Jaundice is a liver condition which manifests as yellowing of the skin, whites of the eyes and urine. Jaundice is a preventable and curable condition of the liver, with varying degrees of symptoms. While complications from jaundice can occur, they are manageable and rarely fatal. Allopathic or conventional medicine has a strong track record for managing and curing jaundice. However, it’s still common to find people in cities and small towns experimenting with native medicine. Such medicines pose a grave risk to patients and can have long-term consequences.
The liver has over 500 known functions and is one of the most critical ones among the large organs of the human body. One of its many functions is regulating bilirubin levels in the body. Bilirubin is an orange-yellow substance found in red blood cells (RBCs). RBCs routinely die out and are replaced by new ones. When they die, the bilirubin in them enters the bloodstream, and then filtered out by the liver. But sometimes, there is excessive breakdown of RBCs, or the liver is not able to eliminate the bilirubin efficiently. Then, bilirubin starts building up in the blood turning it, and hence some parts of the body – yellow.
Jaundice is more prevalent in children, especially in newborns. It’s relatively rare in adults. There are various causes and risk factors for adult jaundice:
Jaundice is primarily of 3 types:
Compared to cancer and many other new-age diseases, jaundice has a long history as old as civilization itself. So, ancient civilizations like the Indian and Chinese have been managing the condition in their population with varying levels of success. Some of these treatments continue even today in most parts of India.
These use various concoctions of herbs like kutki, giloy, amla, turmeric, punarnava, oregano and holy basil; vegetables like garlic, bitter-gourd and tomatoes; fruits like papaya and oils such as rosemary and lemon oil. The patient is even encouraged to consume beverages like coffee, lemon-juice, sugarcane-juice, barley-water, butter-milk, green grape juice, aloe vera juice and goat’s milk.
All the above plant products have their own therapeutic or nutritional value and these have been established over the years. There is no argument against that. However, creating strange concoctions of these along with other medicinal plants or spices can create dangerous cocktails. When consumed regularly, or in large quantities, or given to the wrong person, it can have dangerous consequences including brain, liver and kidney damage, and in some cases death too.
In the case of jaundice, the risk from alternate medicine is even larger as there are various types of jaundice, and a single medicine will not work for them all. Further, the symptoms can be unique from person to person. Also, preexisting conditions of the heart and kidney for which medication is being taken can also complicate the situation.
In recent decades, people are rejecting a single way of life and are exploring alternate ways of living, in every sphere of life. This extends to medicine too, hence the popularity of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). Practitioners of folk, native and traditional medicine are moving out of smaller towns and villages today and embracing a much larger clientele spread across several cities, and overseas too. The internet and e-commerce booms have only added to the convenience of reaching out to a geographically-dispersed clientele. Native medicines are seeing a much larger market today and this is fueling their mass-commercialization. It’s high time we understood the risks from such a trend.
Side-effects of native medicine are never reported: Native medicines are popularized by word-of-mouth and thrive on references. Side-effects are never mentioned or brushed off as rare exceptions.
Plants are a storehouse of toxins: The popularity of CAM stems from the wrong notion that anything that comes from plants is natural, organic and safe, while anything made from chemicals synthesized in laboratories by human-beings are dangerous. The reality is far from this. Plants have evolved over millions of years and are capable of synthesizing toxins to protect themselves from microbial disease and pests that consume them. In fact, the chemicals used in several medications are derived from plant sources only. Further, plants can absorb harmful chemicals from polluted or contaminated soil they grow in, with ease. All these means, the herbal medication that you are consuming as ‘natural’ can be loaded with heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, mercury and load, along with plant-based toxins. These can damage your internal organs and compromise your immune system.
There is little regulation for native medicines: Modern, allopathic medicine has evolved over the last 200 years in western Europe and the US. There is an organized system of education and research around pharmaceutical drugs. Peers have to approve or accept findings of medicinal cure. Clinical trials are conducted to document side-effects and efficacy. Side-effects have to be published and all these processes are regulated by Government agencies in every country. In contrast, native medicines do not have any statistical data on efficacy nor do the practitioners speak about the side effects. Any attempt to regulate them is difficult as there is no standardized recipe for them, and further, the exercise is seen as prejudicial and met with resistance.
Native medicine is generic: Most native medicines understand the core mechanism behind a disease and attempt to stifle it, while managing the common symptom. Both these approaches are generic in nature. The same disease can manifest due to multiple reasons and further, it can exhibit different symptoms in different people depending on their age, gender, co-morbidities and personal or family medical history. Unlike native medicine, all these parameters are factored before the start of conventional treatment and monitored throughout. The follow-up process is also intense.
Combining conventional and alternate medicine can be disastrous. But this is what happens all the time! Patients often consume both the conventional, allopathic medicine and then try out native medicine for a ‘quick cure’. But this is a recipe for disaster. Chemicals found in both the types of medicines can react with each other unfavorably causing damage that may not be evident immediately.
Native medicines can also be adulterated: Given the mass commercialization of CAM, manufacturers of spurious or adulterated native medicines are plenty in the market today. Interesting, many of them mix 25-30% by weight of the allopathic medicine for that condition, as found in a study conducted in Australia. Then the danger mentioned in the previous point applies.
This article is not meant to be a debate about allopathic versus native medicine. Both have their own merits and we respect that. However, not every ailment or condition is suitable for alternative forms of treatment.
In recent years, doctors and hospitals have reported jaundice patients coming in with complications after trying out native medicines for a while. Some of these complications were serious. That is why this article has been written in public interest.
If you or your dear ones are showing typical jaundice symptoms, rush to a reputed hospital. Specialists at these hospitals will analyze the type of jaundice, the causes or risk factors that might have triggered it, your personal and family medical history, comorbidities and medication taken presently, etc. Based on these, they will pursue the best course of treatment for quick recovery and rehabilitation.
Kauvery Hospital is globally known for its multidisciplinary services at all its Centers of Excellence, and for its comprehensive, Avant-Grade technology, especially in diagnostics and remedial care in heart diseases, transplantation, vascular and neurosciences medicine. Located in the heart of Trichy (Tennur, Royal Road and Alexandria Road (Cantonment), Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Tirunelveli and Bengaluru, the hospital also renders adult and pediatric trauma care.
Chennai – 044 4000 6000 • Trichy – Cantonment – 0431 4077777 • Trichy – Heartcity – 0431 4003500 • Trichy – Tennur – 0431 4022555 • Hosur – 04344 272727 • Salem – 0427 2677777 • Tirunelveli – 0462 4006000 • Bengaluru – 080 6801 6801
