Changjiang Daily Wuhan Client May 18th Worried about being “bald at an early age”, citizen Ms. Ding soaked Polygonum multiflorum to prevent hair loss. Unexpectedly, after drinking it for only a month, the liver was damaged and jaundice appeared. According to the doctor, half of the patients with abnormal liver function received by the Department of Gastroenterology are related to drugs. Please do not blindly take traditional Chinese medicine, health tea and various health foods.
He Shouwu boiled water and was admitted to the hospital because of the injury to the liver
Ms. Ding is 40 years old and is very concerned about health care. Not long ago, she and her colleagues bought Polygonum multiflorum at a pharmacy and boiled water to drink it every day, hoping to maintain health and prevent hair loss through diet therapy. After drinking it for about a month, recently, Ms. Ding always felt that she had no appetite for food, and people were easily fatigued. Her colleagues also said that her face was yellow. Ms. Ding was worried that something was wrong with her body and went to Wuhan Third Hospital to see a doctor.
Huang Shasha, a gastroenterologist from the Shouyi District of the hospital, introduced that Ms. Ding had obvious symptoms of jaundice, not only her skin was yellow, but her eyes were yellow. A liver function test showed that her bilirubin level was as high as 218mmol/L, which was more than ten times the upper limit of normal.
Huang Shasha is busy arranging Ms. Ding to be hospitalized to investigate the cause of jaundice. However, a series of examinations since then showed that Ms. Ding’s liver and gallbladder morphology was normal, and there was no organic disease.
Dr. Shasha Huang is taking the patient’s blood pressure.
Han Zheng, director of the department, believes that the cause can be further investigated from the aspects of life and diet. At his prompt, Ms. Ding finally remembered that she had been drinking He Shou Wu before. “It should be the long-term use of Polygonum multiflorum that caused drug-induced liver damage.” Han Zheng judged.
After receiving liver protection and jaundice treatment, Ms. Ding’s condition improved significantly. When she was discharged from the hospital, Han Zheng told her to take medicine on time, to review regularly, and most importantly, not to blindly drink traditional Chinese medicine in the future.
Half of the “liver-injured” patients are related to drugs
“My colleague and I drink He Shou Wu together, why am I sick but my colleague is fine?” Ms. Ding was very puzzled about this sudden illness. . Han Zheng analyzed that this is related to the intake, and there are also individual differences.
Han Zheng introduced that although Polygonum multiflorum is a commonly used material for medicines and health food, the cases of liver damage caused by taking Polygonum multiflorum are not uncommon in clinical practice. Polygonum multiflorum contains stilbene glycosides and emodin and other anthraquinone substances. Long-term overdose of Polygonum multiflorum, especially unprocessed raw Polygonum multiflorum, may cause liver damage.
“Half of the patients with abnormal liver function in outpatient clinics are related to drugs; among them, a considerable number of them get sick after blindly taking traditional Chinese medicine, health tea and various health food.” Han Zheng told Changjiang Daily reporter, the most common situation is that drinking Polygonum multiflorum and Panax notoginseng leads to abnormal liver function; some patients buy “three no” remedies online, or take multiple remedies and local remedies at the same time, and the liver is overwhelmed. Some patients even develop acute liver failure and face life-threatening.
Han Zheng appealed to citizens to raise awareness of prevention and not to buy and take so-called beauty creams, pain relief creams, hair growth creams and all kinds of home remedies and health foods sold by unknown businesses; traditional Chinese medicine. If there is a need for health care, it is best to consult a regular medical institution first, and take appropriate supplements under the guidance of a doctor. (Reporter Wang Chunlan of Changjiang Daily, correspondent Jiang Hongying and Chen Shu)