'Medical University Prof. Dr. Paraskev Stoyanov - Varna'
Doi
Abstract
IntroductionThe use of herbal medicines continues to expand rapidly. Many people now take herbal medicines or herbal products for their health in different cases due to their low price and better compatibility with the human body. They are also regarded as minimal risk in terms of side effects, although researches on herbal medicine safety are still not broad or deep enough. Unfortunately, there are limited available published data regarding the potential toxicity of a variety of plant substances commonly used in herbal drugs.Aim The aim of this paper is to review safety issues associated with the use of herbal products.Materials and Methods We used the following web databases - Pubmed, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. Results More and more reports have been documenting the apparent increasing popularity of herbal medicines. Although many popular herbal products are thought to be safe, a lot of unexpected effects of some of them are already described in the literature. Both minor and major toxicities have been determined, including emesis, hypersensitivity reactions, cardiovascular events, neurological dysfunction, hepatic and renal failure, and also development of malignant disease.Conclusion Our research shows the importance of pharmacists being aware of what nonprescription herbal medications their patients are taking and being informed of the potential side and toxic effects of these agents
