April 12, 2012

expert reaction to studies showing toxicity of traditional Chinese medicines

Two studies, one in PNAS and one in PLoS Genetics revealed toxic compounds present in traditional chinese medicines.

Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, said:

“The risks of Chinese herbal medicine are numerous: firstly, the herbs themselves can be toxic; secondly, they might interact with prescription drugs; thirdly, they are often contaminated with heavy metals; fourthly, they are frequently adulterated with prescription drugs; fifthly, the practitioners are often not well trained, make unsubstantiated claims and give irresponsible, dangerous advice to their patients.

“Taken together, these risks amount to a significant potential for harm – I would not recommend Chinese herbal medicine to anyone.”

‘Aristolochic acid-associated urothelial cancer in Taiwan’ by Chen, C. et al., published in PNAS on Monday 9th April. ‘Deep sequencing of plant and animal DNA contained within traditional Chinese medicines reveals legality issues and health safety concerns’ by Coghlan, M. et al., published in PLoS Genetics on Thursday 12th April.