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Study: Mexican-American Patients Use Herbal Products More than any other US Ethnic Groups By Carl Gilbert, M.D. The result of a study done by a group of researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at Austin suggests that patients of Mexican origin use herbal products more than any other groups in the US. As there is an increased interest from many people of different background in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the US, “Hispanics, including Mexican Americans of both sexes and various age groups seem to have a positive acceptance to the use of a great variety of herbal medicines for the treatment of various diseases,” write the authors of the study in the Journal of the National Medical Association of December 2005. Mexican patients who were non-HIV and HIV-positive in El Paso region were found to be using herbal products at a rate that is higher than expected based on national trends. Three hundred forty-three non-HIV and 25 HIV-positive Mexican-American patients were included in the study. Seventy-nine percent of non-HIV and 71% of HIV patients reported using herbal products. Another study done in west Texas has shown similar results with 52.7% of the Hispanic families having reported using folk medicine and healing rituals as well as conventional medical care. The authors point out that only 8.1% of the persons surveyed in the El Paso study disclosed the use of any type of CAM to their doctors or nurses. A number of herbal products can cause significant side-effects or drug interactions. A situation complicated by use of raw products, lack of manufacturing standards, lack of standard dosing, incorrect labeling of the products, and just plain inefficacy. The American Society of Anesthesiologists have raised concerns about complications due to herbal products during administration of general anesthesia. Therefore, “they have recommended that patients stop taking herbal products 2-3 weeks prior to surgery.” The authors of the study suggest that low level of education was associated with higher use of herbal products in the surveyed group. Chamomile (Manzanilla) came first as herbal product mostly used by the Non-HIV and HIV groups. Hibiscus (Flor de Jamaica), peppermint, garlic, aloe vera, ginseng, were among the others reported to the researchers. Source: JAMA, Dec. 2005
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