Many people have turned away from conventional medicines, with the belief that
‘natural’ substances like herbs are safer than synthetic substances. This belief is
augmented by many other unwarranted claims such as herbal products do not
contain chemicals while conventional medicines do, thus contributing to the latter’s
Aims The aim of this systematic review was to assess the published clinical evidence
on interactions between herbal and conventional drugs.
Methods Four electronic databases were searched for case reports, case series or clinical
trials of such interactions. The data were extracted and validated using a scoring system
for interaction probability.
T
Key points:
WHO Traditional Medicine
Strategy 2002–2005
raditional, complementary and alternative
medicine attract the full spectrum of
reactions — from uncritical enthusiasm to
uninformed scepticism. Yet use of traditional
medicine (TM) remains widespread in
developing countries, while use of complementary
his article gives an overview of the potential hazards of polyphenol consumption, as reported during the round-table discussion at the 1st International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, held in Vichy, France, November 2003. Adverse effects of polyphenols have been evaluated primarily in experimental studies.