Niggemann B, Grüber C
Department of Pediatric Pneumology and Immunology, University Children's Hospital Charité, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
Allergy. 2003 Aug;58(8):707-16. doi: 10.1034/j.1398-9995.2003.00219.x.
Complementary and alternative medicine are increasingly used to diagnose or treat allergic diseases, and numerous studies have reported benefits of this type of medicine. This article presents a review of the literature on risks of these methods. The potential sensitizing capacity of numerous herbal remedies may lead to allergic contact dermatitis and more rarely to IgE-mediated clinical symptoms. Mechanical injuries may be observed following acupuncture leading to pneumothorax, cardiac tamponade or spinal injury. Infectious complications after acupuncture include hepatitis and bacterial endocariditis. Organ toxicity has been observed associated with various herbal preparations involving the liver, kidneys, and the heart. Some herbs may have cancerogenic properties. Severe nutritional deficiencies can occur in infants and small children given strict alternative diets, resembling 'kwashiorkor'. Finally, among other miscellaneous adverse effects, adulteration with steroids, and herbal and drug interactions are discussed. The pattern of side-effects is similar to that observed by the use of conventional medicine. Therefore, caution may be justified using both conventional and unconventional methods. Only if the benefit is proven and the side-effects are established, should a given method be chosen.
补充和替代医学越来越多地用于诊断或治疗过敏性疾病，并且众多研究报告了这类医学的益处。本文对有关这些方法风险的文献进行综述。众多草药疗法的潜在致敏能力可能导致过敏性接触性皮炎，更罕见的是导致IgE介导的临床症状。针刺后可能会出现机械性损伤，导致气胸、心脏压塞或脊髓损伤。针刺后的感染并发症包括肝炎和细菌性心内膜炎。已观察到各种草药制剂与涉及肝脏、肾脏和心脏的器官毒性有关。一些草药可能具有致癌特性。严格采用替代饮食的婴幼儿可能会出现严重的营养缺乏，类似“夸休可尔症”。最后，在其他各种不良反应中，还讨论了与类固醇掺假以及草药与药物相互作用的问题。副作用模式与使用传统医学时观察到的相似。因此，使用传统和非传统方法时都可能需要谨慎。只有在益处得到证实且副作用明确的情况下，才应选择特定的方法。
