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Toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for COVID‐19: A narrative review

OBJECTIVES: In the absence of a definitive cure, herbal medications are gaining increasing popularity in the general public for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Although many herbal preparations are safe and can be used without complication, serious toxicities do occur. This article...

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Autores principales: DiPietro, Michael A., Mondie, Christopher
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8011616/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33817690
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12411
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author DiPietro, Michael A.
Mondie, Christopher
author_facet DiPietro, Michael A.
Mondie, Christopher
author_sort DiPietro, Michael A.
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: In the absence of a definitive cure, herbal medications are gaining increasing popularity in the general public for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Although many herbal preparations are safe and can be used without complication, serious toxicities do occur. This article focuses on the major characteristics and toxicities of herbal preparations that have been proposed as treatments for COVID‐19. METHODS: A review was performed focusing on herbal preparations that have gained popularity as potential treatments for COVID‐19. Some of these preparations have been directly recommended by government agencies, whereas others have gained popularity through various other news sources. RESULTS: The herbal preparations covered in this paper include the cardiac glycoside oleandrin, plants of the Datura genus, and herbs commonly used in traditional Chinese Medicine including plants of the Aconitum genus, bitter apricot seeds, ephedra, and licorice root. CONCLUSION: Although herbal preparations have been reported to aid in the treatment of COVID‐19 with success, few clinical trials have been performed to evaluate their efficacy and instead rely mainly on in vitro studies and anecdotal reports. Furthermore, many of the herbal preparations suggested carry significant toxicities, and frontline healthcare workers should be aware of the common symptoms and toxidromes that result from these poisonings.
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spelling pubmed-80116162021-04-02 Toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for COVID‐19: A narrative review DiPietro, Michael A. Mondie, Christopher J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open Toxicology OBJECTIVES: In the absence of a definitive cure, herbal medications are gaining increasing popularity in the general public for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Although many herbal preparations are safe and can be used without complication, serious toxicities do occur. This article focuses on the major characteristics and toxicities of herbal preparations that have been proposed as treatments for COVID‐19. METHODS: A review was performed focusing on herbal preparations that have gained popularity as potential treatments for COVID‐19. Some of these preparations have been directly recommended by government agencies, whereas others have gained popularity through various other news sources. RESULTS: The herbal preparations covered in this paper include the cardiac glycoside oleandrin, plants of the Datura genus, and herbs commonly used in traditional Chinese Medicine including plants of the Aconitum genus, bitter apricot seeds, ephedra, and licorice root. CONCLUSION: Although herbal preparations have been reported to aid in the treatment of COVID‐19 with success, few clinical trials have been performed to evaluate their efficacy and instead rely mainly on in vitro studies and anecdotal reports. Furthermore, many of the herbal preparations suggested carry significant toxicities, and frontline healthcare workers should be aware of the common symptoms and toxidromes that result from these poisonings. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021-03-31 /pmc/articles/PMC8011616/ /pubmed/33817690 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12411 Text en © 2021 The Authors. JACEP Open published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Emergency Physicians This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
spellingShingle Toxicology
DiPietro, Michael A.
Mondie, Christopher
Toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for COVID‐19: A narrative review
title Toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for COVID‐19: A narrative review
title_full Toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for COVID‐19: A narrative review
title_fullStr Toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for COVID‐19: A narrative review
title_full_unstemmed Toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for COVID‐19: A narrative review
title_short Toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for COVID‐19: A narrative review
title_sort toxicity of herbal medications suggested as treatment for covid‐19: a narrative review
topic Toxicology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8011616/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33817690
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12411
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