Homeopathic Remedies Can Be Harmful for Kids*

Homeopathic and other alternative treatments used in place of conventional medicine may be harmful to children and even have deadly consequences, a new study finds.

Researchers from Australia analyzed reports from pediatricians between 2001 and 2003 on the side effects from herbal remedies, naturopathic pills, vitamins and other alternative treatments, according to the Associated Press. They found 39 cases of side effects, many of them severe, and four deaths.

At issue is the lack of monitoring of alternative treatments as opposed to conventional ones, which are closely followed and regulated, said the study authors led by Alissa Lim of the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.

"Some of the medicines might contain metals. Chinese herbal medicines often have undeclared ingredients in them," Dr Alfred Aleguas, a pharmacist and toxicologist with the Northern Ohio Poison Center at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, told AOL Health. "Not only is it potentially dangerous for kids, but they're really kind of unregulated. That's the big issue."

Researchers studied children from infancy to 16 years old and found that those taking alternative medicines had severe, life-threatening or fatal symptoms in almost 65 percent of the cases. Pediatricians said their patients had been put in danger by avoiding conventional treatments in 44 percent of cases, according to the findings published this week in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

All four deaths found by Lim and her colleagues could be attributed to the use of alternative treatments instead of conventional medications, the authors said.

"We have known for a long time that alternative medicines can put patients at risk," Edzard Ernst, a professor of complementary medicine at Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England, who wasn't involved in the study, told the AP.

The team documented one case involving a 10-month-old baby who was given naturopathic pills and put on a special diet for the common skin ailment eczema. The infant suffered from severe septic shock.

"Perhaps the most serious harm occurs when effective therapies are replaced by ineffective alternative therapies," Ernst told the AP. "In that situation, even an intrinsically harmless medicine, like a homeopathic medicine, can be life-threatening."

Another baby died after having numerous seizures and a heart attack after being given homeopathic medicines by parents afraid to administer conventional ones because of possible side effects.

"You think you're doing a good job by giving them vitamins or treating them in a naturopathic way, and you're setting them up for more of a problem," said Aleguas, who works within the University Hospitals Case Medical Center health care system in Cleveland. "It's risky for kids because they have a smaller body mass and a higher rate of metabolism. It's so easy to misdose in children when things haven't been tested."

He suggested going the traditional route when it comes to treatments for young patients.

"Stick to conventional medication and well-controlled vitamin supplements," he recommended. "Don't use anything without consulting a medical professional."

*http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/12/23/homeopathic-remedies-children/