The growing use of herbal medicines: issues relating to adverse reactions and challenges in monitoring safety

Abstract

The use of herbal medicinal products and supplements has increased tremendously over the past three decades with not less than 80% of people worldwide relying on them for some part of primary healthcare. Although therapies involving these agents have shown promising potential with the efficacy of a good number of herbal products clearly established, many of them remain untested and their use are either poorly monitored or not even monitored at all. The consequence of this is an inadequate knowledge of their mode of action, potential adverse reactions, contraindications, and interactions with existing orthodox pharmaceuticals and functional foods to promote both safe and rational use of these agents. Since safety continues to be a major issue with the use of herbal remedies, it becomes imperative, therefore, that relevant regulatory authorities put in place appropriate measures to protect public health by ensuring that all herbal medicines are safe and of suitable quality. This review discusses toxicity-related issues and major safety concerns arising from the use of herbal medicinal products and also highlights some important challenges associated with effective monitoring of their safety.

In vitro and In vivo antimycobacterial, hepatoprotective and immunomodulatory activity of Euclea natalensis and its mode of action

“…Nature has been the source of medicinal agents for thousands of years, and a staggering number of modern drugs have been isolated from natural sources, especially plants (Ghorbani et al, 2006). Over the last few decades, there has been a significant increase and a growing interest in alternative medicines, especially those from plant origin (Ekor, 2013;WHO, 2004). This green revolution can be attributed to several reasons; conventional medicine can be inefficient, abusive and incorrect use of these drugs can result in adverse side effects.…”

“…However, this is not always the case and the use of these natural products are not always authorized by legal authorities or practitioners that are familiar with the efficacy and safety of the phytomedicine. There are many articles and published papers that report on the lack of quality and safety in the production, trade and prescription of phytomedicinal products (Ekor, 2013;Govindaraghavan and Sucher, 2015;Pelkonen et al, 2014;Raynor et al, 2011). It is clear that modern society's general views of health services, the need for new novel pharmaceutical drug development and the recognition that research in and on ethnopharmacology as an alternative, represents a viable and suitable approach for new drug development and research.…”

Mitochondrial dysfunction as a mechanism of drug-induced hepatotoxicity: current understanding and future perspectives

“…Herbal products as medications have been used even before recorded history in Ancient China, India and Egypt. In recent years, the worldwide use of medicinal herbs expanded significantly [202–204], and in the United States, the total estimated retail sales of herbs and natural products increased from $4,230 million in 2000 to $6,032 million in 2013, corresponding to a 3.3% annual growth according to the data of the American Botanical Council [205]. This increased use is supported by a general belief among the public that due to the natural source of these products, they are harmless; this belief is, however, inaccurate and mistaken, and there is currently growing evidence showing that herbs and other natural products may cause liver injury, occasionally severe enough to necessitate liver transplantation [206].…”

Green Tropical Phytoextracts - Promising Anticancer Alternative

“…Plant derivatives and their natural products encompass over 50% of all the drugs being used clinically (1)(2)(3). A large proportion (~80%) of world's population is still dependent on traditional medicine, which mostly consists of plant extracts or derivatives, for primary health care and treating different diseases (4)(5)(6). The development of resistance of microorganisms towards antibiotics and other chemical therapeutics has also enforced the idea of finding medicinal plants with antimicrobial activities.…”