had not been available when I was clinically active in these areas between 1975 and 1988), I began to practice the emerging discipline of integrative oncologyinitially in a private and hospital-based practice, and then as a consultant to other physicians working with cancer patients, from both the integrative medicine and oncology sides.