Pregnancies prompt warning on St. 's Wort

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

A very interesting report suggesting the herb St. 's Wort increases liver

breakdown of circulation hormones,

decreasing their half life and thus reducing their activity and effective life

in the blood. Seems the problem is a

substance called hyperfourin.

As this herb is widely used, I feel this information is of value to many folks

on many different discussion groups and

if you or someone you know uses this herb, I would suggest you or they discuss

this with their health care professional

as the dose of any drug you or they are on may need to be increased.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1802000/1802943.stm

Wednesday, 6 February, 2002, 00:20 GMT

Pregnancies prompt herb warning

A new warning about the effect of the herbal remedy St 's Wort on the

contraceptive pill has been issued after two

Swedish women had unwanted pregnancies. The country's pharmaceutical regulator,

the Medical Products Agency (MPA), has

issued a new warning about the herbal extract. But it is known to counteract the

effect of certain drugs, including

hormone-based contraceptives, HIV medicines, blood-thickening drugs, and

cyclosporine, a drug used to prevent rejection

of organ transplants.

Swedish health experts said the herbal extract contained a substance called

hyperfourin, which made the liver work more

efficiently, helping it break down the pharmaceutical chemicals. They suggest

some products may have more of an effect

on conventional medications than others.

The two Swedish women, aged 28 and 31, became pregnant even though they were

taking the pill. The MPA claims other cases

of unwanted pregnancy had previously come to light, including some in the UK,

and that there have been reports of drug

interactions in Switzerland and Germany. It wants a compulsory labelling warning

of the interactions of all St 's

Wort products, apart from tea.

Per Claeson, of the MPA, said one problem was that not all women regarded the

pill as a pharmaceutical drug. He said

that the emergence of the two unwanted pregnancies had led to the MPA restating

advice first given in 1999.

" The evidence has come from clinical interaction studies and also biochemical

research. What is really new is that we

have found some products have less of an effect than others, and these have been

allowed a milder form of labelling. "

Warnings about the interaction between St 's Wort and some prescription

medicines were first issued in the UK in

March 2000.

The Medicines Control Agency (MCA) reiterated its advice given then that people

who are taking St 's Wort at the

same time as a pharmaceutical drug should talk to their doctor. Women taking the

oral contraceptive pill were advised to

stop taking the herbal remedy. A spokesman for the MCA told BBC News Online:

" The advice we gave at Easter 2000 still

stands. "

Since then, there has been a voluntary agreement between manufacturers to

provide information about potential

interactions with products. A spokesman for the Royal College of General

Practitioners said: " There is a need for better

protection and information for the public on herbal medicines and the possible

interactions these can have when taken

with conventional medicines. Doctors should question patients about their use of

herbal drugs and bear in mind the

possibility of herb-drug interactions. "

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Optimal Health & Longevity,

Greg ,

http://optimalhealth.cia.com.au

Optimal_Health_and_Longevity