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WARNING - Herbal remedy triggers kidney failure

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Herbal compound triggers kidney failure, cancer

WARNING – Herbal remedy triggers kidney failure

Washington: Aristolochic acid (AA), a plant compound used in herbal remedies since ancient times, is among the leading causes of kidney failure and upper urinary tract cancer (UUC).

In a study of 151 UUC patients in Taiwan, Arthur Grollman, professor of pharmacological sciences, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and a team of scientists, concluded that exposure to AA is a primary contributor to UUC in Taiwan, where its incidence is stated to be the highest in the world.

This finding holds broad implications for global public health, as individuals treated with herbal preparations available worldwide that contain Aristolochia are at significant risk of developing chronic kidney disease or UUC, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science reports.

“We believe our latest research highlights the importance of a long-overlooked disease that affects many individuals in Taiwan, and, by extension, in China and other countries worldwide, where Aristolochia herbal remedies traditionally have been used for medicinal purposes,” says Grollman.

Aristolochic acid is recognized by the US health department as a powerful nephrotoxin and human carcinogen linked with chronic kidney disease and UUC, according to a Stony Brook statement.

The dual toxicities and target tissues were originally revealed when a group of healthy Belgian women developed renal failure and UUC after ingesting Aristolochia herbs to lose weight. Other cases of aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN) and UUC were subsequently reported worldwide.

Most recently, Grollman and colleagues proved AA to be the causative agent of endemic nephropathy in the Balkans, solving a 50-year-old medical mystery that pointed to the ingestion of Aristolochia clematitis, or birthwort, contained in wheat.

Using their previous work in the Balkans as a guide, Grollman and colleagues looked toward other areas where Aristolochia might be consumed and in which there was a high incidence of kidney disease and UUC. Taiwan appeared to demonstrate exactly that connection.

IANS


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Herb Remedies from Colonial Period Can Be Found in Queens

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Herb Remedies from Colonial Period Can Be Found in Queens

In the colonial era, Queens women kept herb gardens behind their homes.

These gardens were carefully cultivated and the contents were dried, pressed, pounded and steeped to create medical cures for common ailments. Much of our medicine today originates form these very same plants.

Tucked between Union Turnpike and the Grand Central Parkway is the Queens County Farm Museum, a Dutch farm dating back to 1697. The farm is home to both animals and sustainable farm practices, preserving the historical heritage of the site.

Catherine and Jacob Adriance built their farmhouse in 1772 and the colonial herb garden was planted, a garden that is still maintained today.

Diane Squillari, an employee of the Queens County Farm Museum, has maintained the herb garden for 10 years.

Today’s garden was designed to replicate the aesthetic patterns of English herb gardens and planted with traditional colonial herb. Flowers, including Rose of Sharon, a weed by definition, were added for charm.

Squillari said of her work: “It is important that children learn that what goes into their food for flavoring was important for medicines and teas as well. Herbs are used in school cooking classes here at the farm.”

The garden is planted year-round. Winter herbs include sage, thyme, lavender, and spearmint, Squillari’s favorites.

“The smell of the herb is comforting, calming to me, even though spearmint is supposed to wake you up,” she said.

For those interested in a back to basics lifestyle, herb gardens can easily be planted at home. Squillari recommends easy to grow herbs such as garlic chives, rosemary, and parsley, all of which can be grown on windowsills.

For larger outdoor herb gardens, careful planning is important. Perennial herbs – mints, oregano and fennel – return year after year.

Squillari advises leaving space between plants for easy access and planting taller, hardier plants in less accessible places. Once established, fresh, garden-grown herbs can add excellent flavor to food. Or, you can try some of the colonial uses of herbs.

Mint leaves can be dried and brewed for tea, a common colonial cure for indigestion. Mint was even added to wine during colonial times to help women with childbirth, according to Historiccamdencounty.com.

Garlic was, and still is, used as a remedy for inflammation and infection. Ground cloves of garlic (4-5) would have been ingested once daily to fight infection or inflammation.

For external use, garlic can be ground and make into a poultice, a collection of herbs mashed and wrapped in fabric. The fabric pouch is dipped in warm water and applied directly to the problem area.

Catnip, another easy to grow herb, is a great way to repel insects, according to Cherylsherbs.com. A 2001 study by the American Chemical Society found that concentrated catnip repels more mosquitoes than did DEET.

The catnip repelled 49-59 percent of mosquitoes, whereas the DEET repelled 40-45 percent. 

Ehow.com recommends steeping a handful of finely chopped leaves in 2 cups of boiling water. Liquid strained from leaves can be put into a spray bottle and applied to clothing before leaving the house.

Other herbs notable for repelling insects are eucalyptus, witch hazel and citronella.

The Queens County Farm can be visited year round and general admission is free for families. 

Kristin Allocco was raised in Bayside and works for the Queens Farm Museum. She also teaches fitness and dance classes. Read more about her by viewing her ?Patch Profile .

Bill & Sheila’s A-Z of herbs
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Get advice before using herbal products

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Get advice before using herbal products

To say prescription medications are exorbitant is an understatement. Each year millions reach for alternative treatments and herbal remedies. Herbal products have a wide appeal, often viewed as a milder treatment with fewer side effects. More than $14 billion were spent on natural products for self-care in 2009.

And several of those herbal options can have serious interactions with many prescription and other over-the-counter medications. 

