Kang IS, Pyun WB. Life Threatening Complication of Self-made Remedy for Controlling High Blood Pressure-Coronary Artery Vasospasm Associated with Iatrogenic Thyrotoxicosis.
Korean Circ J 2016;
46:870-874. [PMID:
27826349 PMCID:
PMC5099346 DOI:
10.4070/kcj.2016.46.6.870]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2015] [Revised: 12/14/2015] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
We report the case of a middle aged woman who was previously diagnosed with hypertension. She had been drinking a kelp concentrate solution daily for her hypertension instead of taking the prescribed medicine due to her personal beliefs about the kelp solution. As a consequence, she experienced vasospastic angina complicated by myocardial infarction and cardiogenic syncope resulting from iatrogenic thyrotoxicosis.
Complementary medicine is widely used by the general population. However, there is still a lack of evidence regarding their efficacy and safety. This case shows that inadequate use of complementary medicine could have no effect and may even be harmful. In patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension, self-care in the form of life style modification, home blood pressure monitoring and medial adherence are important for disease management.
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