Concomitant use of anxiolytics and medicinal plants: Is there a risk?

• Autor(a) principal: Lima, Giovana
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Costa, Tamiris, Antunes, Alyne Alexandrino, Gonzaga, Rodrigo Vieira
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Research, Society and Development
• Texto Completo: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/30219
• topic: Anxiolytics; Hypnotics; Concomitant; Herbal medicines; Pharmaceutical care; Drug interaction; Benzodiazepines.; Ansioliticos; Hipnoticos; Fitoterapicos; Atenção Farmaceutica; Interação medicamentosa; Concomitante; Benzodiazepínicos.; Ansiolíticos; Hipnóticos; Concomitante; Medicamentos a base de plantas; Atención farmacéutica; Interacción medicamentosa; Benzodiazepinas.

Introduction: There is an increasing use of medicinal herbs in many countries. The positive point of Brazil is its great plant diversity, which provides many lines of treatment with a variety of herbs. A possible integration of the unifying practice in the Unified Health System (SUS) was discussed together with the Ministry of Health, which in turn aims at rational use. Benzodiazepines belong to the group of anxiolytics and hypnotics widely applied by the population. Its use along with certain herbal medicines may interfere with the patient's pharmacotherapy. Objective: Consists of collecting 252 volunteers and identifying patients who use benzodiazepines combined with the use of herbal medicines. The herbal medicines presented will be Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) and Passiflora incarnata (Passion flower or passion fruit). Methodology: The work is a cross-sectional observational study, carried out by digital means with the application of a questionnaire disseminated through social networks. Discussion and Results: 67.1% of the volunteers answered yes to the use of medication continuously, 19.8% answered yes to the use of anxiolytics, 24% for Clonazepam (Rivotril®), 12% for Alprazolam (Front®) , 10% for Diazepam (Valium®), 2% for Bromazepam (Lexotan®), Lorazepam (Lorax®), Midazolam (Dormonid®). 82.4% of the volunteers answered that they had already read the package insert of the medication they were using. Regarding herbal medicines, 52.9% answered that they were not adept at using them, 70.6% answered that they had already heard about drug interactions and 88.2% answered yes to the question related to a herbal medicine being less aggressive in relation to other medicines. When asked about the science of drug interactions with herbal medicines, 58.8% answered no. Conclusion: The main herbal remedies used to treat sleep disorders need attention, as they can have dangerous consequences for patients if used concomitantly with other drugs, promoting the rationalization of their use is necessary.