Herbal treatments and anesthesia
June 21, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
If you take herbs to manage your chronic pain or illness, or you would like to, I have an interesting and helpful brochure for you. Herbs are natural, so many people feel that if it’s natural, it must be safe. That isn’t necessarily true. After all, there are many natural things in the world that are deadly if consumed by humans. So, it’s important to keep that in mind when deciding what types of herbs you may be interested in and from where you get them.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists have put out a brochure – in PDF format – called What You Should Know About Herbal and Dietary Supplement Use and Anesthesia.
It was found that nearly a third of patients who were having surgery used at least one type of herb or herbal supplement on a regular basis. While they may think to tell their doctors about prescription and over-the-counter medications, they may not think to tell the about any herbs, and this can be dangerous.
Image: Newscom
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