A prospective study on the safety of herbal medicines, used alone or with conventional medicines

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Along with increase of herbal medicine use worldwide, the safety of traditional herbal medicines frequently becomes a medical issue.

Aim of the study: This study aimed to investigate the incidence of herbal medicine-induced adverse effects on liver functions.

Subjects and methods: A prospective study was performed with 313 inpatients (87 male and 226 female) receiving herbal prescriptions during hospitalization. The patients were classified into two groups based on their treatments: one group received herbal medicines only (57 patients), and another received herbal and conventional medicines concurrently (256 patients). All patients were given liver and renal function tests at the start of hospitalization (baseline) and at approximately 2-week intervals thereafter, until discharge.

Results: Six of the 313 patients showed abnormal liver function without related clinical symptoms (1.9%, 95% CI 0.38-3.41); none of the patients in the herbal group had abnormal result in liver function tests (0% of 57 patients) while all six had received a combination of herbal and conventional medicines (2.3% of 256 patients, 95% CI 0.46-4.14).

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that herbal drugs used alone are relatively safe, but the risk for adverse reactions may increase when herbal and conventional drugs are taken concurrently.