Impact of Herbal Medicines on Conventional Drugs: An Overview

People misinterpret “natural” with “safe”. Unaware of the fact that herbal medicine contains pharmacological active constituents in unknown quantities; people use herbal medicinal products (HMPs) carelessly. In the present scenario, people use conventional medicines with herbal medicines that are used as complementary. Impact of co-administration of complementary herbal products with conventional (prescription) drugs can results in severe interactions. Herb-drug interaction can occur through either pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic mechanisms. Herbs can alter the oral bioavailability of the co-administered conventional drug which can result in either synergistic or antagonistic effect on its action. So, the basic need of the present scenario is that physicians and consumers should know about the possible interactions and complications arising due to the concomitant use of conventional and complementary medicines as the use of herbal products have increased significantly. This review covers about the mechanism of herb-drug interaction with possible herbs that can interact with the possible drugs and the strategies that can help in the reduction of herb-drug interaction.