AHPA to address botanical interactions with blood-thinning drugs
For Immediate Release
Silver Spring, MD - (NATURALWIRE) - The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) will participate in a national workshop to offer insight and suggestions to guide future research into how dietary supplements interact with certain cardiovascular drug therapies. An estimated 4 million American use prescription anti-thrombotic (i.e., blood-thinning, specifically anti-coagulant or anti-platelet) drugs to ward off heart attack or stroke. Many also take botanical dietary supplements.
Steven Dentali, PhD, AHPA’s vice president of Scientific and Technical Affairs, will speak on a panel this Friday during the two-day conference convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), at the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD.
“While AHPA has not previously addressed this specific area of concern, in the past we have issued label warning for products as needed,” Dentali said. “AHPA recognizes that interactions of drug therapies with the herbs that people take can occur and supports good science to help develop proper guidance in this area. Consumer and physician messages, and industry labeling recommendations should be science-based rather than speculative, an approach that has, unfortunately, colored much of the recent literature on the subject of herb-drug interactions.”
Dentali will join other experts from NIH, FDA, and academic and patient advocacy organizations to assess current knowledge, identify strategies for clinical guidelines, and determine opportunities for further research. Details and agenda for the conference are available online: <http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/coagulation/index.htm>.
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The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) is the national trade association and voice of the herbal supplement industry, the only trade association devoted solely to herbal issues. AHPA is the recognized leader in representing the responsible center of the botanical trade, and is comprised of the finest growers, processors, manufacturers and marketers of herbal products. AHPA’s mission is to promote the responsible commerce of herbal products. AHPA committees generate self-regulations to ensure the highest level of responsibility with respect to the way herbs are manufactured, labeled and sold. Website: www.ahpa.org
Editors note: Steven Dentali, PhD, is available for comment/interview. Kindly contact Karen Robin, AHPA Director of Communication (301) 588-1171, ext 107
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Karen Robin
Director of Communications
American Herbal Products Association
8484 Georgia Avenue, Suite 370
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Telephone: 301-588-1171 x107
Fax: 301-588-1174
Email: KRobin@AHPA.org
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