Methods for treatment along with all other aspects of medicine are always advancing. Health care is a field that relies completely on relevant and recent discoveries. Treatment and patient care updates as frequently as technology does, which is a huge factor in care itself. For years, medical professionals kept their distance from alternative medicine and doctors dismissed it entirely as an option. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is the term for wellness therapies that have not typically been a part of conventional Western medicine and health. Anything considered to be outside of standard medical care would fall under the category of CAM. Complementary in this context refers to treatments that are used in addition to conventional medicine. However, recently physicians are recommending alternative remedies more frequently, which raises more questions on the topic. Specifically, herbal supplements have gained a lot of attention from professionals as well as the media and public (potential consumers). In the past decade or so, the debate between alternative therapy and conventional medicine has grown immensely. One of the most commonly suggested types of alternative remedies is herbal supplements. When equally considering all the information, it is clear that the dangers of herbal supplements outweigh the benefits. This course of treatment does more harm than good based on the claims that there is a substantial amount of inconclusive studies trying to prove the benefits of herbs over conventional medicine, unexpected side effects, a lack of regulation, and harmful interactions with other medication. 

According to numerous sources, the therapeutic uses of herbal supplements in global health care to improve general wellness are growing in popularity. This is because herbs have a wide range of uses from weight loss to pain management, so they are being compared more often with modern drugs. Additionally, according to Rick LaCaille there is evidence of an apparent rise in herbal supplement use in college campuses. The author concluded that, “Indeed, overall CAM and herbal supplement use during the past year appeared high,” (LaCaille). It was revealed that the recent rise in popularity is not due to dissatisfaction with healthcare services on campus. Students chose these alternative remedies because they were much more accessible than pharmaceutical drugs. As herbal supplements increase with popularity, the importance in weighing risks and benefits increases as well. 

Another group that is more likely to use herbal supplements regularly is pregnant women. A study was conducted to identify the proportion of non-pregnant women that intended on using intending self-administered alternative products like dietary supplements, herbal teas and essential oils once they were pregnant. This was compared to the proportion of pregnant women actually using these products. The main goal of researchers in this study was, “to describe women's risk perception related to these products and the advice given by health professionals” (Cabut). This evidence proves that health professionals should inform women, even before the event of pregnancy, about the safe use of medications over alternative remedies during pregnancy.

A major issue with herbal treatment is that many studies measuring the effectiveness of them result as inconclusive. In the article, “The dangers of herbal supplements” Theodoros Manfredi acknowledges the appeal of supplements being natural but warns the public about their ineffectiveness. “However a shocking 2/3rds of all herbal supplements have never been clinically proven to work and that usually means quite simply that they don't work. In unbiased blind tests, never have the vast majority of these herbal medications been shown to have any measurable effect on health,” (Manfredi). This article is from healthguidance.org, which is a reputable source that ultimately displays no bias toward either side of this debate. However, the claim that herbs simply don’t work is common among doctors who tend to display bias toward medicine from working in the health field. Regardless, a lack of concrete evidence that herbs are successful in treating patients is a fair conclusion to be made after research. 

While it is obvious that evidence supporting effective herbs is lacking, there is some research that indicates success with particular herbs. This includes guarana, which is a supplement that is perfectly effective as a way to boost your metabolism and recognized by physicians like Manfredi. Also, the article, “10 best healing herbs” provides additional examples of proven effects specific herbs have on medical conditions. Possible treated conditions mentioned in the article include easing pain, preventing Alzheimer’s, and fighting cancer and heart disease. However, while I recognize some success in treating conditions, conventional drugs have been proven to treat these just as good, if not better. All research comparing the two treatment options result in more positive outcomes in favor of modern medicine over herbal supplements. 

Recent research has been able to associate herbal supplements with numerous conditions and illnesses. In a case report found in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, herbal supplements can be associated with Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome. RCVS is a clinico-radiologic syndrome characterized by headaches and reversible multifocal arterial constrictions that eventually resolve within 3 months. This is just one example of clear evidence that relates this class of supplements with serious health conditions. Aside from being a major factor in causing problems such as these, the side effects alone can be detrimental to one’s health. 

Because there is a huge lack of knowledge regarding the effects of herbal supplements, unexpected side effects are problematic and common. While conventional medicine comes with side effects, they are more known and expected which makes taking the drug less risky and more safe. In the article, “Special report: is your herbal supplement safe?” Altshul, a medical professional, focuses on the negative effects of herbal supplements by using recent cases proving the dangers they pose, particularly to the liver and often with the intention of dieting. There have been countless reports in the media of unforeseen side effects resulting from herb use. Some examples of common adverse effects of herbs include: Flavonoids causing anemia and kidney damage, ginger altering bleeding time, germander damaging the liver, aloe vera causing abdominal pain and diarrhea, and liquorice root causing hypertension and arrhythmias. It is likely that most of these side effects were not disclaimed to the patient or even the distributer of the supplement. Even the manufacturers of the supplement may not be aware of the adverse effects because minimal testing and trials are run before they get distributed. One reason these effects can be so dangerous and unexpected is that people assume that because herbs are natural, they cannot be harmful. According to the physician Manfredi, “Just because something comes from the ground, this certainly doesn't mean it's safe – many recreational drugs come from the ground as do a range of poisons,” (Manfredi). One reasoning for this is because these drugs aren’t normally tested the same way as pharmaceutical drugs. Those who package and sell them don’t have a proper scientific understanding, therefore there are more supplements produced with unknown side effects.

