[b
]Side-effects of complementary and alternative medicine[/b]
by B. Niggemann, C. Grber
Complementary and alternative medicine are increasingly used to diagnose or
treat allergic diseases, and numerous studies have reported benefits of this type
of medicine. This article presents a review of the literature on risks of these
methods. The potential sensitizing capacity of numerous herbal remedies may
lead to allergic contact dermatitis and more rarely to IgE-mediated clinical
symptoms. Mechanical injuries may be observed following acupuncture leading
to pneumothorax, cardiac tamponade or spinal injury. Infectious complications
after acupuncture include hepatitis and bacterial endocariditis. Organ toxicity
has been observed associated with various herbal preparations involving the
liver, kidneys, and the heart. Some herbs may have cancerogenic properties.
Severe nutritional deficiencies can occur in infants and small children given
strict alternative diets, resembling kwashiorkor. Finally, among other miscellaneous
adverse effects, adulteration with steroids, and herbal and drug interactions
are discussed.
The pattern of side-effects is similar to that observed by
the use of conventional medicine. Therefore, caution may be justified using both
conventional and unconventional methods. Only if the benefit is proven and the
side-effects are established, should a given method be chosen.
The use of complementary and alternative medicine
(CAM) for the treatment of adults and children is
growing (1). This is particularly the case for asthma and
other allergic diseases (2), for which scientific medicine
can offer relief, but seldom a cure. The list of common
alternative diagnostic and therapeutic procedures seems
endless and includes methods from bioresonance to
pendulums, from acupuncture to yoga (3). Furthermore,
the Internet has dramatically increased the exposure of
families to sophisticated marketing (4). Alternative medicine
can no longer be ignored by academia (5). Systematic
reviews of clinical trials in the three major complementary
and alternative therapies acupuncture (6, 7), herbal
medicine (8, 9), and homeopathy (10–12) have been
published and suggested that while the evidence is
promising for some topics the findings of the available
reviews are unlikely to end the controversy on these
therapies.
While it is clear that scientific medicine may lead to
side-effects for the patient ranging from a negligible
inconvenience to severe and life-threatening events, comparably
little is known about possible side-effects of
unconventional methods. Advocates of CAM often point
to the putative harmlessness of natural, soft, or holistic
approaches. On the other hand, one can say that: A drug
or method without side-effects has no desired main effect.
Deriving from this theorem, one may argue that methods
with proven clinical effects probably also present a risk
for unwanted effects, including over dosage.
A herb containing a wide variety of (mostly unknown)
substances may well include some with unwanted effects
(13–16); a treatment method using a mechanical procedure
may lead to injuries; and a healer without adequate
education may be a cause of increased diagnostic and
treatment faults.
Over recent years, numerous case reports and some
controlled studies have been published on adverse effects
of CAM. Certainly, some symptoms may be associated
with the use of, but not caused by unconventional
methods, as the case of a 29-year-old Japanese man with
bronchial asthma, who died from a severe asthmatic
attack while under going acupuncture and moxibustion
treatment (17). Here the aim is to discuss relevant risks of
CAM and to present a review of the current literature.
中藥/另類療法一樣有一大堆副作用
