Traditional medicines are a major cause of acute liver failure in China, according to the first extensive study of the subject.
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0080991&representation=PDF
Around 44% of cases of acute liver failure (ALF) were caused by drug toxicity, data from 177 ALF patients in seven Chinese hospitals showed.
Of those, just under half were due to traditional Chinese herbs, the authors from Beijing’s Liver Failure Therapy and Research Unit wrote.
Overall, ingestion of traditional medicines were behind 17% of all cases of ALF in the study.
Other causes were ingestion of paracetamol (12%), acute viral hepatitis (11%) and use of antibiotics (6%), with nearly 30% of cases of indeterminate cause.
Around 30% of those taking traditional medicines were being treated for skin disorders, while other common conditions…
Source: Gastroenterology Update
