When your veterinarian tells you to administer Chinese herbs to your animal, how do you know they’re safe? You probably don’t, and likely can’t.
For some lines of Chinese herbs for animals, you won’t even know the full list of ingredients or how much of each one that bottle contains. Why? Because keeping the precise formula secret may seem, at least to the manufacturer, better for business. It may lend an air of mystique, in that the “master” herbalist suggests that he or she has special knowledge that must be closely guarded. Or, as in the well-known case of Yunnan Baiyao, the Chinese government purportedly protects the secret recipe.
Many other problems swirl around Chinese herbs. These include concerns about potential toxicity of the herb itself to additive and harmful environmental factors, such as air and ground pollutants taken up by the plant, pesticides applied during growth and transport, and heavy metals introduced during processing. To read more, visit this page to access the open access article, “Safety Surveillance of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Current and Future”.
These passages from the article stand out as particularly noteworthy:
“No matter whether targeting TCM as botanical drugs or dietary supplements, besides efficacy, safety and consistent quality are the two most important factors in TCM formulations. There are several factors that may contribute to the safety concerns of TCM products: the intrinsic toxicities of herbs, environmental contaminations (such as air pollution, soil contaminations, and heavy metals), cultivation practices (such as pesticides, fungicides, heavy metals, microorganisms, and endotoxins), and manufacture processing and handling (including storage, additives, microorganisms, endotoxins, and human adulteration). Other safety concerns such as long-term toxicity, dose-dependent toxicity, treatment duration, herb–drug interactions, and herb–herb interactions also need to be carefully evaluated in the use of TCM.”
This paragraph addresses issues about aconite, which Yunnan Baiyao contains:
“The Aconitum species (Fu Zhi, Chuan Wu, Cao Wu) of herbs is more toxic owing to its high content of aconitine alkaloids. It is required to perform detoxifying processes post-harvesting to remove the intrinsic cardiologic, neurologic, and gastrointestinal toxins [21–23]. Aconitum has been documented in “Shang han lun” since 200AD for its therapeutic effects as a stimulant to dispel chills and increase vitality. These pharmacological properties have been translated into modern terminology of diseases or conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, gastroenteritis, and bronchial asthma [33]. Although the SFDA in China stipulates that only processed and detoxified roots of Aconitum species can be used in clinical decoctions or in pharmaceutical manufacturing, these herbs remain a constant source of poisoning [34].”
Here is further information about Yunnan Baiyao a significant Yunnan Baiyao constituent:
“Notoginseng (Panax notoginseng, San Qi) is another popular herb used in TCM formulas to treat blood disorders such as blood stasis and bleeding. It is also the major ingredient of a famous Chinese hemostatic proprietary herbal remedy, Yunnan Baiyao. A joint effort among several institutions has reported recently on the heavy metal contents of notoginseng in Wenshan and Baise areas of Yunnan Province in China [45, 46]. It was reported that 80% of Radix Panax notoginseng planting soil in Wenshan area is not suitable for continuous cropping. Studies indicated the infection of the rhizosphere microorganism, such as Sinomonas notoginsengisoli sp. nov, could contribute to crop failure [46, 47]. Among 12 Radix notoginseng samples collected from different habitats, nearly half of the samples were over the heavy metal limits of USP specification in dietary and herbal supplements. As and Cd were the most common elements exceeding USP limits in 3 out of 10 raw herbal samples collected. In addition, As and Hg were found exceeding the limits in five and two samples out of 11 commercial samples, respectively [45]. One major issue of the safe level of heavy metals in herbal medicine is the diversification of current guidelines. The toxicity established is based on inorganic heavy metals. The toxicity of heavy metals in herbal medicine could be very different because it could chelate with organic chemicals in the herb. Research should be encouraged to address this issue.”
And, finally, the article concludes:
“Self-policing by industry is critical to upgrading the quality of the herbal industry. Consumer education is also critical to ensure the safe administration of TCM.”
While we wait, and wait, and wait some more for companies to self-police, the next best thing is education. Not only for consumers, but veterinarians as well. Veterinary schools need to incorporate science-based education in botanical medicine based on a critical thinking platform.
Narda G. Robinson, DO, DVM, MS, FAAMA