Medical Files
Before you take that herbal preparation.
By Rafael Castillo, MD
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:42:00 10/11/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Is herbal medicine pulling the rug under mainstream medicine? With their almost free access to multimedia advertising, herbal preparations are slowly creeping into the dominant consciousness of consumers and making them think these preparations are alternatives to conventional drugs.
Well-designed researches in the form of double-blind clinical trials are needed to determine the safety and efficacy of herbal preparations before they can be recommended for medical use. Although herbal medicines are generally safe because they are natural, they may interact with synthetic drugs causing toxicity to the patient.
Herbal products may also be contaminated in its manufacturing which pose safety concerns. The ironic consequence of the heavy advertising of herbal supplements is that consumers may take them despite their lack of proven efficacy, to replace medicines that have been tried and tested.
The public must be able to discriminate between heavily advertised but scientifically unfounded herbal preparations and those with true medical merit. One should not stake one’s health on herbal supplements simply on the basis of testimonials by celebrities, many of whom have the least inkling of the scientific worth of what they are endorsing.
Promising herbal preparations
Framelia Anonas, a senior writer of the Health & Lifestyle magazine, writes about the following herbs endorsed by the Department of Health and likewise promoted by the Department of Science and Technology as promising herbal preparations. These are:
• Lagundi (Vitex negundo L.))—This five-leaf chaste tree is used to relieve fever and cough.
• Sambong (Blumea balsamifera L.)—Generally used as diuretic, it is also effective as pharmaceutical preparation in the excretion of urinary stones.
• Yerba Buena (Mentha cordifolia)—Popularly known as peppermint, it is used as analgesic to relieve pain and as mouthwash.
• Akapulko (Cassia alata L.)—It is used in treating ringworms and skin fungal infections.
• Tsaang Gubat (Ehretia microphylla Lam.)—Known locally as buyo-buyo, it is best used as mouthwash because of its leaves that have high fluoride content.
• Ampalaya (Momordica charantia)—Bitter gourd is used in treating diabetes (diabetes mellitus) in noninsulin dependent patients.
• Bawang (Allium sativum L.)—Garlic is recommended for toothaches, hypertension, ringworm and athlete’s foot.
• Bayabas (Psidium guajava L.)—Guava is generally used in disinfecting wounds and gum infections.
• Niyug-niyogan (Quisqualis indica L.)—It is known as Chinese honeysuckle. Its dried matured seeds are used in purging intestinal worms, particularly Ascaris and Trichina.
• Ulasimang Bato (Peperomia pellucida L.)—Shiny bush or pansit-pansitan is used in relieving arthritis and gout.
There’s good reason to believe that many herbal preparations, such as the ones in the DOH-DOST list, actually have therapeutic values. Those who take them should remember though that some untested preparations are not as safe as they are perceived to be.
Do more harm than good
Some herbal remedies may do more harm than good, according to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It reported that 20 percent of herbal preparations the researchers sampled contained dangerous levels of heavy metals.
Another group of researchers from the Boston University’s School of Medicine, also tested Ayurvedic herbal medicine products for metal contamination. They reported that 20 percent of the 70 samples tested contained lead, mercury or arsenic in significant amounts.
The moral lesson is that one has to consult first a physician to make sure if the herbal preparations one plans to take are appropriate and safe, especially if one is taking other drugs. After all, the cardinal rule in medicine with any preparation one takes is: “First do no harm.”
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