(New York, NY, October 24, 2001) On Tuesday, October 23, 2001 Michael Artman, MD, FAAP, Director of Pediatric Cardiology at NYU Medical Center presented information at the National Conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in San Francisco regarding the potential risk of using complementary and alternative medical therapies, particularly the use of common herbs and nutritional supplements, and their adverse implications on the cardiovascular systems of children. According to Artman, "This is a growing national problem. In adults, approximately 50% use some form of complementary medicine. Annual spending is over 5 billion dollars on herbal products and 2 billion on dietary supplements in the US. It is growing with children."
To date, there is little documented evidence if these alternative therapies are safe and/or effective. Most products are not standardized, vary wide in concentration and components, and there is little or no data on utilization, prevalence, efficacy, and acute/chronic toxicity in children.
One common herb with demonstrated cardiovascular activity is ephedra, a Chinese herb that is a mixture of several different chemicals and used for asthma, weight loss, energy booster. The drugs in ephedra can cause high blood pressure, palpitations, stroke, and death. Garlic, another common herbal supplement, can interfere with platelet aggregation; and some cardiac medications, such as blood thinners, when combined with garlic supplements can increase the risk of stroke or excessive bleeding following surgery.
Artman urged the pediatric practitioners not to underestimate the magnitude of CAM (Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) utilization in their parents and to document CAM requests, discussions, and responses in the patient's medical records. " Alternative therapies are potentially quite toxic with minimal benefit and should not be recommended," stated Artman. " Healthcare providers must be alert to potential adverse effects and drug interactions due to herbal medications."
Dr. Artman is Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology & Neuroscience at NYU School of Medicine and has authored numerous papers, books, book chapters, and abstracts. He is presently a member of the Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration.