FED:Warning over toxic traditional medicine

AAP General News (Australia)
02-21-2011
FED:Warning over toxic traditional medicine

By Danny Rose, AAP Medical Writer

SYDNEY, Feb 21 AAP - A warning has been issued over the use of "Ayurvedic" traditional
medicines, after an Australian man was found to have more than eight times the safe level
of lead in his body.

The 28-year-old man was holidaying in India where he sought a remedy for back pain,
and he was dispensed three traditional medicines.

Three months later and after returning to Australia, the man went to his GP suffering
stomach pains and constipation.

It was found he had been ingesting almost 900 micrograms of lead a day before he stopped
taking the tablets, and he now had lead poisoning.

"His whole blood lead level was subsequently estimated to be 4.12 micromoles per litre,"

said Professor Andis Graudins, Professor of Emergency Medicine Research at Melbourne's
Monash University.

"(The) level recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Centre for all
Australians (is) less than .48 micromoles per litre."

One of the medicines, named "Vatyog", was found to contain 448 micrograms of lead per
tablet and its packaging recommended an intake of two to three tablets daily to treat
rheumatoid arthritis.

The World Health Organisation states a person's daily lead intake should not exceed
3.5 micrograms per kilogram of their body weight, while most people in developed countries
consume just .1 to .7 micrograms of lead per kilogram of body weight.

Prof Graudins, writing with colleagues, has detailed the man's case in a letter published
in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.

He said Ayurvedic medicine originated in India more than 2000 years ago and it relied
heavily on herbal products, and many people took its mostly herbal-based treatments without
having problems.

However, they could pose a toxic hazzard when these remedies used "salts of heavy metals"

as their active ingredient or they became contaminated during the manufacturing process,
Prof Gaudins said.

"A study in the US found that one-fifth of Ayurvedic herbal products manufactured in
South India and sold in Boston contained potentially harmful concentrations of lead, mercury
or arsenic, or combinations of these," he said.

"In Australia, traditional Indian and Chinese medicines authorised for supply as regulated
as complementary medicines and must meet manufacturing and quality standards that ensure
the absence of contaminants.

"However, there is no quality control of medications imported for personal use or purchased
over the internet."

Prof Graudins said the complementary medicines were also often sold in packaging that
had the appearance of mainstream pharmaceutical drugs, meaning they were less likely to
be suspected as toxic.

"Reports of lead contamination from traditional Indian and Chinese medicines have been
intermittently publicised, and include recent warning from the NSW health department concerning
Ayurvedic medicines," Prof Graudins also said.

He said doctors encountering patients that had apparent lead poisoning should ask "if
they have used alternative and complementary medicines and whether these were obtained
in Australia or overseas".

AAP dr/jl

KEYWORD: AYURVEDIC

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