To give some background information on herbal supplements, the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), play important roles in research. The ODS is known for evaluating scientific information relating to all types of supplements. It also informs the public on issues related to dietary supplements. The organization reports on both the positive and negative impacts made by these supplements and therefore act in an informative way only, lacking any possible bias. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, along with the NIH, is the federal government’s main agency for the scientific research on this topic of diverse medicine. Their research focuses on the systems, products, and actions of anything not considered conventional or western medicine. The National Registry of Drug-induced Ocular Side Effects, which is an international collection of information regarding discovered adverse effects associated with herbs along with pharmaceutical drugs and chemicals, has been created with the sole purpose of eliminating harsh side effects of these remedies. Lastly, there is a database called the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database that provides general information on a variety of remedies, especially herbal supplements. It also provides information for other remedies such as dietary supplements, vitamins and minerals, and any other products that can be considered natural. “The information is evidence-based and unbiased, using current peer-reviewed research,” (Kim). Considering the amount of informative resources that have been recently made available to the public, clearly alternative treatment is growing in popularity and forcing the requirement of more research. However, just because these materials exist does not mean regulation is anywhere near as good as the regulation for conventional drugs. Considerable progress is necessary to catch up to the regulation and standards followed for modern medicine.  

Building off of the testing, packaging, and distributing of herbal supplements, another risk is the lack of regulation in general of this treatment. All conventional drugs prescribed by physicians have to follow the process regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Author Alicia Kim in the article “East Meets West: Herbal Supplements in Health Care” explains the regulation differences between herbal remedies and pharmaceutical drugs. “The FDA currently considers herbal supplements as food products, and as such they are not subject to the same clinical trials, manufacturing standards and regulations as drugs. Many prescription drugs and over the counter drugs are also made from plant derivatives, but these products contain only purified ingredients and are regulated by the FDA,” (Kim). The regulation of the FDA alone creates a huge gap between the safety of both treatment options. The issue of regulation is also brought up by the chemistry professor, Gagik Melikyan, who focuses on the lack of knowledge about supplements, arguing that the absence of FDA regulation and unreported side effects can have detrimental effects on individuals as well as the economy. Melikyan provides the perspective of harm that herbs cause on the economy, beyond just the individual. 

As Melikyan explains in his presentation, the lack of regulation and inefficient distribution of herbal supplements negatively impacts the economy. This is because the use of unapproved supplements is generally associated with more medical attention, which costs money for insurance companies. While the patient pays for some of the necessary care when this happens, insurance handles most of the cost. Essentially everyone paying insurance then is contributing money to fix the damage created by unsafe supplements. To pay for the increase in hospital bills, “They will just hike the premiums across the board,” (Melikyan). This proves that there are negative effects that can result on the financial side of things and not just physical health for an individual. 

Due to the lack of regulation by the FDA and labeled safety warnings, interactions between supplements and other medications or substances also cause danger to patients. Misconceptions such as “natural means safe” contribute not only to unexpected side effects from supplements but also to the unawareness of harmful interactions possible. “Even though herbal supplements may be from plant or herb sources, the active ingredients can still be potent chemicals. Because of this, herbal supplements can have drug interactions, even with each other or with food or alcohol,” (Anderson). Known and possible interactions are usually not listed on containers, which makes is difficult for a consumer to determine if an interaction could occur. Common interactions patients have reportedly dealt with include: feverfew with aspirin to cause addictive effects, garlic with warfarin to cause addictive effects, ginger with warfarin to cause iris bleeding, and psyllium seed with coumarin derivates which retards absorption of the drug. The effects that herbal interactions can have with prescriptions can inhibit the intended therapeutic effect of the medicine, interfere with how the drug should be broken down by the body, and enhance further side effects already present from the prescription meds. Mixing an herb with a medication also commonly enhances the intended effect of the medicine to the point of being dangerous to the body. Signs of this are similar to the symptoms of an overdose. It is true that conventional drugs can interact with each other, however this is much more understood by healthcare professionals and therefore easier to look out for and prevent. Signs and symptoms of a drug interaction are clearly communicated to doctors prescribing the medication, nurses distributing it, and the patients themselves. Documents and charts are also better kept for conventional treatments taken by patients than supplemental herbs that anyone could access. This makes it is easier to track what is being taken and what count react together. 

Overall, the research confirms that the harm outweighs the benefits of herbal supplements on the body when used as treatment. With this statement, it can be concluded that conventional medicine wins the debate over alternative remedies when comparing the facts and studies conducted on both. While it is recognized that not all alternative treatments present immediate danger to patients or directly affect the economy, when comparing the courses of treatment, modern medicine is the better option. There is some initiative being taken to lower the common risks currently associated with alternative treatment in general. This is seen through the ODS, NIH, NIH, and the national registry and databases explained in the article, “East Meets West: Herbal Supplements in Health Care.” But until the FDA can officially regulate and control alternative remedies as a course of treatment, the risks of herbal supplements will outweigh the benefits for any patient. Herbal supplements are simply too unpredictable in their outcomes in terms of treatment. According to scientific evidence, Western conventional medicine is proven to be more effective, safe, regulated, and cost effective for the general public. 
