What Doctors Don't Tell YouPremise one: Warfarin is a dangerous drug that can kill people. (More than 10,000 Britons die every year from a reaction to a common drug. Researchers at the University of Liverpool assessed the records of 18,820 people admitted to local hospitals between November 2001 and April 2002. One in 16 of those had been admitted because of an adverse reaction to drugs such as aspirin. Of those, 28 died. Apart from aspirin, other drugs mentioned included diuretics and warfarin, the blood-thinning agent).
Premise two: Ginseng can stop warfarin from working. (The herbal remedy ginseng has been blamed as being an antidote to warfarin, and stops it working effectively, researchers at the University of Chicago have said. They are concerned that many herbal remedies interfere with drug efficacy, and should be more carefully monitored. The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority has already announced that it will look into the researchers’ findings and concerns).
Conclusion: Doesn’t that make ginseng a good thing, and shouldn’t it be warfarin that is more carefully monitored?
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
