Drug-herb remedy interactions

Women often seek relief for premenstrual and perimenopausal symptoms from alternative or nontraditional treatments without consulting their health care providers. Herbal therapies, phytoestrogens, progesterone creams, megavitamins, folk remedies, and homeopathy are marketed to women without scientific evidence of efficacy or safety. Clinicians should ask women if they use alternative/ complementary therapies and become familiar with the products (e.g., mechanism of action, efficacy, dosing, side effects, monitoring, and drug-herb and herb-herb interactions). 

Xu, G. (2004). Drug-drug interaction between herb medicine and western medicine. Chinese Remedies and Clinics, 4(3), 236-7. 

As herbal remedies grow in popularity, it becomes increasingly important to understand potential interactions between herbs and prescription drugs. Many herbs have powerful effects which may be increased or counteracted by pharmaceutical drugs and vice versa.399 This is equally important to Chinese herbs. However, a major handicap is the lack of sufficient knowledge of chemical components involved in Chinese herbal preparations. 

Continuing in the tradition of the acclaimed first edition. Pharmacodynamic Basis of Herbal Medicine, Second Edition examines in extensive detail the physiologic effects of complementary and alternative therapies, foods, supplements, vitamins, and traditional herbal remedies. This encyclopedic volume considers the site, mode, and mechanism of action to explain the desired and adverse effects and interactions of each herb, drug, and food. 

Herbal medicines are becoming more and more popular, and indeed some herbal products may be considered to benefit people with liver disease, e.g. Silybum marianum (milk thistle), Picrorhiza kurroa, Phyllanthus, etc. Herbal hepatotoxicity is increasingly being recognised, for example, with kava kava, black cohosh, and many traditional Chinese remedies. The range of liver injury includes minor transaminase elevations, acute and chronic hepatitis, steatosis, cholestasis, zonal or diffuse hepatic necrosis, veno-occlusive disease and acute liver failure. In addition to the potential for hepatotoxicity, herb-drug interactions may affect the safety and efficacy of concurrent medical therapy [15]. 

In the past few years, much interest has been generated regarding the use of herbs in the treatment of both depression and anxiety (95). Recent studies, however, have reveaied potentiaiiy fatai interactions between herbai remedies and traditionai drugs. 

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