Yilmaz Mehmet Birhan, Yontar Osman Can, Turgut Okan Onur, Yilmaz Ahmet, Yalta Kenan, Gul Muslum, Tandogan Izzet
Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Sivas, Turkey.
Int J Cardiol. 2007 Oct 31;122(1):48-51. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2006.11.017. Epub 2006 Dec 19.
Herbal products have been widely used by many patients with cardiovascular problems solely expecting benefit out of them. Since, it is important to consider patients' needs and believes to prevent breaking off the relationship of patients and physicians, we conducted a survey on patients admitted to our outpatient Cardiology department.
A questionnaire was prepared including 49 questions. After giving informed consent, 310 participants were enrolled into our survey. Participants were asked about disease states, use of herbal products and their tendencies.
There were 169 male (mean age: 54.7+/-13.3 years) and 141 female participants (mean age: 56.2+/-14.7 years). 54.5% (n=169) had hypertension (HT), 48.7% (n=151) had coronary artery disease (CAD). Among all participants, 38.7% (n=120) stated that they have used herbals in part of their lives. Presence of dyslipidemia was associated with herbal use. Three fourths of herbal users (73.3%, n=88) stated that they thought they benefited some extent from the use of herbals, and 25% (n=30) of herbal users stated that they did not take their medicine regularly. Herbal users more frequently agreed the statement "herbals are beneficial when added to medicine" compared to nonusers (20.8% vs. 15.8%, p<0.001).
Considering the facts that increasing interest on herbals is likely to continue by the people and the potentially hazardous interactions between the herbals and the drugs might be risky for the patients, there seems a need for closer, careful and respectful look for physicians onto herbal users and herbals themselves for the safety of population.
许多心血管疾病患者广泛使用草药产品，仅仅期望从中获益。由于考虑患者的需求和信念对于防止医患关系破裂很重要，我们对我院心内科门诊收治的患者进行了一项调查。
准备了一份包含49个问题的问卷。在获得知情同意后，310名参与者被纳入我们的调查。参与者被询问了疾病状态、草药产品的使用情况及其倾向。
有169名男性参与者（平均年龄：54.7±13.3岁）和141名女性参与者（平均年龄：56.2±14.7岁）。54.5%（n = 169）患有高血压（HT），48.7%（n = 151）患有冠状动脉疾病（CAD）。在所有参与者中，38.7%（n = 120）表示他们在生活中的某些时候使用过草药。血脂异常与草药使用有关。四分之三的草药使用者（73.3%，n = 88）表示他们认为自己在一定程度上从草药使用中获益，25%（n = 30）的草药使用者表示他们没有规律服药。与非使用者相比，草药使用者更频繁地认同“草药与药物一起使用有益”这一说法（20.8%对15.8%，p < 0.001）。
考虑到人们对草药的兴趣可能会持续增加，并且草药与药物之间潜在的有害相互作用可能对患者有风险，为了公众的安全，医生似乎需要更密切、谨慎和尊重地关注草药使用者和草药本身。
