Overview of Contraindicated Chinese Medicines for Pregnancy

Abstract

Chinese medicines should be classified into drugs, which have both beneficial and harmful effects. For centuries, Chinese medicines have been widely used to relieve many symptoms and to treat complications during pregnancy. It is not clear how safe the Chinese medicines are being used during pregnancy and if there is any adverse effects to embryofetal development and prenatal and postnatal growth. Some Chinese medicines are indicated that they cannot be used in pregnancy. In this chapter, we will conduct a systematic review to summarize and characterize in details the Chinese medicines classified as contraindicated, not recommended and cautiously used for pregnancy in most updated version of Pharmacopeia of the People's Republic of China. Clinical reports including clinical trials, case reports, case series and animal studies including short-term and long-term toxicity, specific organ toxicity and different species of the Chinese medicines will be studied. Unlike those pharmaceutical drugs not recommend for use during pregnancy because of known or suspected adverse or teratogenic effects evident by animal studies and/or clinical trials, most of the Chinese medicines were utilized for long history in culture which, however, has very limited scientific data regarding the adverse pregnant outcomes.

Identifying the Species of Seeds in Traditional Chinese Medicine Using DNA Barcoding

“…Seed TCMs have been shown to be capable of producing a wide range of undesirable or adverse reactions, some of which can result in serious injury, life-threatening conditions, and even death. Numerous and irrefutable cases of poisoning have been reported in the literature ( Liu et al, 2014 ; Li et al, 2017 ). Since safety continues to be a major issue with the use of herbal remedies, it is imperative that relevant regulatory authorities put in place appropriate measures to protect public health by ensuring that all seed TCMs are safe and of suitable quality ( Ekor, 2013 ).…”

Eighty cases of conservative treatment of ectopic pregnancy with combined use of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine

“…It promotes both mothers' and fetuses' health, relieves and cures common disorders in women. It has been used as a main stream medicine in China with a longer history than Western medicines [1].…”