Recorded this morning at the Emergency Unit - Hospital 199 Ministry of Public Security, patient N.T.H (49 years old, residing in Ngu Hanh Son district, Da Nang city) was admitted to the hospital with jaundice, chest pain, severe fatigue, inability to eat or drink, soft abdomen, pain in the right hypochondrium. The patient has a history of Type 2 diabetes/herpes zoster, and has been using unknown oriental medicine (oral) for 1 week.
The patient was initially treated by the emergency team and ordered paraclinical tests. The test results were all negative, so the doctors suspected that the patient's condition was due to poisoning from traditional medicine causing acute toxic hepatitis and was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for active treatment with internal medicine to support liver function. Currently, the patient's condition has improved significantly.
Dr. Do Van Ta - in charge of the Emergency Unit of Hospital 199 said that we often think that traditional Vietnamese and Chinese medicines derived from herbs and nature are not chemicals and are completely harmless, only having the effect of treating diseases and nourishing. That is completely wrong. Because any medicine, whether traditional or western medicine, has side effects. Overdose, overuse, and inappropriate combination of medicines can all be toxic to the liver. In fact, there have been many cases of poisoning from traditional Vietnamese and Chinese medicines, causing severe liver damage, even acute liver failure that can lead to death. The case of a 49-year-old female patient who was just treated promptly is the latest proof.
Doctors give some recommendations to limit liver damage caused by medication use, including:
- Patients should not take medication without the guidance of pharmacists or doctors.
- Buy drugs licensed for circulation by the Ministry of Health.
- Be careful with oriental medicines, crushed herbs or ointments because the ingredients of the medicine are unknown.
- Especially for drugs that can cause liver damage and must be used long-term, such as lipid-lowering drugs and diabetes medications, doctors need to monitor them.
