Herbal Medicines Use During Pregnancy: A Review from the Middle East

Aims. To undertake a systematic review of the recent (2008–2013) primary literature, describing views and experiences of CAM use during pregnancy by women and healthcare professionals.Method. Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Database of Systematic Review Library and Allied, and Complementary Medicine Database were searched. Studies reporting systemic CAM products (homeopathic preparations, herbal medicines, Vitamins and minerals, homeopathy, and special diets) alone or in combination with other nonsystemic CAM modalities (e.g., acupuncture) were included.Results. Database searches retrieved 2,549 citations. Removal of duplicates followed by review of titles and abstracts yielded 32 relevant studies. Twenty-two reported the perspectives of women and their CAM use during pregnancy, while 10 focused on healthcare professionals. The majority of studies had significant flaws in study design and reporting, including a lack of appropriate definitions of CAM and associated modalities, absence of detailed checklists provided to participants, the use of convenience sampling, and a general lack of scientific robustness in terms of data validity and reliability.Conclusion. To permit generalisability of study findings, there is an urgent need to expand the evidence base assessing CAMs use during pregnancy using appropriately designed studies.

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The relationship between women’s characteristics and herbal medicines use during pregnancy

Women & Health ◽

10.1080/03630242.2017.1421285 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 59 (6) ◽

pp. 579-590

Author(s):

Fatemeh Abdollahi ◽

Jamshid Yazdani Chareti

Keyword(s):

Herbal Medicines ◽

Medicines Use ◽

The Relationship

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A Retrospective Cohort Study of Herbal Medicines Use during Pregnancy: Prevalence, Adverse Reactions, and Newborn Outcomes

Traditional and Integrative Medicine ◽

10.18502/tim.v5i2.3627 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kosar Raoufinejad ◽

Kheirollah Gholami ◽

Mohammadreza Javadi ◽

Mehdi Rajabi ◽

Hassan Torkamandi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Adverse Reactions ◽

Herbal Medicines ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Postpartum Women ◽

Discharge Data ◽

Face To Face ◽

Newborn Outcomes ◽

Medicines Use ◽

Gastrointestinal Complaints ◽

Potential Risks

This study aimed to investigate the herbal medicines use prevalence and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) during pregnancy as well as the probable effects on newborn outcomes. Postpartum women with a live singleton infant were eligible if declared consent before discharge. Data was collected retrospectively by face-to-face interviews. Generally, 400 pairs of mother/infant were recruited. At least one herbal medicine was used by 325/400 (81.3%) women. Peppermint, frankincense, flixweed, olive oil, and cinnamon were the most common herbs. Overall, 26 ADRs were reported by 19/325 (5.8%) women. Gastrointestinal complaints were the most frequent herbal ADRs (18/26, 69.2%). Gestational age, Apgar scores, birthweight, complications, and malformations of newborns were similar between groups. In conclusion, herbal medicines were highly used by pregnant women, while they did not affect newborn outcomes either positively or adversely. Despite low frequency rate of herbal ADRs during pregnancy, their safety, efficacy, interactions, and potential risks need further studies.

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The Prevalence and Predictors of Herbal Medicines’ Use in Cancer: A systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies.

10.31730/osf.io/cbtpy ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

John Baptist Asiimwe ◽

Sarki Ahmed ◽

Mauda Mugisha Kamatenesi ◽

Esther Atukunda ◽

Prakash PN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Herbal Medicine ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Observational Studies ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Herbal Medicines ◽

Medicines Use ◽

Geographical Regions ◽

The World ◽

Economic Regions

The study aims to estimate the prevalence of herbal medicines use in cancer patients across the various regions of the world (geographical regions, economic regions) and establish the key predictors of herbal medicines use in those regions. The study will only synthesize literature from primary observational studies (cohorts and crosssectional study) reported in english between 2000 and 2020 (current). This study is evisaged to provide updated data on the magnitude of herbal medicine in cancer, that will in the end guide healthcare policy.

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Safety of Herbal Medicines in Children

10.5772/intechopen.94545 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sevinç Polat ◽

Ayşe Gürol

Keyword(s):

Herbal Medicine ◽

Pediatric Population ◽

Clinical Care ◽

Herbal Medicines ◽

World Health ◽

Herbal Products ◽

Medicines Use ◽

Herbal Medicinal ◽

Health Complications ◽

Health Organization

Herbal medicine is used by individuals of all ages, including children. Herbal medicine includes herbs, herbal materials and preparations, and finished herbal products. Herbal medicine or herbal products’ use for all ages have increased in recent years. Based on the data of the World Health Organization, almost 80% of the population in developing countries trust herbal medicines to meet their health needs. Herbal medicines use unconsciously as though these products are harmless. The use of herbal products in children is a concern because little information is available concerning the benefits and risks of these products in the pediatric population. This creates a serious problem in the treatment of children, and reveals a serious and under-recognized hazard in clinical care. The safety of most herbal medicinal products is absent since lack of suitable quality controls and not available of appropriate patient information. Owing to the possibility of serious health complications arising from the use of herbal products, it is mandatory to understand their use in the general population in order for appropriate measures to be put into place.

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