Herbal drugs in liver disease: how safe are they?
A 24-year-old man presented with jaundice to our center and further evaluation revealed the presence of acute hepatitis E infection, an infection common in India. The patient's parents consulted a traditional medicine practitioner for giving him native medications for jaundice, a practice very common in India. After taking native medications for 5 days, he developed fulminant liver failure and was readmitted to our center and, in spite of resuscitative and supportive measures, he succumbed to his illness. This clinical situation epitomizes the challenge that we physicians in India face when we confront a patient with liver disease, wherein we have to balance the application of scientific knowledge and the use of native medications by patients. Herbal medicines have been in vogue right from the Vedic period in India at around 600 BC and continue to be used even now for various forms of diseases, particularly affecting the liver. This study aims to highlight this issue and its implications for the treating physicians and the public.
Navaneethan
Udayakumar
U
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219, USA. udhaykumar81@yahoo.co.in
Venkatraman
Jayanthi
J
D000208:Acute Disease; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017114:Liver Failure, Acute / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult