Is TCM safe?
The clinical studies reviewed above did not report adverse effects from herbal preparations in patients with pancreas cancer. However, there are reports of liver toxicity and kidney damage associated with using Chinese herbal medicines (ref 19, 20). In recent years, Chinese herbal medicines have become the leading cause of hepatotoxicity from herbs. Possible herb and drug interactions also exist (ref 21, 22). Studies indicate that taking antioxidants such as flavonoids could decrease the effectiveness of some anti-cancer chemotherapy if taking at the same time (ref 21).
""long-term use of herbs should be under monitoring for liver and kidney functions"
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Very few manufacturers of herbal medicines in China meet Good Manufacturing Practices. For those practitioner-prescribed herbal decoctions, it is more difficult to assure the quality of both herbs and herbal preparations. Therefore, long-term use of herbs should be under monitoring for liver and kidney functions.
References
19. Melchart D, Linde K, Weidenhammer W, Hager S, Shaw D, Bayer R. Liver enzyme elevations in patients treated with traditional Chinese medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association 1999;282(1):28-9.
20. Tomlinson B, Chan TY, Chan JC, Critchley JA, But PP. Toxicity of complementary therapies: an eastern perspective. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2000;40(5):451-6.
21. Izzo AA. Herb-drug interactions: an overview of the clinical evidence. Fundam Clin Pharmacol 2005;19(1):1-16.
22. Williamson EM. Interactions between herbal and conventional medicines. Expert Opin Drug Saf 2005;4(2):355-78.
