Onifade A A, Ajeigbe K O, Omotosho I O, Rahamon S K, Oladeinde B H
Immunology Unit, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
Niger J Physiol Sci. 2013 Jun 30;28(1):109-12.
World Health Organisation estimated that about 80% of Africans use herbal remedies for illness. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection which was believed to have no cure led many HIV patients to source for alternative or complementary therapy. A structured questionnaire was administered to 640 HIV patients in selected Nigerian HIV/AIDS clinics from 2009 to 2011 to assess their attitudes to the use of herbal remedy. Six hundred and ten (610) of the respondents were diagnosed by medical doctor and 6.3% (40) had lived with HIV for 4 years and above. Twenty (20) respondents had sought for medical therapy after diagnosis, 310 applied herbal remedy and 180 of the respondents opted for spiritual solutions. Although, majority (73.4%) would denied the use of herbal remedy when asked by a medical practitioner, 100 respondents combines herbal remedy with HAART and 67.2% of the entire respondents are of the opinion that herbal therapy is effective in HIV infection management. 64.1% of the respondents wanted herbal remedy as complementary therapy and 54.7% concluded that non availability of herbs could stop them from using herbal remedy. This study concluded that the use of herbal remedy for HIV infection is high despite advice by medical doctors thus there is a need for caution when prescribing orthodox medicines that could interfere with hepatic metabolism.
世界卫生组织估计，约80%的非洲人使用草药治病。曾被认为无法治愈的人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）感染，导致许多HIV患者寻求替代疗法或补充疗法。2009年至2011年，在尼日利亚选定的HIV/AIDS诊所，对640名HIV患者进行了结构化问卷调查，以评估他们对使用草药疗法的态度。610名受访者经医生诊断感染HIV，6.3%（40人）感染HIV已达4年及以上。20名受访者在确诊后寻求过药物治疗，310人使用过草药疗法，180名受访者选择了精神疗法。尽管多数人（73.4%）在医生询问时会否认使用过草药疗法，但100名受访者将草药疗法与高效抗逆转录病毒疗法（HAART）结合使用，67.2%的受访者认为草药疗法对管理HIV感染有效。64.1%的受访者希望将草药疗法作为补充疗法，54.7%的受访者认为无法获取草药会使他们不再使用草药疗法。本研究得出结论，尽管有医生的建议，但HIV感染患者中使用草药疗法的比例仍然很高，因此在开可能干扰肝脏代谢的正统药物时需要谨慎。
