Page 55 - Numero20-2_2017

Considerations on Checking Chinese Herb-Drug Interactions
Jinhua Xie*
1. Introduction
It is not unusual for a patient to seek herbal treatments while taking several prescription medications. According to a study in 1998 in the United States, botanical products are now a $1.5 billion per year industry. It is estimated that 60% to 70% of the American population is taking botanical products, but less than one third of these persons inform their medical practitioners of such use (1). According to Barnes’ study, the 10 most commonly used CAM therapies during the past 12 months were use of prayer specifically for one’s own health (43.0%), prayer by others for one’s own health (24.4%), natural products (18.9%), deep breathing exercises (11.6%), participation in prayer group for one’s own health (9.6%), meditation (7.6%), chiropractic care (7.5%), yoga (5.1%), massage (5.0%), and diet- based therapies (3.5%) (2).
In China Chinese herbs are very often prescribed together with conventional drugs. A survey done by Beijing Hospital of Chinese Medicine indicated that 57.34% of patients who are treated with conventional drugs are taking Chinese herbs simultaneously (3).
The clinical experience in China showed that combination of Chinese and western medicines is clinically safe and therapeutically desirable. The advantages of combining Chinese herbs and drugs include better therapeutic results than both alone, lower does of the drugs required, and fewer side effects of drugs due to a lower does and herbal actions on counteracting the side effects of drugs (4). There is very few serious interaction reported. The most serious interaction that causes the death
of a patient has never been reported. In one study on the safety of Chinese herbs the authors analyzed 484 deaths related to the use of Chinese herbs from 1950 to 1990 in China which involved 61 single herbs, 12 complex herbal formulas and
“Ho conosciuto il dott. Xie Jin Hua quasi 30 anni or sono, quando lavorava al Foreign Dpt. della Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine presso la quale avevo firmato un Memorandum. È stato nostro ospite in Italia un paio di volte agli inizi degli Anni ’90 ed ha tenuto vari corsi e seminari nella Scuola di Bologna. Da diversi anni vive negli Stati Uniti e collabora con il Midwest College of Oriental Medicine di Chicago”
Lucio Sotte
13 herbal extract injections.
All deaths have been caused by the toxicity due to unsupervised over dosages (5). However with so many patients are treated with conventional drugs and Chinese herbs together, the safety concern raised in general public and other health care providers. There are only a few studies published in English to document the safety and effectiveness of combining Chinese herbs with prescription drugs. Hospitals and pharmacies in western countries often rely on one of several popular databases to check herbs-drugs interaction, including Chinese herbs. However the information
*BMed., PhD, Midwest College of Oriental Medicine, 6232 Bankers Road, Racine, WI 53403 USA
FARMACOLOGIA CINESE
DIALOGHIDIMEDICINAINTEGRATA estate 2017