Purpose: To determine the knowledge and attitude of patients on the usage of herbal medicines in Udupi Region of Karnataka State, India. Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study, carried out over a period of six months, and involving a structured and validated questionnaire. It was conducted among patients who visited hospitals in and around the Udupi region of Karnataka, India. Results: About 37 % of the respondents of the study used a combination of allopathy and herbal medicines. The results further showed that 29.8 % of respondents used allopathy, while 24.5 % were on herbal medicines. Of the total herbal medicine users, 34.07 % of the respondents stated that the reason for using herbal medicines was their perception that herbal medicines had more efficacy and comparatively lower side effects. A majority of the respondents, i.e., 64.6 %, lacked knowledge on dose, duration of therapy, side effects and interactions of the drugs. Out of 226 respondents who used herbal medicine, only 65 (28.76 %) could identify adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Among these 65 patients who could identify ADRs, only 16 (24.62 %) informed the physician about it, while the remaining 49 (75.38 %) patients did not inform the physician about it. Conclusion: The results indicate a need to conduct educational and awareness programs by AYUSH, The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy on herbal medicines and adverse drug reactions in order to minimize untoward effects caused by herbal medicines.

Herbal medicines have been used by mankind from time immemorial. Moreover, many modern medicines are originated from plant sources. In earlier days, patients were dependent on herbs for treatment and well-being. However, due to the advent of the industrial revolution and modern science, the scenario of treating diseases has changed over a period of time. Majority of patients started preferring allopathy medicines due to their several advantages over herbal medicines. However, due to long term treatment by allopathic medicines for chronic diseases led to side effects, patients are now drifting back to the traditional medicines. Herbal medicines have their own drawbacks, viz., lack of safety and efficacy data, standardization difficulties, not well established legislative controls and a few issues with adverse drug reactions. Drug regulations per se were always the prime focus and they are said to be dynamic. There are a few differences in regulations of herbal drugs among various countries. Regulatory authorities of countries are working to evolve the regulations to govern herbal medicines more effectively. A brief overview of the regulations related to a few developing and developed countries have been dealt here.

Cosmetic and beauty products, though not essential for physical health, go a long way in providing mental well-being and confidence, and hence are used substantially. Increasing utilization of varying cosmetic products leads to a multitude of adverse effects. There is more awareness about cosmeceutics, cosmetic products and their adverse effects, and studies on the same are currently trending. Bibliometrics has become a prominent and growing field of research in recent years. The aim of this research was to assess bibliometric features and conduct systematic trend analysis on the literature available on cosmetics’ adverse effects. We analyzed all the published documents that included the keywords “cosmetics” and “adverse effects” between 1957 and 2021. We performed a detailed scientometric and bibliometric assessment in this field. A total of 4127 articles were retrieved from the databases provided by Scopus, which most were original articles. The United States ranked first and dominated the literature with 1292 (31.44%) documents followed by South Korea 7.47%. Harvard medical school was the most productive institution (1.16%). The study of the adverse effects of cosmetics should be supported and taken up by the researchers/authors from developing and underdeveloped countries.

Medication therapy management (MTM) was first implemented and introduced for chronically ill patients and those taking multiple prescription drugs. The MTM has five steps, namely medication therapy review (MTR), personal medication record (PMR), medication-related action plan (MAP), intervention or referral, and finally, documentation. After receiving MTM services, patients will gain knowledge on medicines, which may decrease non-adherence to treatment and increase its efficacy. Studies have shown the positive impact of MTM on geriatric, pediatric, and chronically ill patients and those on polypharmacy. MTM services may improve medication adherence, decrease healthcare costs, and improve the quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) by addressing various issues like anaemia, metabolic acidosis, protein management, fluid management, electrolyte management, dosage adjustment based on eGFR, vaccination, and medication-related problems and intervening with the education about the disease, drugs, and lifestyle modifications.

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