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Ayurveda Go To Index Page Herbal medicines need not be `safe' just because the're natural! London:
Scientists have cautioned against the unprescribed use of herbal
medicines, which they aver are not 'completely safe' and need proper
regulation. Professor Peter Houghton, of King's College in London said
that nearly a fifth of the population takes herbal medicines at least
once a year, but little is known about their interaction with manufactured
pharmaceutical products. "Nothing in life is completely safe, and there
is a myth that because something is natural it must be safe," the Daily
Mail quoted Houghton as saying in the BA Festival of Science in Exeter,
London. "Problems could arise if the product was mixed with something
dangerous or if people took the wrong substance, perhaps because of
a mix up over names. Herbal medicines are not completely safe but they
are safer than a lot of conventional therapy," he added. Dr Elizabeth
Williamson, of the Centre for Pharmocognasy and Phytotherapy at the
University of London said that though many Chinese and Indian medicines
are safe, also expressed her scepticism about it at the same time. "There
have been a couple of serious problems with Chinese medicines because
they have been adulterated and contaminated. This is giving ethnic medicine
a bad name. I would be glad to see it regulated in some form. But any
future legislation needed to be "pragmatic"," the report quoted Williamson
as saying.
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