Some herbs are dangerous

[Nurse_Betty]

March 26, 2002 -- Alternative remedies are more popular than ever, but natural doesn't always mean safe. In fact, researchers have found that certain herbs may increase a woman's risk of breast cancer.

"Our studies show that dong quai and ginseng stimulate the growth of [breast cancer] cells," write Paula Amato, MD, from the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine, and colleagues, the dong quai and the ginseng both "significantly induced growth" of the cancer cells, the researchers write.

Right now, without FDA regulation, there is little if any guarantee of what these preparations contain -- there's no standardization for formulas, dosage, or labeling accuracy.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/...000_1000_ln_06

[Rajkumar]

How are you Nurse_Betty? I am shocked by what I read and thanks for alerting me.Many Chinese traditional practitioners here in Malaysia have been using Ginseng to treat many medical conditions especially breast cancers.Although I use herbs along with the western drugs to treat my patients I never use any ginseng.In fact in Malaysia most of the traditional herbs are marketed through direct selling companies or through multi-level marketing.What is very alarming is the poor product knowledge the distributors have when they sell these herbal products through the direct selling way.The sale of herbal products in Malaysia goes to the billions of dollars.Most of the times I have encountered patients who just consume herbal products without actually knowing what they are taking it for.Recently there has been an alert by the Surgeons in Malaysia that the herbal drink "Noni" leads to excessive bleeding during Surgery and can cause intra-abdominal haemorrhage.I usually confine myself to Ayurveda and the nutritional products from Australia when I treat my patients.One of the greatest pharmacologist once said "Ayurveda does not kill Cancer cells but transforms cancer cell to normal healthy cells." I hope a day will come when all herbal products are withdrawn from the direct selling market and there is some form of regulation for herbal preparations to be dispenced to the public.You should see how the distributors of Amway and Shakeely sell their Vitamins and Herbal range of products.It is just like having a full plate of rice.Thanks Nurse_Betty for the update and I suggest you take "Ginkor Biloba".