An 11-year-old girl in Italy experienced hot flashes after taking a commonly used herbal medicine to treat pediatric hair loss, according to a new report. This is a perfect example of what can happen when people don’t treat herbal remedies as medicine – especially when they are being given to children.
We have to remember that herbal medicine is still medicine – the only difference is that in many cases, these herbs are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or studied as extensively in clinical settings as controlled medications. Many herbal medicines claim to support specific needs, but seldom do you hear about the potential side effects.
It’s important to realize that the dosing of herbal medicines, or any medicine in the pediatric population is much different than it is for adults. I hope that reports like this will make parents think twice before allowing their children to take medicines that may have significant side effects.
