Herbs, vitamins that can hurt you

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Herbs, vitamins that can hurt you

St. 's wort can cause serious side effects

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/20/herbs.vitamins.harmful/index.html

By Cohen

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent

Carole Grant doesn't really trust medical doctors. She never has. Whenever she

has had a health issue, she has headed straight for an herbalist, acupuncturist

or other " natural " healer.

A few years ago, her alternative practitioner of choice was a self-described

" intuitive healer " in New York, where she lives. The healer put Grant on a

regimen of herbs, supplements and vitamins to help her lose weight.

A few weeks later, Grant, a geriatric care manager, was closing up an apartment

for an elderly client who'd died when she started feeling strange sensations in

her toes.

" They were tingling like crazy, " Grant said. " I thought it was the carpet in the

apartment, because it was old and dirty, and I'd taken my shoes off. "

When the tingling in her toes spread to her feet, Grant knew that it was more

than just the dingy carpet. When it spread to her legs, she knew that she was

really in trouble.

" Both legs went numb up to my knees, " she remembers.

Grant sought help from a podiatrist, who insisted that she get care from a

medical doctor. Grant chose Dr. a Lee, vice chairwoman of the Department

of Integrative Medicine at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan.

After some testing, Lee discovered the reason for Grant's numbness: She had

sky-high amounts of vitamin B6 in her blood, which can interfere with

circulation.

" The intuitive healer had told me to double my dose of vitamin B6, " Grant said.

" She never told me when to stop the double dose, and I never checked with her. "

It turned out the healer was having Grant take about 100 times the normal dose

of B6, according to Lee. The healer had intended for Grant to take this high

dose for a few weeks. Instead, she took it for more than four months.

" It blew my mind to think this could happen to someone like me, " Grant said.

" I'm so careful. I'll use every natural modality I can before taking medicine. "

Lee says that although it's unusual, she's seen other patients get into trouble

with herbs, supplements and vitamins precisely because they're less cautious

with something that's natural than they would be with a drug.

" A lot of people think herbs are safe because they come from nature, and they

are safe if used properly, " Lee said. " But you can still get into trouble with

them. "

" I don't think any herb is good or bad. It's how we use it, " said Dr. Brent

Bauer, director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the

Mayo Clinic. " Sometimes people take too much. They think, if two is good, then

20 must be better. "

Here's a list of herbs and supplements that can be dangerous if taken the wrong

way: either in high doses, in combination with certain drugs or before surgery.

1. St. 's wort

This herb, often taken to relieve depression, is always at the top of the list

of potentially problematic natural remedies because it can cause serious side

effects and increase or decrease the potency of many medications. The Mayo

Clinic recommends that many people should avoid it, including those taking

antidepressants, anti-blood-clotting drugs, certain asthma drugs,

immune-suppressing medications or steroids.

2. Kava

A sedative herb, kava is associated with serious liver problems, even when taken

for a very short time, according to the Mayo Clinic. It's especially risky if

you're taking drugs to lower cholesterol.

3. Fish oil

Though it's a very safe supplement to increase your intake of heart-healthy fat,

Lee says she's seen patients have excessive bleeding when taking high doses of

fish oil. " It's not life-threatening, but for example, I've seen where people

are taking too much fish oil, and they'll have prolonged bleeding from

acupuncture needles. "

How much fish oil is too much? More than 5 grams -- or 5,000 milligrams -- a

day, according to Bauer.

4. Artemisinin

Last week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, put out by the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, details the case of a man who developed

hepatitis after taking the herb artemisinin for stomach problems. There was no

other reason for his hepatitis, and the disease went away when he stopped taking

the herb, and the authors suggested that doctors be aware of a possible

relationship between the artemisinin and hepatitis.

5. Various herbs when taken before surgery

Dr. Rowe, a plastic surgeon, was operating on a patient when he noticed an

unusual amount of bleeding.

" The tissue was just oozing, and we couldn't figure out why, " he remembered,

noting that the patient had told him he wasn't taking any supplements. " After

the surgery I asked the patient, 'Are you sure you're not taking anything?' and

he said, 'Oh, yes, I'm taking this, this and this.' "

In a paper published this year in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Rowe listed

about a dozen herbs that should be avoided within two weeks of surgery,

including common ones such as garlic, ginseng and echinacea. Some increase

bleeding and some affect the heart, and others interfere with anesthesia or

other drugs.

It's imperative that you tell your surgeon absolutely every natural remedy

you're taking, says Rowe, an assistant professor of plastic surgery at

University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. Studies have shown that

60 to 70 percent of patients don't tell their physicians about supplements.

He tells his patients to read their supplement labels carefully.

" One supplement can have 10 or 15 things in it, so you may not know what you're

on, which is really scary for us surgeons, " he said.

As for Grant, she's still feeling tingling and numbness in her legs and feet

even three years later.

" I still need to lose weight, but I'm not taking any supplements, " she said.

" I'm just too gun-shy at this point. "

For more information about herbs, vitamins and supplements, visit the Web sites

for the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the

Alternative Medicine Foundation.