A 39-year-old fitness instructor who took the herbal medicine St John’s Wort to boost her mood after bereavement has been left with scarring on her face after her skin suffered a reaction to the herbal medicine on holiday.
The Daily Mail reports that Nilufer Atik from London was advised by her doctor to try St John’s Wort when she was suffering from mild depression.
The drug is readily available in high street stores – and Ms Atik says that she was careful to follow the dosage instructions.
However, while on holiday in Turkey, she started to develop dark patches of skin on her face. Her GP gave her some antibacterial cream, but the more her tan faded, the more the marks showed.
Ms Atik says that she had used SPF30 sunscreen throughout her holiday – but returned with dark patches on her skin.
“They were really noticeable on my face, back, stomach and sides of my arms,” she said.
She then started searching online for the cause and discovered that the same brown skin patches had happened to others using St John’s Wort.
“It said on the label that it could cause mild photosensitivity, but I didn’t think it was a big deal. I’m not daft with sun cream and was really careful — but it was too late,” said Ms Atik.
Professor Edzard Ernst – the world’s first professor of complimentary medicine – said that the assumption that herbal medicines are natural and therefore safe “is not just wrong, it is dangerous”.
“Some plants are poisonous, some interact with prescribed medicines, some are contaminated – and most aren’t effective as advertised,” said Prof Ernst.
“And whenever an ineffective treatment replaces an effective one for a serious condition, lives are in danger,” he added.
Ms Atik says she had “perfect” olive skin before using St John’s Wort and going on holiday, but now has to wear thick make-up to hide the dark brown patches.
She also has to wear SPF50 sunscreen all year round to prevent more patches developing.
Previous scientific studies have found that the active ingredient hypericin in St John’s Wort’s can react with light to produce free radicals that cause damage to cells in the body, resulting in photosensitivity in some people.
Ms Atik has spent £3,000 on skin specialists, laser treatment, skin bleaching, collagen tablets, pigmentation creams, facials and microdermabrasion
since she developed the brown patches on her face, but nothing has worked.
She added that she now gets up early every morning so that her boyfriend does not see her without make-up.
Over-the-counter herbal medicines bought online in the UK must bear a THR (Traditional Herbal Registration) stamp by law, to show they have been assessed against quality and safety standards.
The stamp is no guarantee of the medicine’s efficacy, however – and herbal medicines are still unregulated.
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