Werneke U, Earl J, Seydel C, Horn O, Crichton P, Fannon D
Homerton Hospital, East Wing, Department of Psychiatry, Homerton Row, London E9 6SR, UK.
Br J Cancer. 2004 Jan 26;90(2):408-13. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6601560.
Many cancer patients use complementary alternative medicines (CAMs) but may not be aware of the potential risks. There are no studies quantifying such risks, but there is some evidence of patient risk from case reports in the literature. A cross-sectional survey of patients attending the outpatient department at a specialist cancer centre was carried out to establish a pattern of herbal remedy or supplement use and to identify potential adverse side effects or drug interactions with conventional medicines. If potential risks were identified, a health warning was issued by a pharmacist. A total of 318 patients participated in the study. Of these, 164 (51.6%) took CAMs, and 133 different combinations were recorded. Of these, 10.4% only took herbal remedies, 42.1% only supplements and 47.6% a combination of both. In all, 18 (11.0%) reported supplements in higher than recommended doses. Health warnings were issued to 20 (12.2%) patients. Most warnings concerned echinacea in patients with lymphoma. Further warnings were issued for cod liver/fish oil, evening primrose oil, gingko, garlic, ginseng, kava kava and beta-carotene. In conclusion, medical practitioners need to be able to identify the potential risks of CAMs. Equally, patients should be encouraged to disclose their use. Also, more research is needed to quantify the actual health risks.
许多癌症患者使用补充替代医学（CAMs），但可能并未意识到其中的潜在风险。目前尚无量化此类风险的研究，但从文献中的病例报告来看，有一些患者面临风险的证据。对一家专业癌症中心门诊部的患者进行了一项横断面调查，以确立草药疗法或补充剂的使用模式，并识别与传统药物潜在的不良反应或药物相互作用。如果识别出潜在风险，药剂师会发出健康警告。共有318名患者参与了该研究。其中，164名（51.6%）使用了补充替代医学，记录了133种不同的组合。其中，10.4%仅服用草药疗法，42.1%仅服用补充剂，47.6%两者都服用。总体而言，18名（11.0%）报告服用的补充剂剂量高于推荐剂量。向20名（12.2%）患者发出了健康警告。大多数警告涉及淋巴瘤患者使用紫锥菊。还对鳕鱼肝油/鱼油、月见草油、银杏、大蒜、人参、卡瓦胡椒和β-胡萝卜素发出了进一步警告。总之，医学从业者需要能够识别补充替代医学的潜在风险。同样，应鼓励患者披露其使用情况。此外，需要更多研究来量化实际的健康风险。
