No good evidence exists that individually tailored prescriptions of a mixture of herbs are effective, concludes a systematic review published last week.

The study reviewed all available studies of individualised herbal medicine for any indication (Postgraduate Medical Journal 2007;83:633-7). The researchers, from the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, found only three randomised controlled trials out of 1300 studies they identified that they considered were of sufficient quality to draw meaningful conclusions. These three trials showed no convincing evidence of benefit. …