herbal safety

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Are herbs containing arbutin actually harmful?

Photo of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry)

In May 2018 we suddenly found out that herbs containing the natural constituent arbutin, including Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry) and Turnera diffusa (Damiana) had been restricted to prescription only Schedule 4 medicines by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). However the reasoning for such restriction was questionable, and so myself and Laura Dwyer – my research student – set out to determine if there was actually evidence that these herbs might be harmful. We just published the results of our review.

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Are comfrey, coltsfoot and borage harmful to humans?

Graphical abstract showing key results from the research paper

For many decades now, unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been known to be potentially harmful, causing specific types of liver and lung damage, and also being carcinogenic. However the question has long been “do the amounts in key medicinal plants warrant concern?”. Many regulatory authorities around the world think so, with some of these plants being restricted for medicinal usage. This research project set out to determine the level of evidence for harm from some of these plants.

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