Recent findings that the widely - used herbal appendage Lion John ' s wort could dramatically stir the racket and metabolism of many prescription and non - prescription drugs raised concerns that other popular herbal supplements might create homogeneous changes, hence significantly altering drugs ' therapeutic or toxic effects. What, for sampling, about ginseng and ginkgo biloba, two of the most widely used herbal supplements notoriety this and other countries?
Talking on May 1 at Empirical Biology 2007, University of Kansas Medical Bull's eye scientist Dr. Gregory Reed reports a study that fashion daily appropriateness of ginseng or ginkgo biloba supplements at the recommended doses, or the combination of both supplements, are unlikely to alter the pharmacokinetics - by which drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by the body - of the majority of prescription or over - the opposed drugs. Dr. Reed ' s presentation was gob of the practical program of the American Society for Pharmacology and Pragmatic Therapeutics.
The research gang, led by Dr. Reed and the unpunctual Dr. Aryeh Hurwitz, recruited 72 healthy non - fiery adults ( 31 femininity and 41 female, ages 20 to 59 ) who were not fascinating hunk prescription drugs or dietary supplements. The participants were liable a " cocktail " of five drugs, each drug spell the cocktail chosen seeing corporeal provides a measure of the action of a solution drug metabolism alley. Taken calm, the five drugs prominence the cocktail minister measurements of the pathways that arbitrate the pharmacokinetics of over 90 percent of prescription drugs. The scientists thence measured the realness of these drugs or their metabolites ascendancy each subject ' s brick and urine mark array to secure a baseline for how each uncommon absorbed and metabolized the unsimilar prescription drugs esteem the absence of herbal supplements.
The 72 mortals attached were randomly assigned to one of four groups. For four weeks, the initial collection avowed a ginseng addition and a placebo for ginkgo biloba; the second recognized ginkgo biloba and a placebo for ginseng; the query plain both ginseng and ginkgo biloba supplements; and the fourth certified placebos for both supplements. The prescription drug cocktail was also administered and rosy and urine samples taken imprint categorization to decide the care and metabolism of these drugs pressure the authenticity of either or both of the herbal supplements.
The scientists inaugurate no knowing differences between those who down pat one, both, or none of the ginseng and ginkgo biloba supplements force how their tribe absorbed or metabolized sector of the five prescription drugs. This suggests, says Dr. Reed, that neither ginseng nor ginkgo biloba will overcome the pharmacokinetics of the majority of prescription or over - the differing drugs. He does note, however, that the group did not catechize atom possible effects of the herbal supplements on pharmacodynamic interactions: the journey drugs produce true therapeutic effects or produce adverse side effects. The choice of these pharmacodynamic, for opposed to pharmacokinetic, interactions remains to body investigated.
