"Orac" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:In article <[email hidden]>,
Dave said:Medication Danger!! by Cynthia Foster, MD
http://www.startthehealing.com/warninglist.html#withdrawn
Glowlife Dave, you have frequently claimed that your Ginseng and other
herbs cannot cause harm and do not interact with medications. Here's
what Dr. Foster herself (someone who is clearly an advocate of herbs)
says on the matter:
"The most common herb-drug interaction is that between the prescription
blood thinning drug Warfarin (Coumadin) and herbs that thin the
blood such as garlic, onion, red clover, and ginkgo biloba. Anyone
who is taking Coumadin, Warfarin, Heparin, Lovanox, Plavix or other
prescription blood-thinning herbs should not attempt to take herbs
because the risk is too high for bleeding.
What I said about Warfarin was that my doctor eliminated it when I started
taking ginseng. Here's Dr. Foster's reasoning as to why........
Q:
Dear Dr. Foster,
My best friend's mother has broken out in scabs all over her body. She's
taking blood thinners because of heart disease. Could this be a possible
medication reaction? Also, are there any herbs that interact with blood
thinners?
A:
Dear Worried,
You have good reason to be worried, considering the quite severe side
effects of this particularly dangerous medication. In my opinion, warfarin
is one of the worst drugs to hit the market. Doctors are very familiar with
its long list of adverse reactions and interactions with other medications.
However, the most troubling aspect about this medication is that it does not
combine well with herbs or even simple foods, either. This medication
doesn't seem to combine well with ANYTHING. There are a number of things
that your friend's mother could have consumed that may have reacted with
this medication and caused either a bleeding episode or a clotting episode.
Warfarin has what medical doctors call a "narrow therapeutic window." What
this means in plain English is that if the dose is the slightest bit too
high or the slightest bit too low, then the drug does not work. Only within
a narrow dosage range does the medication work in the body. Because of this,
doctors must monitor the blood levels of this medication on a regular basis
to make sure that it is neither too high or too low. If the levels are too
high, then the patient could have a serious bleeding episode that could lead
to death. If the levels are too low, then the patient could have a clotting
episode that leads to a stroke, heart attack, or the loss of fingers, toes
or other extremities.
(Taken from the Physician Desk Reference 2002)
Prescription blood thinners may have many severe side effects: including
Warfarin is contraindicated during pregnancy:
The drug passes through the placenta between mother and fetus and can cause
death to the fetus by hemorrhage. Furthermore, the drug has caused severe
birth defects when used during pregnancy. These defects include brain
malformations, mental retardation, blindness, and deformed eyes. Other rare
abnormalities include spina bifida, cranial nerve palsy, hydrocephalus,
cardiac defects, congenital heart disease, polydactyly [too many fingers or
toes], deformities of toes, cleft palate, cleft lip, microcephaly and many
birth defects.
Warfarin interacts with MANY medications: (Get ready - this is long)
This wide range of medications include simple medications such as
antibiotics, sedatives, antidepressants, cancer chemo drugs, drugs for high
cholesterol, antifungal medications, medications for ulcers and hiatal
hernia, heart medications, antihistamines, estrogen-containing oral
contraceptives, thyroid medications. Many of these medications are commonly
used. Alcohol, aminoglutethimide, amobarbital, atorvastatin, azathioprine,
butabarbital, butalbital, carbamazepine, chloral hydrate, chlordiazepoxide,
chlorthalidone, cholestyramine, clozapine, corticotropin, cortisone,
cyclophosphamide, dicloxacillin, ethchlorvynol, glutethimide, griseofulvin,
haloperidol, meprobamate, 6-mercaptopurine, methimazole, moricizine
hydrochloride, nafcillin, paraldehyde, pentobarbital, phenobarbital,
phenytoin, prednisone, primidone, propylthiouracil, raloxifene, ranitidine,
rifampin, secobarbital, spironolactone, sucralfate, and trazodone.
Warfarin interacts with many herbs:
including garlic, red clover, ginkgo biloba, ginger. Other herbs that
warfarin could react with: alfalfa, agrimony, aloe gel, angelica (dong
quai), aniseed, arnica, asa foetida, aspen, black cohosh, black haw, bladder
wrack, bogbean, boldo, capsisum, cassia, celery, chamomile (German and
Roman), clove, dandelion, fenugreek, feverfew, German sarsaparilla, ginseng
(Panax), goldenseal, horse chestnut, horseradish, licorice, meadowsweet,
mistletoe, nettle, onion, parsley, passion flower, pau d'arco, policosanol,
poplar, prickly ash (Northern), quassia, red clover, senega, sweet clover,
sweet woodruff, tamarind, tonka beans, wild carrot, wild lettuce, willow,
wintergreen, and yarrow.
Warfarin even interacts with many foods, beverages, and vitamins:
including high dose vitamin C, alcoholic beverages, bromelain, onion,
garlic, ginger, inositol nicotinate (a B vitamin), vitamin K, and foods high
in vitamin K. Pharmacists have reported bleeding episodes in patients that
resulted from something as simple as eating too much broccoli soup.
Other blood thinners available also have severe side effects
__________________________________________________
I no longer take ANY blood thinners, eat ginseng and golf every day.
