Quelle:
Journal of the American Medical Association
Vorsicht
Ayurveda: Wer über das Internet Ayurveda-Medikamente
kauft gefährdet seine Gesundheit. In dieser im Journal of the
American Medical Association (JAMA) veröffentlichten Studie
wurden zahlreiche in Indien und den USA produzierte und über das
Internet gekaufte Ayurveda-Arzneimittel analysiert. In rund 20%
der Fälle enthielten die in der klassischen indischen Heilkunde
verwendeten Medikamente giftige Metalle wie Quecksilber, Arsen
und Blei. Arzneimittel mit dem Rasa-shastra-Status enthielten
mehr Metall als die anderen Medikamente die diesen Status nicht
hatten.
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Ayurveda
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Die
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JAMA Vol. 300 No. 8, August 27, 2008
Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic in US- and Indian-Manufactured Ayurvedic
Medicines Sold via the Internet
Robert B. Saper, MD, MPH; Russell S. Phillips, MD; Anusha Sehgal,
MD(Ayurveda); Nadia Khouri, MPH; Roger B. Davis, ScD; Janet Paquin,
PhD; Venkatesh Thuppil, PhD; Stefanos N. Kales, MD, MPH
JAMA. 2008;300(8):915-923.
Context Lead, mercury, and arsenic have been detected in
a substantial proportion of Indian-manufactured traditional Ayurvedic
medicines. Metals may be present due to the practice of rasa shastra
(combining herbs with metals, minerals, and gems). Whether toxic
metals are present in both US- and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic
medicines is unknown.
Objectives To determine the prevalence of Ayurvedic medicines
available via the Internet containing detectable lead, mercury,
or arsenic and to compare the prevalence of toxic metals in US-
vs Indian-manufactured medicines and between rasa shastra and
non–rasa shastra medicines.
Design A search using 5 Internet search engines and the
search terms Ayurveda and Ayurvedic medicine identified 25 Web
sites offering traditional Ayurvedic herbs, formulas, or ingredients
commonly used in Ayurveda, indicated for oral use, and available
for sale. From 673 identified products, 230 Ayurvedic medicines
were randomly selected for purchase in August-October 2005.
Country of manufacturer/Web site supplier, rasa shastra status,
and claims of Good Manufacturing Practices were recorded. Metal
concentrations were measured using x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.
Main Outcome Measures Prevalence of medicines with detectable
toxic metals in the entire sample and stratified by country of
manufacture and rasa shastra status.
Results One hundred ninety-three of the 230 requested medicines
were received and analyzed. The prevalence of metal-containing
products was 20.7% (95% confidence
interval [CI], 15.2%-27.1%). The prevalence of metals in US-manufactured
products was 21.7% (95% CI, 14.6%-30.4%) compared with 19.5% (95%
CI, 11.3%-30.1%) in Indian products (P = .86). Rasa shastra compared
with non–rasa shastra medicines had a greater prevalence of metals
(40.6% vs 17.1%; P = .007) and higher median concentrations of
lead (11.5 µg/g vs 7.0 µg/g; P = .03) and mercury (20 800 µg/g
vs 34.5 µg/g; P = .04). Among the metal-containing products, 95%
were sold by US Web sites and 75% claimed Good Manufacturing Practices.
All metal-containing products exceeded 1 or more standards for
acceptable daily intake of toxic metals.
Conclusion One-fifth of both US-manufactured and Indian-manufactured
Ayurvedic medicines purchased via the Internet contain detectable
lead, mercury, or arsenic.
Author Affiliations: Department of Family Medicine, Boston University
School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center (Drs Saper and Sehgal
and Ms Khouri), Division of General Medicine and Primary Care,
Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Drs
Phillips and Davis), Division for Research and Education in Complementary
and Integrative Medical Therapies, Osher Research Center, Harvard
Medical School (Drs Phillips and Davis), and Environmental and
Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology, Department of Environmental
Health, Harvard School of Public Health (Dr Kales), Boston, Massachusetts;
New England Regional Laboratory, Environmental Protection Agency,
North Chelmsford, Massachusetts (Dr Paquin); National Referral
Centre for Lead Poisoning in India and Department of Biochemistry
and Biophysics, St John's Medical College, Bangalore (Dr Thuppil);
and Employee and Industrial Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance,
Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Dr Kales).
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