AsianScientist (Oct. 3, 2017) – In a study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, scientists reveal the serious dangers of consuming adulterated proprietary Chinese medicines (pCMs).
Traditional Chinese medicine is widely used as a form of complementary medicine all over the world for various indications and for improving general health. pCMs, which are composed solely of Chinese medicines and formulated in a finished dose form, are generally believed to be natural and safe.
However, various reports have documented the adulteration of pCMs and health products with undeclared agents, including prescription drugs, drug analogs and banned drugs. Such substances can have serious and even fatal health consequences.
In this study, a team of researchers led by Dr. Tony Wing Lai Mak, consultant pathologist at the Hospital Authority Toxicology Reference Laboratory located in Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong, retrospectively reviewed cases involving the use of adulterated pCMs from 2005 to 2015.
The investigators identified 404 cases involving the use of 487 adulterated pCMs or health products with a total of 1,234 adulterants. The six most common categories of adulterants detected were nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (18 percent), anorectics (15 percent), corticosteroids (14 percent), diuretics and laxatives (11 percent), oral antidiabetic agents (10 percent) and erectile dysfunction drugs (6 percent). Sibutramine, an anorectic that has been withdrawn from the market due to its association with increased cardiovascular events and strokes, was the single most common adulterant identified.
The sources of illicit products included over-the-counter drug stores, the internet and Chinese medicine practitioners. Importantly, 65 percent of patients experienced adverse effects attributable to these illicit products, including 14 severe and two fatal cases. Psychosis, iatrogenic Cushing syndrome and hypoglycaemia were the three most frequently encountered adverse effects.
“These illicit pCMs and health products pose severe health hazards to the public,” said Mak. “Previous reports of pCM and health product adulteration were mainly based on routine surveillance data or case reports. The present study, to our knowledge, is the largest case series that reports an overview of the use of various adulterated pCMs and health products, and the resulting adverse effects.”
The findings should serve as a serious warning to consumers and health professionals.
“The public should be educated not to consume pCMs and health products from dubious sources, and frontline clinicians should have a high index of suspicion,” said Dr. Ching Chor Kwan, associate consultant at the Hospital Authority Toxicology Reference Laboratory, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong, who was a co-author of the study.
The article can be found at: Ching et al. (2017) Adulteration of Proprietary Chinese Medicines and Health Products with Undeclared Drugs: Experience of a Tertiary Toxicology Laboratory in Hong Kong.
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Source: Wiley; Photo: Shutterstock.
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