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rusty_blackhaw

Chinese carcinogenic herbal mixture

rusty_blackhaw
14 years ago

Another case of severe and possibly terminal illness has cropped up in connection with the use of a TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) herbal mixture. It looks like an herb in the genus Aristolochia is responsible:

"Civil servant Patricia Booth, 58, took tiny brown "Xie Gan Wan" tablets for more than five years to treat a facial skin condition after being reassured that the pills were as safe as Coca-Cola.

The medicine, sold by Ying "Susan" Wu from a shop in Chelmsford, northeast of London, did clear up her skin but had disastrous consequences, the capital's Old Bailey court heard.

Months after she stopped taking the pills in 2003, she fell seriously ill, had to have her kidneys removed, contracted urinary tract cancer and later had a heart attack.

She had to quit her job managing a government office and now needs to go to hospital for dialysis three times a week."

Xie Gan Wan has been identified by British health officials as a product that has been found to contain aristolochic acids, which are toxic to the urinary tract and can cause cancer. The problem has been discussed in this forum before in connection with incidents at a European weight loss clinic in which multiple people fell seriously ill, and it was claimed here that the reason the herbal product made people sick was that it wasn't administered by Chinese herbal practitioners. In the current case, however, a person purportedly qualified as a practioner in China sold the victim the pills.

Some sources allege that any Aristolochia or related toxic herbs that wind up in this particular mixture (sold also for liver and urinary tract problems) are there as an accidental contaminant (Chinese herbal mixtures have proved in numerous instances to contain "contaminants", or more likely intentional adulterants, including steroid and other prescription drugs). However, you can find Xie Gan Wan sold online (one firm offering it is apparently based in California), advertised as containing "Caulis Aristolochiae Manshuriensis".

We all know that a wide variety of medicines can have toxic and even fatal side effects. What's especially unconscionable in this case is that the class of herbs involved keeps cropping up in herbal mixtures even though its carcinogenic properties are widely known, the mixtures themselves do not have proven efficacy in treating disease, and the complaint for which this product was prescribed was relatively minor.

This case is prompting more calls in the U.K. to regulate TCM practitioners in that country, a prospect that at least some of them look forward to, as it would convey more of a respectable air to potential clients. As Ben Goldacre points out, though, training and degrees don't necessarily qualify TCM practitioners to practice good medicine.

Comments (6)

  • Ina Plassa_travis
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    *sigh* I do get that most people didn't get brought up to pay any attention at all to the universe around them...

    but when are people going to learn to be as suspiscious of 'traditional' as they are of 'experimental'?

    safe as Coca Cola.

    a steady diet of which is a prescription for health, as we all know.

    (muttering in latin from a list of ingredient from a company that is aware of the problem : However, in recent years it gets known to cause kidney damages in numerous cases (for example, see Herbal Safety) because of aristolochic acid the original formula contains. For this reason, we have not sold any Long Dan Xie Gan Wan till now (May, 2007) that the current product is available that DOES NOT contain aristolochic acid.)
    Radix this, radix that...
    Gentain, skullcap, Plaintain, cape jasmine, something that looks like a primrose...

    poor girl.

  • Ina Plassa_travis
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    *sigh* I do get that most people didn't get brought up to pay any attention at all to the universe around them...

    but when are people going to learn to be as suspiscious of 'traditional' as they are of 'experimental'?

    safe as Coca Cola.

    a steady diet of which is a prescription for health, as we all know.

    (muttering in latin from a list of ingredient from a company that is aware of the problem : However, in recent years it gets known to cause kidney damages in numerous cases (for example, see Herbal Safety) because of aristolochic acid the original formula contains. For this reason, we have not sold any Long Dan Xie Gan Wan till now (May, 2007) that the current product is available that DOES NOT contain aristolochic acid.)
    Radix this, radix that...
    Gentain, skullcap, Plaintain, cape jasmine, something that looks like a primrose...

    poor girl.

  • rusty_blackhaw
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It's nice that there is recognition of the problem by at least that particular company. Unless they put the formula together themselves, however (rather than importing a product from China or elsewhere), buyers would be dependent on whatever testing the company may or may not do.

    I'd still be wary of such mixtures.

  • lazy_gardens
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Unless you grow or gather the herbs yourself, you are at the mercy of the collectors ... many of whom don 't know what they are doing, and others that will adulterate the herbs with similar ones for profit.

    Identification of species in TCM is not considered necessary because the herb "qualities" come from other characteristics, such as shape of leaf, aroma, etc.

  • cacye
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia)is not a usual treatment in TCM for anything I am aware of. I have not ever seen it here in Denver.

  • rusty_blackhaw
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dutchman's Pipe is a common name for multiple different species in the genus Aristolochia, so it's hard to know which one you're referring to.

    There are a number of different Aristolochia species that are used in Chinese traditional medicine or which can be substituted for others under TCM pradtice. The problem with kidney-toxic and carcinogenic Aristolochia in TCM drugs is known in China and Taiwan as well as in Western countries.

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