Chan T Y, Chan J C, Tomlinson B, Critchley J A
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories.
Lancet. 1993;342(8886-8887):1532-4. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(05)80091-1.
Chinese herbal medicines (CHM) and Chinese proprietary medicines (CPM) are widely used by people of Chinese origin throughout the world. Although the use of these medicinal materials rarely causes significant toxic effects, cases of severe and even fatal poisoning have occurred after medication with herbs containing aconitine, podophyllin, and anticholinergic substances. Furthermore, CHM and CPM are often adulterated with substituted herbs, heavy metals, and western medicines; such contamination can have important clinical consequences. In Hong Kong, surveillance and legislation are required to control the use of some of these herbal preparations. In other countries, medical practitioners should also be aware of the possibility that these herbal-medicine-related remedies may cause significant clinical problems in their Chinese patients.
中草药（CHM）和中成药（CPM）在世界各地的华裔人群中广泛使用。尽管使用这些药材很少会引起严重的毒性作用，但服用含有乌头碱、鬼臼毒素和抗胆碱能物质的草药后，也曾发生过严重甚至致命的中毒病例。此外，中草药和中成药常常被掺杂了替代草药、重金属和西药；这种污染可能会产生重要的临床后果。在香港，需要进行监测和立法来控制其中一些草药制剂的使用。在其他国家，医生也应该意识到这些与草药相关的疗法可能会给他们的华裔患者带来严重的临床问题。
