GINSENG AND BLOOD THINNER
It’s well known that certain drugs can interact with other drugs, and the result can be a lower or higher drug level in the blood. Supplements are no different. And now a study shows that the popular supplement ginseng has side effects that patients should be aware of. Specifically, ginseng should be used with great caution if you are taking the blood thinner coumadin.
Ron Logan, who has been using coumadin for four years now, says, “Every three weeks I went for the testing, to see what the levels were, and I’ve been doing that since.” Ron is meticulous about getting a routine coumadin blood test to make sure the drug level stays stable.
But now, new research shows coumadin’s effects can be severely hindered if the person also takes the herbal supplement ginseng. Ginseng is used for energy and memory.
The study looked at the side effects of ginseng on healthy volunteers who did not need coumadin. They all got the blood thinner. Half also got ginseng, the other half got a dummy placebo pill, so that the side effects of ginseng could be observed. In those who took the ginseng there was a dramatic fall in the blood coumadin levels.
“That kind of change in coumadin levels in such a short window of time means that if we’re not careful about these things our patients will be injured. If the coumadin level is not at a therapeutic level, stroke is a very real possibility,” says Dr. Howard Rothman, Chief of Cardiology at Englewood Medical Center in New Jersey.
Coumadin is designed to keep the blood from clotting. It’s used especially for patients like Ron who have the common heart rhythm abnormality called atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is when the upper chambers of the heart, the atria, don’t beat uniformly. Instead, they in essence, quiver. That allows blood to pool, which can form a clot.
That clot can break off and travel to the brain, clogging an artery and causing a stroke. Coumadin is also used in stroke victims and in those with artificial valves, who are also at risk for dangerous clots.
Dr. Rothman says coumadin is tricky enough by itself to properly dose. “I have patients who take as little as one or two milligrams a week, I have patients that take 30 milligrams a day for the same therapeutic benefit. Everyone’s body is completely different, so their drugs are different, their diets are different. And all of these are affected by coumadin levels,” says Dr. Rothman.
“There’s only one time there was a dip, it went down too much and they increased it,” Ron says.
Ginseng is not the only substance that affects coumadin levels. It is perhaps the drug most affected by other substances and supplements. There are several things in the diet that can affect the effectiveness of coumadin, for example, dark green lettuce. So any changes in diet or supplement use should be discussed with your physician if you are taking coumadin. And because dosing is not regulated in supplements, what it says on the label and what you are really getting is unreliable, and the true dose of ginseng from product to product can vary widely.
For more information, click here:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682277.html