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By Carrie Wingate
NEW YORK, Mar 27 (Reuters Health) - With increasing numbers of American adults turning to herbal supplements and other forms of alternative medicine, it should be no surprise that adolescents are doing the same. But according to a group of Canadian researchers, some of these young people are using herbal supplements not to improve their health, but to damage it.
"In our study of young people with eating disorders, we found out that these adolescents are using herbal remedies, both for weight control purposes and for non-weight control purposes," Dr. Debra Katzman of the University of Toronto told Reuters Health.
Katzman and colleagues presented their research findings at the annual meeting of the Society for Adolescent Medicine held in San Diego earlier this month. The study included 47 patients between the ages of 10 and 17, mostly female, who had been diagnosed with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia.
Overall, 37% of the youngsters reported using herbal remedies, and 35% said they used these remedies to induce vomiting or decrease their appetite. Despite this widespread use of herbal products, however, 41% of participants said they knew "nothing at all" about herbal remedies. Furthermore, only 24% reported that their doctors had asked them about use of such products.
"This is a pretty important public health issue," Katzman told Reuters Health. "These medications are associated with health risks, and some of them can be severe. The kids and their parents need to know this."
Katzman described a study published last year in a prestigious medical journal about the use and health risks of ephedra. Ephedra, also known as ma huang, is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat upper respiratory problems, but is also a common ingredient in herbal remedies that claim to help users lose weight.
"That article reported 10 deaths and 13 serious disabilities associated with this common weight-loss drug," Katzman stated. "And in our study, 6% of the kids we surveyed had used ephedra, and had no idea it could hurt them."
What's needed, Katzman stressed, is education. "As parents, as physicians, we need to educate ourselves and our kids, and give them the best information possible. As physicians, we need to ask our patients, adults and adolescents alike, about whether they use any of these remedies."
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