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Need to Know
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As people do not generally regard herbs as medication, they may be unaware that
herbal supplements can cause side effects. However, scientists now believe that
using herbal supplements before surgery may interfere with anesthesia or put
patients at risk for complications such as increased bleeding.
Some supplements that could interfere with bleeding time during surgery include
gingko, feverfew, ginger and vitamin E. In addition, ginseng may trigger high
blood pressure while garlic supplements may lower blood pressure. Herbs that
could intensify or prolong anesthesia include St John's wort and kava kava.
A good policy to follow is to stop all herbal supplements two weeks prior to
elective surgery, no matter how minor. This will allow the body to flush any
undesirable effect of herbs out of the body before the surgical procedure. The
same should go for other nutritional supplements. It is known that vitamin E and
gingko are both blood thinners in high concentration, for example. They should
be stopped. After surgery, restarting supplements and herbs to fortify the body
is a good policy to follow as well.