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Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Author: Dr. Carol Murakami, Virginia Mason Medical Center
Dr. Murakami works in the Digestive Disease Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. She specializes in gastrointestinal motility and gastric motility disorders. She also has expertise in the care of patients with liver disease. Dr. Murikami wrote this month's article about Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
1. What is complementary and alternative medicine? A type of medical practice characterized by the use of medical and health care systems, practices and dietary supplements not used in conventional medicine.
2. Can dietary supplements cause liver damage? Over the past several years in the United States, there has been a surge in the use of dietary supplements such that up to 1 in 6 adults who are taking prescription drugs also take supplements. There are increasing reports of dietary supplements causing liver damage sometimes necessitating liver transplantation.
3. Why do you need to be concerned? Dietary supplements differ from prescription drugs in that they do not require approval by the Food and Drug Administration in order to be marketed and sold. As a result of this lack of regulation, there are oftentimes a variety of herbs typically in impure forms present in any given supplement. Even if a supplement is found to be unsafe, the FDA can only issue a warning. They cannot withdraw the supplement from the market.
4. What are some of the more commonly used dietary supplements associated with toxic reactions to the liver? Just to name a few, the following have been reported to cause liver toxicity: Green tea extracts, ma huang, pure usnic acid, germander, sho-saiko-to, centella asiatica, boh-gol-zhee, black cohosh, kava, atractylis gummifera, jin bu huan, chaparral leaf, comfrey, camphor.
5. How can you as a consumer be more informed? Consult with your healthcare provider before using any dietary supplement. Natural does not always mean safer. Information can be found on the following website sponsored by the National Institutes of Health: https://nccam.nih.gov
Page updated: October 3rd, 2012
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