Pregnancy, prescription medicines and the potential risk of herb-drug interactions: a cross-sectional survey

James S. McLay; Naila Izzati; Abdul R. Pallivalapila; Ashalatha Shetty; Binita Pande; Craig Rore; Moza Al Hail; Derek Stewart

doi:10.1186/s12906-017-2052-1

Pregnancy, prescription medicines and the potential risk of herb-drug interactions: a cross-sectional survey

James S. McLay (Lead / Corresponding author), Naila Izzati, Abdul R. Pallivalapila, Ashalatha Shetty, Binita Pande, Craig Rore, Moza Al Hail, Derek Stewart

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

221 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women are routinely prescribed medicines while self-medicating with herbal natural products to treat predominantly pregnancy related conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the potential for herb-drug interactions (HDIs) in pregnant women and to explore possible herb-drug interactions and their potential clinical significance.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of women during early pregnancy or immediately postpartum in North-East Scotland. Outcome measures included; Prescription medicines use excluding vitamins and potential HDIs assessed using Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.

Results: The survey was completed by 889 respondents (73% response rate). 45.3% (403) reported the use of at least one prescription medicine, excluding vitamins. Of those taking prescription medicines, 44.9% (181) also reported concurrent use of at least one HNP (Range 1-12). A total of 91 different prescription medicines were reported by respondents using HNPs. Of those taking prescription medicines, 44.9% (181) also reported concurrent use of at least one HNP (Range 1-12). Thirty-four herb-drug interactions were identified in 23 (12.7%) women with the potential to increase the risk of postpartum haemorrhage, alter maternal haemodynamics, and enhance maternal/fetal CNS depression. Almost all were rated as moderate (93.9%), one as a potentially major (ginger and nifedipine) and only one minor (ondansetron and chamomile).

Conclusion: Almost half of pregnant women in this study were prescribed medicines excluding vitamins and minerals and almost half of these used HNPs. Potential moderate to severe HDIs were identified in an eighth of the study cohort. Healthcare professionals should be aware that the concurrent use of HNPs and prescription medicines during pregnancy is common and carries potential risks.

Original language	English
Article number	543
Pages (from-to)	1-7
Number of pages	7
Journal	BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume	17
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-017-2052-1
Publication status	Published - 19 Dec 2017

Keywords

Journal article
Herbal
Botanical
Pregnancy
Herb-drug interaction
Antenatal
Postnatal
Female
Surveys and questionnaires

Access to Document

10.1186/s12906-017-2052-1Licence: CC BY

Final Published Version
© The Author(s). 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Final published version, 394 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{35cdfbc8a51f4d9d9092e8511b9acacd,

title = "Pregnancy, prescription medicines and the potential risk of herb-drug interactions: a cross-sectional survey",

abstract = "Background: Pregnant women are routinely prescribed medicines while self-medicating with herbal natural products to treat predominantly pregnancy related conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the potential for herb-drug interactions (HDIs) in pregnant women and to explore possible herb-drug interactions and their potential clinical significance.Methods: A cross-sectional survey of women during early pregnancy or immediately postpartum in North-East Scotland. Outcome measures included; Prescription medicines use excluding vitamins and potential HDIs assessed using Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.Results: The survey was completed by 889 respondents (73% response rate). 45.3% (403) reported the use of at least one prescription medicine, excluding vitamins. Of those taking prescription medicines, 44.9% (181) also reported concurrent use of at least one HNP (Range 1-12). A total of 91 different prescription medicines were reported by respondents using HNPs. Of those taking prescription medicines, 44.9% (181) also reported concurrent use of at least one HNP (Range 1-12). Thirty-four herb-drug interactions were identified in 23 (12.7%) women with the potential to increase the risk of postpartum haemorrhage, alter maternal haemodynamics, and enhance maternal/fetal CNS depression. Almost all were rated as moderate (93.9%), one as a potentially major (ginger and nifedipine) and only one minor (ondansetron and chamomile).Conclusion: Almost half of pregnant women in this study were prescribed medicines excluding vitamins and minerals and almost half of these used HNPs. Potential moderate to severe HDIs were identified in an eighth of the study cohort. Healthcare professionals should be aware that the concurrent use of HNPs and prescription medicines during pregnancy is common and carries potential risks.",

keywords = "Journal article, Herbal , Botanical , Pregnancy , Herb-drug interaction , Antenatal , Postnatal , Female , Surveys and questionnaires",

author = "McLay, {James S.} and Naila Izzati and Pallivalapila, {Abdul R.} and Ashalatha Shetty and Binita Pande and Craig Rore and {Al Hail}, Moza and Derek Stewart",

note = "All funding was from institutional resource. JSM, AS are employed by the University of Aberdeen. DS is employed by the Robert Gordon University. BP and CR are employed by NHS Scotland. ARP and MAH are employed by the Hamad Medical Corporation. Qatar. NI is a postgraduate student at the University of Aberdeen",

year = "2017",

month = dec,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1186/s12906-017-2052-1",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

pages = "1--7",

journal = "BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine",

issn = "1472-6882",

publisher = "Springer Verlag",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pregnancy, prescription medicines and the potential risk of herb-drug interactions

T2 - a cross-sectional survey

AU - McLay, James S.

