Uppsala Reports Long Reads – The colour of signals

Herbal remedies have been used for thousands of years to treat
what ails us. Yet why do we still know so little about their
potential side effects compared to modern medicines?

This episode is part of the Uppsala Reports Long Reads series –
the most topical stories from UMC’s pharmacovigilance news site,
brought to you in audio format. Find the original article
here.

After the read, we speak to author Daniele Sartori to learn more
about the challenges in herbal pharmacovigilance.

Tune in to find out:


Why the risks of herbals are rarely discussed

How to encourage safety data collection for herbals

How to improve herbal nomenclature and regulation



Want to know more?
Here are some of the resources cited in the episode:


Underreporting of adverse reactions to herbal remedies is
driven by our attitude towards herbals themselves, but also by a
lack of training on herbal medicines in healthcare curricula.

It is possible to safely use herbal medicines together with
other medicines, but we must keep in mind some critical issues
related to their interaction.

Simple videos can dramatically increase public awareness of
ADR reporting schemes.

Kew Gardens’ Medicinal Plant Names Services offers a
systematic overview of medicinal plants and their accepted
scientific names.

The American Botanical Council suggests methods to uncover
attempts to adulterate plant extracts.



For a comprehensive overview of herbal pharmacovigilance, check
out this recent book by Joanne Barnes and colleagues covering
advances, challenges, and international perspectives in the
field.

For more on Daniele’s scoping review of signals or the thorny
nomenclature of medicinal plants, listen to these episodes from
the Drug Safety Matters archive:


 The evidence for signals

Navigating the plant names jungle



Finally, don’t forget to ­subscribe to the monthly Uppsala
Reports newsletter for free regular updates from the world of
pharmacovigilance.





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