A gastroenterologist at Taipei’s Shutien Clinic cautioned people to avoid taking Chinese herbal medicine on a daily basis without consulting their doctor, saying that doing so could cause liver damage or even liver failure.
A 34-year-old woman experienced nausea, tea-colored urine and bloating for a week before she sought treatment at the clinic, said Wang Chi-tang (王志堂), the clinic’s director of gastroenterology.
She was found to have abnormally high levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and bilirubin in her blood, and had serious liver inflammation, said Wang, who treated her.
As the woman did not have chronic hepatitis A, B or C, nor a liver tumor, Wang said he suspected that the symptoms might have been caused by Chinese herbal medicine that she purchased on her own and took daily to “recuperate the body.”
He asked her to stop taking it and her liver functions gradually recovered over two months.
Abnormal liver functions are usually caused by hepatitis A, B or C, alcoholic hepatitis, non-alcoholic hepatitis (also known as fatty liver disease), drug-induced hepatitis or autoimmune hepatitis, and a physical examination, virus screening and abdominal ultrasound is needed to determine the cause, Wang said.
While one of the critical functions of the liver is to remove toxins from the blood, long-term intake of medicine or supplements can become a burden on the liver, he said.
Wang said about one-quarter of drug-induced hepatitis cases in Taiwan are caused by improper use of Chinese herbal medicine.
Common symptoms of drug-induced hepatitis include bloating, tea-colored urine, fever, upset stomach, fatigue and poor appetite, which are often mild, and few cases progress to fulminant hepatitis or liver failure, he said.
People should avoid taking unnecessary medicines or supplements, and only take them after consulting a doctor, Wang said.
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