FDA Regulation of Herbal Medicines
As more Americans are taking control of their own health, they are also turning to herbal medicines for 搒elf cures.?It is estimated that one in three Americans uses some form of herbal medication; totaling over 13.7 billion dollars spent in the US in one year. Although it is great that people are becoming more concerned about their health, these 搒elf cures?can be dangerous, even fatal, if used inappropriately. The problem is that the majority of herbal using Americans don抰 know what is appropriate use and what is not. Available information can be misleading and contradicting. The FDA needs to regulate herbal medicines and provide information on correct usage including amount, indications, contraindications, and side effects. With such standardization, patients can make more informed decisions about herbal medicine usage, drug and illness interactions would be greatly reduced, and healthcare providers will feel confidant in recommending herbal medicines to their patients.
The typical herbal medicine user is 25-49 years old, has some college education, and an annual income over $35,000. These findings indicate patients who are likely to be well informed on available information, and who are also likely to follow medical advice. If the FDA were to control herbal medicines and provide information on them, then patients would take that information into account when deciding to use herbal medicines.
Herbal medicines are most commonly used for chronic health problems such as arthritis, diabetes, fatigue, depression/anxiety, and poor memory. Most patients with such illnesses are also taking other 搕raditional?medications. Because there is not information on contraindications or drug interactions packaged with herbal medicines, patients have no way of knowing if their illness or medication interacts with the herbal medicine. An important example is with Ginkgo Biloba, a very popular herb taken for a wide variety of illnesses and ailments. As popular as the herb is, it is not widely known for its anti-platelet properties. This means that a person already on anti-coagulation therapy could hemorrhage if they start taking Ginkgo Biloba; a potentially fatal reaction. Another popular herb, Echinacea, is taken by many people to help stimulate their immune system. What the package doesn抰 say is that if taken for more than six weeks, it can actually suppress the immune system; making a person more susceptible to serious illnesses including cancer. By mandating such information to be included with the herbs, the FDA can prevent many of the adverse effects of herbal medicine.
FDA regulation would also encourage health care providers to recommend herbal medicine to patients who prefer natural healing. Because the active ingredients are not standardized, it is hard for health care providers to know what their patients will be getting out of the herb. This uncertainty keeps many healthcare providers from offering the benefits of herbal medicines to patients. Another problem is that some herbal medicines interfere with traditional medicines. St. John抯 Wort is a widely used herb for self-treatment of depression. St. John抯 Wort works in the same way many traditional antidepressants work: by inhibiting monoamine oxidase and seratonin re-uptake. Most patients don抰 realize this, and end up taking both their prescribed antidepressants and the over-the-counter St. John抯 Wort leading to an additive effect can be detrimental. If physicians felt confident about the effects of St. John抯 Wort, then they could prescribe a different kind of antidepressant to take with the herb, and the effects would not additive, but instead could be very helpful; if only they knew for sure that the two did not interact in another way. Although there is some information out on drug interactions, most of it is not from any sort of trial or study. With FDA regulation, studies would be randomized and controlled, and the information would therefore be more accurate and dependable. By having information on drug effects and interactions from the FDA, physicians would feel confidant when choosing which patients qualify for which herbal medicines.
People are taking charge of their health, and with that they are looking toward other sources of medicine than the 搕raditional?prescriptions. Herbal medicines are a great way for patients to treat their own ailments, but with that independence comes misinformation and potential problems. Drug and illness interactions are just a small representation of the problems that can be solved with FDA regulation of herbal medicines. By ensuring controlled and randomized trials, a standardization of dosages, and package information, the FDA can bring confidence to patients wanting natural therapy and physicians looking to offer such options.
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