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Traditional chinese medicine toxicology
From WikEM
Contents
Background
- Traditional Chinese medicine has become increasingly popular in the US and other Western countries, and has remained extremely popular in China and Hong Kong.[1]
- Although generally marketed as "natural" and "herbal" in nature, many contain contaminants in the form of heavy metals or conventional western medications.[1]
Common Toxic Herbs
Aconitine Group
These are the most common group of herbals[1]
- Activates sodium channels → cardiac and neurotoxicity
- Paresthesias, nausea/vomiting, arrhythmias, hypotension
Podophyllin Group
- Neurotoxicity (convulsion + coma)
Anticholinergic group
- Tachy arrythmia + altered mental status
Digoxin-like agents
- Tachy arrhythmia
- Heart Blocks
See Also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Kam PC1, Liew S. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine and anaesthesia. Anaesthesia. 2002 Nov;57(11):1083-9.
- ↑ Chan K. Some aspects of toxic contaminants in herbal medicines. Chemosphere. 2003 Sep;52(9):1361-71.
