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from the article
CHECKING FOR POSSIBLE HERB-DRUG INTERACTIONS
by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D.,
Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon
for the full article see http://www.itmonline.org/arts/herbdrug2.htm
The
nature of herb-drug interactions is not a chemical interaction between a
drug and an herb component to produce something toxic. Instead, the
interaction may involve;
either
an increase or decrease in the amount of drug in the blood stream.
produce
an effect that is contrary to the effect desired for the drug, thereby
reducing the drug effect; or, an herb might
produce
the same kind of effect as the drug and give an increase in the drug
effect (without increasing the amount of the drug).
Examples
of concerns about herb-drug interactions that have been raised are that an
herb might:
increase or decrease the effect of a blood
thinner such as Warfarin and lead to either a bleeding episode or
formation of a dangerous clot;
decrease the effect of a blood pressure
medication, leading to high blood pressure and a stroke;
decrease the effect of an
anti-infection agent, letting the infection get out of control; or
increase the effect of an anti-diabetes
drug and plunge blood sugar to dangerously low levels.
Such
responses can occur with drug-drug interactions and with
food-drug interactions, so the finding of some instances of
herb-drug interaction would not be surprising.
In
China it is common for herbs to be combined with drugs. Their combination
is sometimes incidental, but is often intentional and based on a prevalent
favorable theory about using herbs and drugs. The general sense of the
situation among Chinese doctors has been that herbs reduce the side
effects of drugs and help them to perform their function better; in turn,
drugs will make an herb formula work more strongly and quickly. Together,
herbs and drugs may produce a more desirable result than either taken
alone. As an outcome of working within this scenario, little attention has
been paid to adverse herb-drug interactions. |
