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| Table 4. Reported adverse effects of some common herbs | |||
| Organ system | Toxicity | Herb | Comments |
|
Gastrointestinal |
Hepatotoxic (from asymptomatic enzyme elevation to fulminant necrosis) |
Chinese herbal teas (35-37); mistletoe (10,35); germander (38,39); chaparral (40-42); comfrey (10,35) |
First reported case of hepatic venoocclusive disease was caused by comfrey. |
|
Nausea / vomiting |
dandelion, garlic, ginseng, chaparral (10,22) |
||
|
Diarrhea |
herbal teas (36,37,43); aloe, ligustrum, dandelion, prunella, garlic, ginseng (10) |
||
|
Hematologic |
Anticoagulant / antiplatelet |
yarrow, red clover, tang-kuei, pau d’arco, tang-kuei, salvia (10,22,44); |
|
|
Central Nervous System |
Nervousness, agitation, insomnia, mood changes, depression, confusion, hallucinations |
ginseng (45) |
With long term usage and higher doses |
|
cholinergic toxicity |
jimson weed (35) |
contains atropine, scopolomine, hyoscyamine | |
|
hallucinogenic |
catnip, hops, kava kava, khat, lobelia, mandrake, nutmeg, jimson weed, valerian, yohimbe (35) |
||
|
sedation |
peony, salvia, tang-kuei (10) |
||
|
seizures, psychosis, coma |
ephedra (46) |
||
|
Pulmonary |
pulmonary hypertension |
Chinese herbal teas (35) |
|
|
Allergic / immunologic |
contact dermatitis |
propolis, garlic, echinacea (10); melaleuca oil (47) |
|
|
Systemic lupus erythematosis |
alfalfa (35) |
||
|
Endocrinologic |
gynecomastia, vaginal bleeding |
ginseng (35) |
contains estrogen |
|
goiters, hyper- and hypo-thyroidism |
kelp (10) |
contains iodine | |
|
inhibition of iodine uptake |
garlic (10) |
||
|
hypoglycemia |
atractylodes, scrofularia, lycium, burdock (10) |
||
|
Renal |
diuresis |
burdock, astragalus, peony, dandelion (10) |
|
|
hypertension, sodium and water retention, hypokalemia |
licorice (10,35,48) |
Glycyrrhiza glabra; G. radix can have same effects and is found in 74% of Chinese herbal teas. | |
|
Cardiovascular |
hypotension |
astragalus, codonopsis, prunella, scrofularia, salvia (10) |
|
|
hypertension |
ginseng (10) |
||
|
hypertension, coronary spasm, palpitations, tachycardia |
ephedra (46) |
||
|
