Diabetics should avoid Chinese Herbs
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DIABETICS WARNED TO AVOID CHINESE HERBS
Imported pills include prescription drugs
By Neil Sherman
HealthSCOUT Reporter
MONDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthSCOUT) — The Food and Drug Administration is warning
diabetics to stop taking five types of Chinese herbal products because they
contain two prescription drugs that can be dangerous if a doctor isn’t
monitoring a patient.
One of the two drugs was taken off the market 23 years ago because it caused
a potentially deadly buildup of lactic acid in the bloodstream.
The imported supplements, which claim to return blood sugar levels to
normal, are being sold under the brand names: Diabetes Hypoglucose Capsules;
Pearl Hypoglycemic Capsules; Tongyi Tan Diabetes Angel Pearl Hypoglycemic
Capsules; Tongyi Tang Diabetes Angel Hypoglycemic Capsules; and Zhen Qi
Capsules.
The labels say the pills contain such natural herbal ingredients as ginseng,
lily, magnolia vine, pumpkin powder, sallow thorn, sea buckthorn, and
spinosa. An investigation by the California Department of Health Services,
however, reveals the drugs also contain the prescription drugs glyburide and
phenformin.
“We prescribe glyburide to stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin,”
says Anne Daly, a registered dietitian with the Springfield Diabetes and
Endocrine Center and vice president of health care and education for the
American Diabetes Association in Alexandria, Va. “And phenformin is a
first-generation drug that also stimulates the pancreas, but it has a lot
more side effects.” One of those nasty side effects is lactic acidosis, the
dangerous lactic acid buildup that prompted the FDA to remove phenformin
from the market in 1977.
Taking the products could cause an overdose, Daly says. “If you are on
diabetes medication, taking the herbals could cause episodes of
hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. It could be dangerous, and it could cause
you to black out when you are driving or something like that,” she
describes.
The California Department of Health Services launched an investigation after
a diabetic patient in the San Francisco area suffered several episodes of
low blood sugar, says Richard Ko, the department’s food and drug scientist.
The patient fully recovered.
Makers recalled it, too
Ko says the pills have been distributed around the country. “A lot of people
have been buying it online,” he says. “Unfortunately, we cannot account for
over 100,000 bottles and we just don’t know how much is in consumer hands.”
Ko says the distributors have issued a total recall.
Ko says he does not know if the drugs are widely used in China. The FDA has
stopped imports of the products and is investigating how the drugs were
added to the herbs.
Doctors are seeing increasing evidence that diabetics have begun to use
herbal supplements, Daly says. “We are starting to see more patients with
diabetes who have started to use herbal therapies as an adjunct to
traditional medical therapy. Nobody really knows what they are taking.”
Health-care professionals are behind the times when it comes to herbal
supplements, Daly says. “You can’t pooh-pooh patients taking this stuff
because the fact is patients are doing it. What we need to do in our daily
practice is to start asking patients questions about supplement use.
“Diabetics need to be cautious as well,” Daly adds. “They should not be
taking things without informing their health-care teams.”
What To Do
“People with diabetes should avoid these products and consult their
physician if they’ve been taking them,” the FDA warns. In particular, people
who suffer fatigue, excessive hunger, profuse sweating or numbness after
taking the herbs should call a doctor.