CONSUMO DE FITOTERÁPICOS EM USUÁRIOS DA CLÍNICA DE NUTRIÇÃO DO CENTRO UNIVERSITÁRIO DO SUL DE MINAS

Abstract

It is understood as herbal "the medicine produced using only vegetable raw material", on the other hand, it is not considered as a herbal medicine "the one that, in its formula, contains active isolated substances, from any origin, nor their association with vegetable extracts". The current regulations to register herbal medicines is the Resolution of executive board 48/2004, that determines the essential aspects to the register, as the botanical identification of the vegetable species used, quality standard and identity and evidences of its efficacy and safety that validate the proposed therapeutic advice. It is worth remembering, that much of herbal medicines' popularity arise from the idea that they are products of natural origin and consequently, do not produce important adverse reactions, being considered safe by the population, that is a wrong thought, because plants also have some chemical in its formula that act in the body causing reactions. This way, that paper aims to rate the usage of herbal medicines by the Centro Universitário do Sul de Minas patients, verifying if the herbal medicines used by them are under the current ANVISA's regulation. It is a transverse quantitative study in which it was rated the intake of herbal medicines, through a semi structured questionnaire, which contains questions about the use of herbal medicines, through a semi structured questionnaire, which contains questions about the use of herbal medicines, frequency, amount, reasons for use, kinds, indications, among others. And then, a comparative analysis of the most used ones. The results establish people who use herbal medicines inappropriately, specially the green tea, without prescription of a qualified professional and ignoring possible risks that they may represent to their health.