Posted on 10/11/2011 12:27:08 PM PDT by decimon
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Many of the most popular herbal supplements used today can have serious side effects when combined with prescription medicines. For example:
Feverfew (used for migraine prevention), ginger, cranberry, St. John’s Wort and ginseng can interact with the anti-clotting drug warfarin;
Feverfew, ginger, and gingko can interact with aspirin;
Garlic can interfere with anti-clotting medications and the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporine (prevents transplant rejection);
Valerian (used as a sedative) can intensify anesthetics; and
St. John’s Wort can interact with immunosuppressive drugs and potentially lead to transplant rejection.
Herbal products marketed for osteoarthritis also can pose serious risks when combined with prescription medications. For example:
Glucosamine, chondroitin and flavocoxid can affect clotting agents;
Black cohosh can interact with the cancer drug tamoxifen; and
Cat’s claw can interact with clotting agents, blood pressure medications and cyclosporine.
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(Excerpt) Read more at 6.aaos.org ...
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I’d rather take the herbal supplements than drugs given out by doctors who make money prescribing them!! I think drs should have to disclose which drug companies they are invested in.
Learned about this in anesthesia school years back.
Generally, the public is unaware & we see these effects in the OR often. I once cared for a 6 year old whose parents gave her ginko thinking it would make her smarter. She bled into her brain & ended up neurologically devastated from the stroke.
Don’t they mean to say their drugs are interacting with food? Eating the dreaded garlic or ginger?
Gee I would sure hate for the food I eat to interfere with the Rat Poison they were feeding me...
If you know what you are doing, herbal remedies can be a godsend. I grow herbs all summer long and while I only use them in cooking I know what powerful drugs they can be. I have endless books on them. Doctors can be SO DUMB when it comes to herbs. I was recently told by a dopey doctor that peppermint tea would have no effect on my stomach pains. Oh, yeah, doc, that turned out to be true - NOT!
My only dislike is valerin (I may be mispelling that). It’s what gives us Valium and it smells so bad I can’t have it in the house.
You’ve got to be totally educated about the use of herbal medications or you are a dead man. It would be like going out to collect mushrooms for dinner without knowing anything about them. How could people be so stupid?!
This report cannot be true because the doctors tell us all the time that herbs and supplements have only placebo affect.
My doctors always ask me to list my medications AND all supplements. Why would it be surprising that valerian root, which helps you sleep, would intensify anesthetics? I still take some of the ones on that list; but it is good to keep up with side effects and interactions.
Several years ago, a doctor had me on 3 ‘name brand’ prescriptions at about $200/month.
Another doctor took me off all 3.
Later, at different times, all 3 were taken off the market. One had been previous taken off, restored, and removed a second time.
I am very leary of prescription meds. I do, however, figure that, if they made it to generics status, they may be safer.
The “real” lesson here is let food be your medicine and get of the Pharmaseutical Poisons, that way, you don’t die from eating a little pasta with garlic. Wake up people, there are very good ways to naturally lower blood pressure, it’s called food, Potassium, Magnesium, and many other things.
I am fearful they will be using this as an excuse to outright ban herbal medications.
If you have orthopadic surgery (ie a knee replacement) and you don’t follow your surgeons prescription exactly, you will be dead.
That must have taken a lot of ginko, no?
I think that is exactly where this is heading.
Your fears are justified: http://naturalnews.com/032912_FDA_dietary_supplements.html
As if drugs don’t have interactions!!!
And they neglect to tell you warfarin is rat poison.
Who knows? The kid was 6, so she had a small body that would have required a smaller dose. But also, (I’ll get flamed for this but here goes), the FDA (which I am not a fan of - so don’t get me wrong) does not regulate the supplement industry. Therefore, there is variation among dose & purity in many of these products. Even if this patient’s parents were following the directions on the bottle, there’s no way of knowing how much ginko the child was actually taking. And since many of these things are made in China, well, enough said.
How does anyone die from pasta with garlic, lol! Although as I write this, I know people will write in with wacky examples. It makes me long for the days of Julia Child who always fought the food nazis.
Herbs and spices are gifts from God. Learn how to use and enjoy them!
Your points are very well taken.
As I’ve said before, you must really educate yourself before you start with all this herbal stuff. And you’re right about China - who wants ANYTHING from China?!
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