Ayurvedic medicines contain heavy metals

According to Health Canada, a recent study reported in JAMA showed that many Ayurvedic medicines contain high levels of lead, mercury and/or arsenic. One product was:

found to contain arsenic levels in excess of 40 times the maximum allowable concentration for drugs. Described by its labelling as a blood purifier used for skin diseases and as a treatment for digestive problems, SAFI is available as a liquid in a 200ml bottle and packaged in a lime green box, bearing a black and red label on both the front and back. Consumers are advised not to use this product.

Good advice. Of course, even many evidence based medicines can have bad effects, some unexpected. For example, critics will quote recent studies of Vioxx and similar drugs as evidence that western medicines can also be harmful. There is some truth in this. But western medicines, because they are evidence-based, are usually beneficial too, and so there is a risk / reward trade-off to be made.

With many alternatives such as Ayurvedic, there is no evidence that the treatment does any good, (and often evidence that it does no good), and so the risk has no balancing reward at all. Instead they offer:

a false hope based on an unscientific imagination seeped in mysticism and cheerily dispensed gibberish. Science is unnecessary to test Ayurvedic claims since "the masters of Ayurvedic medicine can determine an herb's medicinal qualities by simply looking at it

CBC News illustrates a basic problem:

Practitioners and followers believe the heavy metals in the products carry therapeutic value.

Western scientists say heavy metals pose a health risk because they accumulate in vital organs.

Alternatives, unlike real medicines, do not need to be tested for safety (or efficacy), and can be marketed in the US as long as it cannot be proved they are harmful. The problem with this should be obvious. Proponents of alternatives often promote the benign nature of their therapies as opposed to the supposed dangers of therapies that actually have been shown to work. Clearly they are often as wrong in this assertion as they are in their claims for the efficacy of their products.

Comments

[Paul]

I've recently been watching The Brier, the Canadian National Curling Championship. One of their major sponsors this year is Strauss Heart Drops. I grind my teeth every time one of their commercials comes on.

[Jane Bhandari]

my doctor alerted me to the potential dangers of herbal medicines: I was about to embark on a course of treatment for rheumatism. First checked the Net to see what it said, and have changed my mind. I'll stick to yoga for the moment.

[umar junior]

i used two ayurvedic medicine both by Hamdard company known as Khamer gao zaban and safi for two months and three weeks respectively,had diarrhea from taking safi and subsequently developed insomnia and food allergy from cheese ,i get hive everytime i take cheese now.I never had this problem before.I wonder what effect heavy metals have in these medicine

[BronzeDog]

Never heard of someone developing food allergies (or similar-seeming problems) as a result of that stuff. Considering the chemical cocktail those herbs tend to be, I wouldn't dismiss the possibility.

Has anyone here ever heard of Ayurvedic medicine or other stuff causing that sort of reaction before?

[anrika]

i have been taking safi for years and never had any problems but got rid of the problem. i had bad acne for years and safi was the only thing that helped. i was tired of using all this bullshit creams and cleansers. Safi is a tonic, its a blood purifier. the reason for diarrhea is to detoxify. it cleanses internaly. there are many food substances left in our stomach for years. Unless you want to keep it in and call it antique and get more stomach problems. Improve your english. Ayurvedic medicine is from natural planst and roots. unlike other medicine with chemicals and drugs. Oh i know maybe your just weak. your body cant take healthy stuff
You guys should stick to harsh medicine with drugs that you think is helpful to you.

[BronzeDog]

And all we have for this is your word, no evidence, except a highly undetailed anecdote (how'd you control against natural improvement, the regressive fallacy, etc.?).

Nice use of loaded language, too. Especially the humpty-dumpty scare word "chemicals". Everything made of atoms contains chemicals, including herbs.

Also, "natural" is meaningless: Ricin is natural. Box jellyfish poison is natural. Ionic mercury is natural. A chemical is a chemical is a chemical, regardless of origin.

[Skeptico]

anrika:

Re: Safi is a tonic, its a blood purifier. the reason for diarrhea is to detoxify. it cleanses internaly.

detoxing is made-up nonsense.

Re: Improve your english.

And…

Re: Oh i know maybe your just weak.

The irony