Use of herbal medications and their perceived effects among adults in the Greater Beirut area.
OBJECTIVE
To measure the magnitude of use of so-called "herbal medications" with or without prescribed drugs and to assess the benefits and adverse effects perceived by herbal users in the Greater Beirut area.


METHODS
A sample survey of 480 adults (18-65) in the Greater Beirut (GB) area was conducted over a one-month period in 2009.


RESULTS
The estimated weighted prevalence of herbal use in the previous 12 months in GB was 58.9% (56.7-61.2). Most of the 293 users (72.4%) believed that their use had been of no benefit, but 70% thought use was relatively safe. Of users, 53% were concomitantly using conventional drugs for a chronic condition yet only 45% had thought of informing their physician about herbal use. Among the "concomitant users" 60% had suffered some form of adverse effects.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a relatively high prevalence of herbal medicine use in Greater Beirut, with an important rate of self-reported adverse effects, especially among those who suffer chronic conditions, and little exchange of information on this between patients and doctors. Data indicate the need to educate patients about realities associated with abusive use, expected benefits and potential drug-herb interaction. Patients on chronic medications should not be left to actually experience adverse effects in order to discover that herbal medicines are not always effective or innocuous.
Department of Pharmacology, St-Joseph University, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Sciences Campus, PO Box 11-5076, Beirut. Lebanon. nada.aladdin@usj.edu.lb
Nada M
NM
Alaaeddine
Salim M
SM
Adib
Hanaa M
HM
Alawieh
Siham M
SM
Adibilly
Maya M
MM
Khalil
Shafika E
SE
Assaad
Mohamed C
MC
Khayat
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult