The global growth in the ageing population and the rising prevalence of chronic illnesses are posing an enormous challenge to the delivery of quality healthcare. Integrated care is a highly coordinated approach carried out by multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-quality healthcare services for people at all ages in a comprehensive, efficient, and effective manner. On the other hand, herbal medicines including Chinese medicines are gradually recognised as an irreplaceable component of integrated care and are widely utilised in many countries. The World Health Organization estimated approximately 80% of the global population has used herbal medicines and related herbal products for various health benefits and prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illness. Similarly, many people use herbal and traditional medicines to promote health and prevent diseases in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, some people take traditional medicines concomitantly with drugs without consulting or informing their physicians or Chinese medicine practitioners. Indeed, concurrent consumption can cause herb-drug interactions and potentially result in treatment failure and severe adverse health effects, weakening the user’s confidence in herbal medicines and the progress of sustainable integrated care. This chapter aims to identify the prevalent instances of concomitant use of herbal medicines and prescription drugs in Hong Kong, along with the results of herb-drug interactions, and emphasises the pivotal role of community health practitioners, including enhancing public education and community promotion of proper knowledge of herb-drug interaction, not only resulting in the improvement of human safety and health quality, but also accelerating the progress of the combination between herbal medicines and mainstream healthcare. Furthermore, the government is recommended to establish a certification system for Chinese medicine pharmacists and related practitioners in Hong Kong, as well as strengthen the training, assessment, registration and continuing education for healthcare professionals in the application of traditional and complementary medicine.

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Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine—Herb-Drug Interactions

  • Billy Shing Hin Ho,
  • Tony Hon Chung Siu

摘要

The global growth in the ageing population and the rising prevalence of chronic illnesses are posing an enormous challenge to the delivery of quality healthcare. Integrated care is a highly coordinated approach carried out by multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-quality healthcare services for people at all ages in a comprehensive, efficient, and effective manner. On the other hand, herbal medicines including Chinese medicines are gradually recognised as an irreplaceable component of integrated care and are widely utilised in many countries. The World Health Organization estimated approximately 80% of the global population has used herbal medicines and related herbal products for various health benefits and prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illness. Similarly, many people use herbal and traditional medicines to promote health and prevent diseases in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, some people take traditional medicines concomitantly with drugs without consulting or informing their physicians or Chinese medicine practitioners. Indeed, concurrent consumption can cause herb-drug interactions and potentially result in treatment failure and severe adverse health effects, weakening the user’s confidence in herbal medicines and the progress of sustainable integrated care. This chapter aims to identify the prevalent instances of concomitant use of herbal medicines and prescription drugs in Hong Kong, along with the results of herb-drug interactions, and emphasises the pivotal role of community health practitioners, including enhancing public education and community promotion of proper knowledge of herb-drug interaction, not only resulting in the improvement of human safety and health quality, but also accelerating the progress of the combination between herbal medicines and mainstream healthcare. Furthermore, the government is recommended to establish a certification system for Chinese medicine pharmacists and related practitioners in Hong Kong, as well as strengthen the training, assessment, registration and continuing education for healthcare professionals in the application of traditional and complementary medicine.