People use herbal medicines to address health concerns, increase energy, relax or lose weight. Unfortunately, many herbal remedies haven't been rigorously tested; thus they could cause side effects or interact with other medicines taken for these reasons.
Some herbs are potentially dangerous; St John's wort may make some antidepressant medications less effective and valerian root may compound their effects of sedatives. You should always make sure your herbalist has been adequately trained and certified.
Herbs
People worldwide rely on herbs for various reasons. Herbal remedies have long been used to treat conditions like arthritis, migraines, premenstrual syndrome, and fibromyalgia; but as these remedies may interact with prescription medicines they must be taken under guidance from an experienced healthcare provider. Unfortunately being natural doesn't guarantee safety as some herbal medications may have adverse side effects when taken in large doses or cause harm if overdone.
Herbal medicine comes in various forms, from teas and syrups to oils, massage ointments, tinctures, and tablets. Tea is prepared from dried or fresh herbs steeped for several minutes in hot water before sipping away at their aromatic aroma. Syrups contain concentrated extracts while oils may be used as massage ointments or in massage ointment products. Tinctures contain liquid extracts dissolved with alcohol or solvents.
Herbal products aren't subject to the same rigorous oversight as pharmaceutical medications, making them potentially misleading and unsafe. Certain herbal supplements could interact with certain medications and cause serious or even fatal side effects when taken in large doses; additionally, some may not work as efficiently.
Medicinal Uses
Herbal medicines tend to be gentler on your body than prescription drugs; however, they can still cause side effects and interact with other medications, so it's important to let your physician know about any herbal remedies you take.
Herbs have long been used medicinally, and some regulated herbal medications can be found at health food stores, supermarkets, and pharmacies. When searching for your medicine make sure the packaging features a traditional herbal registration mark to confirm you're purchasing a licensed product.
Not all herbal medicines are regulated, and some, such as comfrey and ephedra, can be harmful. Therefore, it's best to purchase herbal products from either a qualified herbal practitioner or the company producing them; additionally, products made outside the UK may not be subject to regulation and could contain toxic metals like mercury and lead which could result in serious illnesses like brain damage or even heart attacks - risks which increase exponentially if pregnant or breastfeeding women use herbal medications.
Safety
Herbal medicines are composed of complex mixtures of organic compounds, so their side effects may vary significantly. Sometimes they interact with medications (both over-the-counter and prescription). Herbs may also become toxic if not prepared correctly. It's possible for any herbal product or remedy to cause an allergic reaction; however, there are ways to mitigate risk.
As the use of herbs continues to spread globally and become an integral component of healthcare treatments, research must take place into their quality, molecular effects and clinical efficacy. New scientific testing platforms such as chemical fingerprinting and genomics offer reliable ways of identifying and ranking common herbs consumers use.
The quality of herbal medicine systematic reviews (SRs) has been uneven but must improve. Authors could benefit from working with specialist organizations and employing quality checklists; this would ensure their results can be trusted for clinical recommendations. A recent study demonstrated this fact; for instance, herbalists were more likely to use higher-grade herbs than non-herbalists and report more studies, though overall quality remained poor.
Side Effects
While certain herbs may be relatively safe and cause few side effects, others can be toxic and cause severe and even fatal reactions. This may be the result of using the wrong species, adulterating herbal products with other substances (including active pharmaceutical ingredients), contamination, or improper preparation and administration. Herbal medicines prescribed by physicians or taken in combination with prescribed allopathic medication can also be hazardous.
Herbal medicines should always be administered under the guidance of an experienced herbalist who can recommend the optimal dose and dosage to treat your condition. When searching for products online to buy yourself, look for those labeled with a traditional herbal registration number (THR), which indicates they have been produced and sold under an established quality control scheme.
Always verify if the herbal product you purchase could interact with any medications you are currently taking. St. John's Wort may reduce the effectiveness of prescribed drugs if taken alongside it.
Interactions
Herbal medication is taken by many patients and often in conjunction with prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Herbal medicines may interact with these other medications in negative ways that reduce the effectiveness or cause side effects; some interactions may even be life-threatening and rarely reported due to a lack of information available through clinical trials and other sources. Unfortunately, many herb-drug interactions remain unknown due to lack of data from clinical trials and other sources.
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions between herbal supplements and other medications can occur through two mechanisms. Pharmacokinetic interactions involve changes to drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion; while direct pharmacologic effects of an herb are directly pharmacodynamic. Both processes are highly variable depending on patient factors (comorbidities, genetic polymorphism, number and type of medications taken) as well as possible factors related to herbs (adulteration/misidentification etc).
Conclusion
Even though herbal medications online are complex, their use is widespread across the United States and worldwide. Furthermore, many resources that offer herb-drug interaction information online - including Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, Lexicomp, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Stokely's Herbal Medicine Interaction Checker. A Kappa score was calculated for every herb-drug pair being evaluated by these herbal medicine checking resources to assess their validity.
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