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Heavy metals in traditional Indian remedies.
Ernst E.
Department of Complementary Medicine, School of Postgraduate
Medicine and Health Sciences, university of Exeter, UK.
The growing popularity of traditional Indian remedies
necessitates a critical evaluation of risks associated with
their use. This systematic review aims at summarising all
available data relating to the heavy metal content in such
remedies. Computerised literature searches were carried out to
identify all articles with original data on this subject.
Fifteen case reports and six case series were found. Their
collective results suggest that heavy metals, particularly
lead, have been a regular constituent of traditional Indian
remedies. This has repeatedly caused serious harm to patients
taking such remedies. The incidence of heavy metal
contamination is not known, but one study shows that 64% of
samples collected in India contained significant amounts of
lead (64% mercury, 41% arsenic and 9% cadmium). These findings
should alert us to the possibility of heavy metal content in
traditional Indian remedies and motivate us to consider means
of protecting consumers from such risks.
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