Kozyrskyj A
Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba.
Can Fam Physician. 1997 Apr;43:697-702.
To examine existing evidence and inform family physicians about issues concerning herbal product use in Canada.
The Canadian Food and Drug Act and findings of an Expert Advisory Committee on Herbs and Botanical Preparations were consulted to provide an overview of the issues regarding herbal product regulation in Canada. Case reports of herbal toxicity were identified to illustrate some of the hazards of herbal products, and references provided to guide health professional in searching the literature for clinical trials that evaluate these drugs' efficacy.
Herbal products not registered as drugs in Canada are sold as foods and are exempt from the drug review process that evaluates product efficacy and safety. This places the public at risk of unwanted effects from the use of herbal products that are adulterated with other substances and of forgoing effective conventional therapy. Moreover, consumers are exposed to a plethora of information portraying herbal products as harmless. Some progress has been made to address these concerns by facilitating the registration of herbal products as drugs.
Most herbal products that were evaluated were unsafe or ineffective, or no information was available to evaluate their efficacy. Despite the perception that herbal products are innocuous, family physicians need to be aware that herbal therapy can be harmful in order to help their patients make informed choices.
审查现有证据，并就加拿大草药产品使用的相关问题告知家庭医生。
参考了《加拿大食品和药品法案》以及草药和植物制剂专家咨询委员会的调查结果，以概述加拿大草药产品监管方面的问题。识别出草药毒性的病例报告，以说明草药产品的一些危害，并提供参考文献，指导卫生专业人员查找评估这些药物疗效的临床试验文献。
在加拿大未注册为药品的草药产品作为食品销售，无需经过评估产品疗效和安全性的药物审查程序。这使公众面临因使用掺有其他物质的草药产品而产生不良反应以及放弃有效传统疗法的风险。此外，消费者接触到大量将草药产品描绘为无害的信息。通过推动草药产品注册为药品，在解决这些问题方面已取得一些进展。
大多数经评估的草药产品不安全或无效，或者没有信息可用于评估其疗效。尽管人们认为草药产品无害，但家庭医生需要意识到草药疗法可能有害，以便帮助患者做出明智的选择。
