The Korean Medicine Association (KMA) has introduced research results from Seoul National University and Dankook University indicating that there is no risk of liver damage within 90 days after herbal medicine prescriptions. The KMA commented that these findings debunk the misconception that herbal medicine is harmful to the liver. The study analyzed data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, examining 672,411 patients from 2011 to 2019.
The research showed that the risk of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) did not increase within 90 days for patients who visited Korean medical institutions or received herbal prescriptions. In particular, the risk for outpatient groups was nearly unchanged at 1.01 (95% confidence interval: 1.00–1.01). Conversely, patients who visited Western medical clinics or received Western medication showed a significant increase in the relative risk of DILI: 1.55 (95% confidence interval: 1.55–1.56) within 3 to 15 days of visiting a clinic, and 2.44 (95% confidence interval: 2.43–2.44) for those prescribed Western medication.
The KMA emphasized that this study uses large-scale data to prove the safety of herbal medicine for liver health. They also highlighted previous studies, including one published in the American Journal of Liver Disease, which found that liver damage in 1,198 DILI patients in the US was caused by antibiotics, anti-tuberculosis drugs, and antifungal drugs rather than herbal medicine.
This academic paper by Professor Won Seong-ho’s team from Seoul National University and Professor Lee Sang-heon from Dankook University was published in the January issue of the international journal “Frontiers in Pharmacology” under the title “Exploring the Association Between Herbal Medicine Usage and Drug-Induced Liver Injury: Insights from a Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study Using SCCS in South Korea.”