Kidney Injury From Alternative Medicines

Prevalence and risk factors of pre-hypertension in Congolese pre and post menopausal women

“…The use of traditional medicine appears as another determinant of pre-hypertension in this sample of Congolese menopausal women. In developing countries, uses of traditional medicine for primary health care may be an important risk for the development of kidney injury because of several factors: non-conventional preparations, unknown exact biological activity, unknown dosage, toxicity, interactions 33 . Herbal solutions are not regulated as Western medicine.…”

“…Kidneys injury caused by traditional medicine consist of different renal manifestations such as hypertension, acute tubular necrosis, acute interstitial nephritis, papillary necrosis, kidney stones, urinary retention, chronic tubule interstitial nephritis with fibrosis 33 . Herbal preparations can be contaminated by heavy metals and/or pesticide 34 .…”

Dietary Supplements

“…It was later reported that numerous people who took the supplement needed dialysis or renal transplant and several developed urothelial carcinoma [ 22 ]. Other less common herbs implicated in kidney dysfunction, mainly used in Africa and China, have been reported and summarized in a literature review by Colson and De Broe [ 14 ]. It would be prudent for practitioners whose patient populations have strong cultural ties to Africa and Asia to familiarize themselves with particular regimens inherent in certain populations.…”

Effect of aqueous suspension of dried latex of Calotropis procera on hepatorenal functions in rat

“…In all these in vivo studies no observable toxic effects of latex have been found. Though there is a widespread belief that herbal remedies are safe, their therapeutic use has been shown to alter liver and kidney functions (Langmead and Rampton, 2001;Corns, 2003;Colson and De Broe, 2005). Despite its potential to treat several disorders, no study * Corresponding author.…”