title: A prospective study on the safety of herbal medicines, used alone or with conventional medicines.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Along with increase of herbal medicine use worldwide, the safety of traditional herbal medicines frequently becomes a medical issue.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the incidence of herbal medicine-induced adverse effects on liver functions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study was performed with 313 inpatients (87 male and 226 female) receiving herbal prescriptions during hospitalization. The patients were classified into two groups based on their treatments: one group received herbal medicines only (57 patients), and another received herbal and conventional medicines concurrently (256 patients). All patients were given liver and renal function tests at the start of hospitalization (baseline) and at approximately 2-week intervals thereafter, until discharge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six of the 313 patients showed abnormal liver function without related clinical symptoms (1.9%, 95% CI 0.38-3.41); none of the patients in the herbal group had abnormal result in liver function tests (0% of 57 patients) while all six had received a combination of herbal and conventional medicines (2.3% of 256 patients, 95% CI 0.46-4.14).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that herbal drugs used alone are relatively safe, but the risk for adverse reactions may increase when herbal and conventional drugs are taken concurrently.
authors.affiliation: Liver and Immunology Research Center, Daejeon Oriental Hospital of Daejeon University, 22-5 Daeheung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon 301-704, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Young
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Bong-Ki
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jung-Hyo
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Young-Il
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yo-Chan
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Chang-Gue
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Son
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004347:Drug Interactions; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations