Two days ago, a pregnant mother anxiously consulted me, took the yellow sunflower capsules for more than a month, and suddenly found that it seemed that pregnant women could not eat, even if the drug is stopped now, can the baby continue to want it?
First of all, let's take a look at the instructions for this proprietary Chinese medicine. Yellow Sunflower Capsule, a one-component Chinese proprietary medicine for the treatment of kidney disease with yellow marshmal flower, can clear damp heat, detoxify and reduce swelling, and is used for damp heat evidence of chronic nephritis. According to the instructions [contraindications], "pregnant women should not take it". What is "taboo"? The understanding of the average person is that taboo is basically banned, that is, pregnant women must not eat. If you have been taking it for more than a month, the baby is also most likely not to want it.
Instruction manual for yellow sunflower capsules
If that's the end of it, the article is so boring. Therefore, the problem is far less simple, but more complex.
Where's the complexity? First of all, we say that if chemical drugs are banned by pregnant women, they must be banned, otherwise it is likely to cause abnormal baby development. For example, the once popular "reaction stop" thalidomide belongs to the "pregnant woman ban", then if taken, it is likely to cause the baby to become a "seal". The trial chemical drug chloroquine phosphate for new crown pneumonia is also "forbidden for pregnant women", so if taken, it will cause hydrocephalus, limb deformities and deafness. Therefore, for chemical drugs, many times pregnant women are banned in fact, which is basically equivalent to the synonym of "teratogenic".
Pregnant women contraindicate one of the chemicals
However, in fact, Chinese medicine is not exactly like this. Among the contraindications to traditional Chinese medicine pregnancy, some of them may also cause abnormal fetal development, such as toxic mineral drugs such as cinnabar and male yellow. But there will also be a large number of Chinese medicines, which are banned from pregnant women not because they can cause teratogenicity, but because they may cause miscarriage, such as the ingredient of yellow sunflower capsules, yellow marshmallow flowers. According to the records of Chinese Materia Medica, the yellow marshmallow flower is the flower of the mallow family of plants, yellow marshmallow or bristle yellow marshmallow, medicinal sweet and cool, non-toxic, able to diuretic, active blood and stop bleeding. In the "Jiayou Materia Medica" it is recorded that "to cure urinary showers and spawning...". Look, it is a Chinese medicine that can both invigorate blood and give birth. So quite simply, for yellow marshmallow flowers, the reason why pregnant women can't take it should be that it may lead to miscarriage. Of course, this does not mean that there is no other possibility of yellow marshmallow flowers, but the existing data can not find clinical data on fetal development abnormalities after taking yellow marshmallow flowers, and even animal test data are not available. Therefore, from the perspective of existing data and general logic, the reason why the instructions label "pregnant women are forbidden to take" is most likely to lead to miscarriage.
Yellow marshmallow flowers
Therefore, the most likely reason why yellow sunflower capsules are "pregnant women are contraindicated" is because the efficacy of the ingredients yellow marshmallow flowers is recorded as "blood activation" and "induction of labor". In fact, in the 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the contraindication of yellow marshmallow flower is already "pregnant women should use with caution", rather than "pregnant women should not use" or "pregnant women are prohibited". This small difference also shows that there is a difference between yellow marshmallow flowers and other chinese medicines that are banned by pregnant women. In fact, a study published by Xiaojin Pharmacist in 2016 is actually a hierarchical study on the safety of pregnancy in traditional Chinese medicines, accurately defining prohibition, contraindication and caution, and classifying and analyzing traditional Chinese medicines. This research is still of great value from the current point of view.
Yellow marshmallow flowers recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia
Finally, back to that example, the pregnant mother did not inform the baby of the abnormal development, we suggested that she consult a few more doctors (including Chinese medicine and Western medicine), our point of view, on the one hand, stop the drug as soon as possible, on the other hand, pay close attention to the future obstetric examination, not have to give up the baby.