St. John’s wort, available from dollar stores to pharmacies and widely used as a “natural” antidepressant, is an attractive alternative especially during the holiday blues season. But St. John’s may interfere with blood thinners, birth control, seizure control meds, immunosuppressants, cancer medications and especially prescription antidepressants according to the National Institute of Health and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The problem? Patients taking St. John’s wort may be unknowingly counteracting the effect of their prescription medications according to the NIH. This can have serious consequences, ranging from ineffective depression, cancer and heart treatments to unplanned pregnancies.

And there are plenty of dietary supplement poppers out there. Half of all prescription medication users also use dietary supplements says the Journal of the American Medical Association.  

Let’s do the math. The herbal supplement users plus the large population of prescription med users of antidepressants, birth control and immunosuppressant drugs equal a high-risk population.

St. John’s stimulates liver enzymes which “inactivate and remove drugs from the body,” says a CSPI report. The liver dumps medications at a faster pace decreasing medication in the blood level to a point that is too low for effectiveness.

CSPI has recently appealed to the Federal Drug Administration for required black warning labels with boldface lettering on all St. John’s wort products.  Unfortunately herbal supplements are a largely unregulated industry by the FDA, including quality control. Levels of hypercin, one of the most active ingredients in St. John’s wort, can vary from product to product according to several studies.


Bill & Sheila’s A-Z of herbal

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What you need to know when deciding whether herbal remedies will work for you

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What you need to know when deciding whether herbal remedies will work for you

The Irish Times – Tuesday, October 25, 2011

DÓNAL O’MATHÚNA

DOES IT WORK? BACKGROUND For the past three and a half years, the evidence for different herbs and supplements has been examined here. This will be the last of this series, although a book of the columns will be published mid-2012 by Glasnevin Publishing. In this final column, I’d like to leave you with some general guidance about herbal remedies.

People have been using herbal remedies for thousands of years, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they are all useful. Some are effective for specific conditions, others are poisonous, and still others will do little more than waste your money. For example, St John’s wort has good evidence to support its effectiveness for mild depression, while Aristolochia species have caused the deaths of hundreds of people. Meanwhile, new herbs appear on the market all the time with little or no evidence to guide people.

The complexity here is reflected in the number of products available. One report in the US a few years ago found that 1,400 different species of herbs were available in more than 30,000 different products.

Many products contain several herbs. A market analysis published earlier in 2011 found that multi-herb products dominate this market and are predicted to “race ahead” of single-herb remedies. This makes it even more difficult to determine if a product works or is good value for money. Products may contain several herbs with similar

reputations, but it becomes difficult to know if enough of any of them is present in these mixtures to have an effect. The potential for interactions, both good and bad, also arises.

For this reason, products with a single herb offer the best chance of getting a clearer understanding of their evidence. Uncovering that evidence can then be a challenge. As with many topics, the internet provides much information – some of it good, and some of it bad.

Discernment is vital when searching the internet, especially for health information. Be critical. If a website recommends a herb and is also selling it (as three-quarters of the sites are), be wary. If a website claims a herbal remedy will cure everything, surf away. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

To help when searching the web for health information, various accreditations are available. Websites agree to abide by a code of conduct and in return can display a certification logo. One is the Health On the Net (HON) Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Switzerland. In general, websites with such logos should be trustworthy (but check out what the logo really means).

The best type of evidence for the effectiveness and safety of herbs, supplements or medicines are controlled clinical trials. These are increasingly available for herbal remedies and published in peer-reviewed journals. However, these are not written for popular consumption, and often provide so much detail that even busy professionals don’t have time to examine them. For this reason, systematic reviews are conducted to summarise the available research. These are designed to remove as much bias as possible from the conclusions.

One of the best sources of systematic reviews is the Cochrane Library, available at TheCochrane Library.com. This is produced by independent professionals and available both in great detail and in plain language summaries. Reviews of several dozen herbs are available, and more are added each month.

PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 

The impression is often given that natural is safe. Hemlock, the death cap mushroom (Amanita phalloides) and deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), should be enough to remind us that nature can be dangerous. Consuming enough capsaicin from chilli peppers will kill you. Many herbs have adverse effects, and unfortunately some herbal remedies (especially those bought over the internet) can be impure. Batches of “herbal viagra” in particular have been found to be contaminated with pharmaceuticals.

Herbal remedies can be a way to avoid expensive medicines. For short-term conditions, these may be an option. But for serious conditions, or if symptoms persist, it is important not to avoid medical attention. Self-diagnosis has its limitations.

RECOMMENDATIONS 

Although thousands of herbs are used, only a few dozen have received extensive research. Many have not been studied in controlled trials and trying them is, at best, guesswork. For others, a few studies may be available.

Be wary of general claims about products being “scientifically proven” unless specific references are given to that evidence. Also, ask your doctor or pharmacist about herbs or supplements you are using or considering. They should have access to the growing number of professional databases addressing herbal remedies (such as NaturalDatabase.com). It is also important that they know about all the herbs, supplements and medicines you are taking as some of them can interact with one another.

If a herb works, it does so because it contains chemicals that affect our bodies. In that way, they are naturally occurring drugs that should be taken with due caution.

Dónal O’Mathúna has a PhD in pharmacy, researching herbal remedies, and an MA in bioethics, and is a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing Human Sciences, DCU. His
Irish Times columns will be published mid-2012 by Glasnevin Publishing.

Series concluded 

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