Beware from Herbal remedies, doesn't guarantee safety

New York: All of us know that herbs are safe as they have been used for many years for safety. But it is shocking for some of us that herbal remedies don’t guarantee safety. Researchers have warned to people that there is no guarantee of long-term use of herbal remedies safety because many herbs may contain toxic or carcinogenic substances. According to the journal EMBO reports, Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Stony Brook University have argued the scientific evidence showing that the plant Aristolochia can cause aristolochic acid nephropathy. People with this condition experience interstitial nephritis, renal failure and cancers of the urinary track. According to the national prescription database, between 1997 and 2003, in Taiwan eight million people were exposed to herbal products containing Aristolochia, the authors remarked. Studies of patients with renal failure and cancer in Taiwan and China show that tens of millions of people in those countries are at risk of AAN. Although Aristolochia has been used as a herbal remedy for more than 2,000 years, "the intrinsic toxicities were not recognised, owing, in large part, to the latency period between exposure and the onset of symptomatic disease, and, in part, to genetic determinants that confer susceptibility to only approximately five percent of those exposed to this herb", said the authors. The long-term scientific study of AAN revealed the association of the disease with Aristolochia. "The history of Aristolachia indicates that other herbs that have been used for a long time may also have toxic  compounds," said the authors. "It is prudent to assume that many herbs may contain toxic or carcinogenic substances that can cause subsequent health problems for humans," they noted. Other herbal products and traditional medicines are responsible for severe adverse events in Africa and Asia, but in these cases epidemiological data are lacking, said the researchers suggesting that herbal remedies may be an overlooked global health hazard.