Notify Your Physician if Using Any of
8 Popular Herbal Remedies!
8 popular herbal remedies can pose serious problems, especially if used around the time of surgery. The risks involve both direct effects of the herbal remedies such as hemorrhage and hypoglycemia, and herb-drug interactions that prolong the effects of anaesthesia or increase the rate at which drugs are metabolized. The 8 herbal remedies that pose the most concerns are:
ECHINACEA has been known to cause hyperimmune disorders resulting in allergic reactions. It has also been implicated in hepatotoxicity.
EPHEDRA can cause cardiovascular complications.
GARLIC can cause hemorrhage.
GINKGO can cause hemorrhage.
GINSENG can cause hemorrhage and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
KAVA can potentiate the sedative effects of anaesthesia.
ST. JOHN'S WORT can increase the rate at which drugs are metabolized. (See the following warning for specific medications most likely to be affected.)
VALERIAN can potentiate the sedative effects of anaesthesia.
Many patients don't bother to tell their doctors about such self-medications, thinking they are over-the-counter and thus are harmless. As a consequence, they put themselves at great risk for complications during or after surgery.
Journal of the American Medical Association, July 11, 2001, Vol. 286 No. 2, pp. 208-216.
Alert Regarding St. John's Wort!
Patients taking St. John's Wort for depression need to be aware that this popular herbal remedy has been found to decrease the blood levels, and thus the effectiveness, of other medications the patient may be taking. Some medicines whose effectiveness has been shown to be reduced by St. John's Wort are asthma medications, Coumadin, oral contraceptives, anticancer drugs, phenobarbital, drugs used to treat AIDS, and immunosuppressants used by transplant patients. Anyone taking St. John's Wort should discuss the matter with his/her doctor due to the potentially dangerous side-effects that might result. Science, January 5, 2001, pages 35-37.
Food Supplement Labels Alert
When you buy a bottle of aspirin or other over-the-counter or
prescription medicine in the pharmacy, you can be assured that the content of the pills comes close to what is on the label. However, that is not the case for many food supplements.
ConsumerLab.com has tested many of these products, and so far, they have posted assay results on ginkgo biloba, saw palmetto, vitamin C, s-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), and glucosamine/chondroitin products. The FAILURE RATES for these products are high, being:
50% of the SAMe products
33% of saw palmetto and the glucosamine/chondroitin
25% of the ginkgo biloba
17% of the vitamin C
Most products failed because they were lacking in the
stated ingredient. Some had NONE at all, and others had only about HALF the stated amount. The brand names of products PASSING the tests can be viewed at ConsumerLab.com's home page.
Coumadin Interactions with Alternative Therapies
The July 1, 2000 issue
of the American Journal of Health-Systems Pharmacy catalogs a wide range of herbal and other supplements that may affect the dosage of Coumadin (warfarin). Products that have been documented to DECREASE Coumadin's blood thinning effects are:
St. John's Wort
ginseng
coenzyme Q10
"excessive amounts" of green tea
Those that INCREASE the blood thinning effects of Coumadin are:
vitamin E
papain
dong quai
devil's claw
danshen
Western Colorado has experienced its first cases of Hantavirus in 2000. Such cases are also likely to occur in Teller County. The virus is carried in rodent droppings, most notably those of the deer mice which are common in this part of the state. People sweeping or cleaning areas where such droppings may be present should take precautions to avoid inhaling the virus-contaminated dust. Hantavirus causes an often-fatal form of viral pneumonia. The most serious cases are characterized by labored breathing due to the rapid accumulation of fluid in the lungs, followed by heart failure. Anyone experiencing such symptoms who may have been exposed to rodent wastes should seek medical help immediately! Once fluid accumulation in the lungs begins, the most effective means of treatment found to date is a technique known as extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO. This machine oxygenates the blood, reducing the strain on the heart until fluid accumulation in the lungs can be brought under control.
Links
Teller County Burial Sites
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Resource to locate the interments of friends and relatives
Teller County, Colorado
Backgrounds by Marie
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