AU - Izzati, Naila

AU - Pallivalapila, Abdul R.

AU - Shetty, Ashalatha

AU - Pande, Binita

AU - Rore, Craig

AU - Al Hail, Moza

AU - Stewart, Derek

N1 - All funding was from institutional resource. JSM, AS are employed by the University of Aberdeen. DS is employed by the Robert Gordon University. BP and CR are employed by NHS Scotland. ARP and MAH are employed by the Hamad Medical Corporation. Qatar. NI is a postgraduate student at the University of Aberdeen

PY - 2017/12/19

Y1 - 2017/12/19

N2 - Background: Pregnant women are routinely prescribed medicines while self-medicating with herbal natural products to treat predominantly pregnancy related conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the potential for herb-drug interactions (HDIs) in pregnant women and to explore possible herb-drug interactions and their potential clinical significance.Methods: A cross-sectional survey of women during early pregnancy or immediately postpartum in North-East Scotland. Outcome measures included; Prescription medicines use excluding vitamins and potential HDIs assessed using Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.Results: The survey was completed by 889 respondents (73% response rate). 45.3% (403) reported the use of at least one prescription medicine, excluding vitamins. Of those taking prescription medicines, 44.9% (181) also reported concurrent use of at least one HNP (Range 1-12). A total of 91 different prescription medicines were reported by respondents using HNPs. Of those taking prescription medicines, 44.9% (181) also reported concurrent use of at least one HNP (Range 1-12). Thirty-four herb-drug interactions were identified in 23 (12.7%) women with the potential to increase the risk of postpartum haemorrhage, alter maternal haemodynamics, and enhance maternal/fetal CNS depression. Almost all were rated as moderate (93.9%), one as a potentially major (ginger and nifedipine) and only one minor (ondansetron and chamomile).Conclusion: Almost half of pregnant women in this study were prescribed medicines excluding vitamins and minerals and almost half of these used HNPs. Potential moderate to severe HDIs were identified in an eighth of the study cohort. Healthcare professionals should be aware that the concurrent use of HNPs and prescription medicines during pregnancy is common and carries potential risks.

AB - Background: Pregnant women are routinely prescribed medicines while self-medicating with herbal natural products to treat predominantly pregnancy related conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the potential for herb-drug interactions (HDIs) in pregnant women and to explore possible herb-drug interactions and their potential clinical significance.Methods: A cross-sectional survey of women during early pregnancy or immediately postpartum in North-East Scotland. Outcome measures included; Prescription medicines use excluding vitamins and potential HDIs assessed using Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.Results: The survey was completed by 889 respondents (73% response rate). 45.3% (403) reported the use of at least one prescription medicine, excluding vitamins. Of those taking prescription medicines, 44.9% (181) also reported concurrent use of at least one HNP (Range 1-12). A total of 91 different prescription medicines were reported by respondents using HNPs. Of those taking prescription medicines, 44.9% (181) also reported concurrent use of at least one HNP (Range 1-12). Thirty-four herb-drug interactions were identified in 23 (12.7%) women with the potential to increase the risk of postpartum haemorrhage, alter maternal haemodynamics, and enhance maternal/fetal CNS depression. Almost all were rated as moderate (93.9%), one as a potentially major (ginger and nifedipine) and only one minor (ondansetron and chamomile).Conclusion: Almost half of pregnant women in this study were prescribed medicines excluding vitamins and minerals and almost half of these used HNPs. Potential moderate to severe HDIs were identified in an eighth of the study cohort. Healthcare professionals should be aware that the concurrent use of HNPs and prescription medicines during pregnancy is common and carries potential risks.

KW - Journal article

KW - Herbal

KW - Botanical

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Herb-drug interaction

KW - Antenatal

KW - Postnatal

KW - Female

KW - Surveys and questionnaires

U2 - 10.1186/s12906-017-2052-1

DO - 10.1186/s12906-017-2052-1

M3 - Article

C2 - 29258478

SN - 1472-6882

VL - 17

SP - 1

EP - 7

JO - BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

JF - BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

M1 - 543

ER -

Pregnancy, prescription medicines and the potential risk of herb-drug interactions: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this