Interakce byliny - léky

Interakce bylin a léčiv

• Echinacea (Echinacea sp.), because they may (theoretically) increase the risk of liver damage in patients under anesthesia.

• ? Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L., Ginkgoaceae), St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L., Hypericaceae), and valerian (Valeriana officinalis L., Caprifoliaceae) because they may increase the effects of anesthesia and make it harder to wake up. They may also cause irregular heart rhythms.

• ? Ginseng (Ginseng sp., Araliaceae), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.), and milk thistle [Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.], because they may cause high blood pressure and a rapid heart rate.

• Garlic (Allium sativum L., Amaryllidaceae), ginkgo, green tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntz., Theaceae], feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium L., -Asteraceae), ginger (Zingiber officinale L.) and Saw palmetto [Serenoa repens (W. Bartram) Small, Arecaceae], because they may cause prolonged bleeding.

• ? Garlic, in addition, can increase the effects of some OTC pain relievers.

• ? Ephedra: Several studies and clinical trials have been carried out to identify drugs that can effectively treat the disease, but, at the moment, the strategies to deal with the infection are only supportive (Cascella et al., 2020). Two recent reviews to on Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) can illustrate this. In the first one, the authors presented some CHM formulae used in the H1N1 outbreak that can be useful to prevent COVID-19 (Luo et al., 2020). The other offers guidelines for the treatment of COVID-19, at different stages, using CHM (Ang et al., 2020a). Among the most cited plant drug, Ephedra plays an important role. Both indicate a lack of evidence for the efficacy of those CHM preparations. The presence of a few medicinal plants such as Ephedra in the suggested guidance for COVID-19 is a subject of major concerns. Although Ephedra, listed in the WHO monographs (WHO, 1999), has been used for the treatment of asthma, cough, cold as well as in the management of weight loss (its primary use as a supplement in the USA), globally regulatory agencies have banned food supplements and medicines containing the ephedra alkaloid ephedrine, due to the serious adverse effects especially on the cardiovascular and nervous system and reported deaths (FDA, 2008; EFSA, 2013; EMA, 2015b).