title: Influence of herbal complexes containing licorice on potassium levels: a retrospective study.
abstract: To observe the influence of these complexes on potassium levels in a clinical setting, we investigated the influence of herbal complexes containing licorice on potassium levels. We retrospectively examined the medical records of patients treated with herbal complexes containing licorice from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2010. We recorded the changes in the levels of potassium, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen and examined the differences between before and after herbal complexes intake using a paired t-test. In addition, we investigated the prevalence of hypokalemia among these patients and reviewed such patients. We identified 360 patients who did not show significant changes in the levels of potassium and creatinine (P = 0.815, 0.289). We observed hypokalemia in 6 patients. However, in 5 patients, the hypokalemia did not appear to be related to the licorice. Thus, we could suggest that herbal complexes containing licorice do not significantly influence the potassium levels in routine clinical herbal therapies. However, we propose that follow-up examination for potassium levels is required to prevent any unpredictable side effects of administration of licorice in routine herbal medicine care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases, Kyung Hee University Oriental Medicine Hospital, 1 Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 130-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: WooSang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases, Kyung Hee University Oriental Medicine Hospital, 1 Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 130-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: SeungWon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases, Kyung Hee University Oriental Medicine Hospital, 1 Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 130-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: JinWook
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Im
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul 134-727, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: SeongUk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases, Kyung Hee University Oriental Medicine Hospital, 1 Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 130-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: SangKwan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul 134-727, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: JungMi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul 134-727, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: ChangNam
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases, Kyung Hee University Oriental Medicine Hospital, 1 Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 130-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: KiHo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cho