Abstract

Background: It is well known that diabetic patients use Herbal Medicines (HMs) and antidiabetic drugs concurrently. Therefore, there is always the possibility of Herb-Drug Interactions (HDIs). This study attempted to find an appropriate path to accurately assess the risk of HM usage by diabetic patients.

Methods: The natural medicines comprehensive database and other resources were used to assess the risk of HDIs for about 130 herb-drug combinations used by 38 patients.

Result: Most of these interactions were assessed as “moderate interactions”, with only one assessed as a “major interaction”. No adverse events or harm were reported as the assessments were carried out retrospectively. The vast majority of the evidence on HDIs was based upon the pharmacological activities of the herbal and conventional medicines rather than the clinical outcomes.

Conclusion: Our assessments highlight the gulf between theoretical and real clinical interactions. Although this type of assessment does not measure the actual harms/benefits of HDIs, it highlights the need to reconsider the methods used to assess herb safety and efficacy. This will help physicians and healthcare professionals to provide considered advice to patients based upon documented evidence.

Keywords:Diabetes; Diabetic patients; Herb-drug interactions; Herbal medicines; Antidiabetic medicines; Complementary medicines; Alternative medicines; Saudi Arabia