Dangers of using kidney tonics on your own

The patient was admitted to the emergency room with high blood pressure, difficulty breathing, blurred vision... despite taking regular medication to control it.

The examination results showed that the patient had previously been diagnosed with kidney yin deficiency and was given medication to keep his blood pressure stable. He listened to an acquaintance and bought kidney tonics, and his health condition worsened.

Dr. Vo Dinh Hung, Deputy Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Traditional Medicine, said that the facility has received many similar cases that had to be hospitalized for treatment due to self-medication with kidney tonics. According to Oriental medicine, the use of drugs must be based on the principle of classifying kidney yin deficiency and kidney yang deficiency to avoid unfortunate consequences.

Kidney yang deficiency often has the main symptoms of pale or dark complexion, cold and painful waist and back, cold hands and feet, mainly cold lower limbs, fatigue and weakness, impotence in men, decreased sexual arousal in women, or loose stools, diarrhea once a day around 4-5am, frequent urination, clear urine, nocturia, pale tongue, white coating...

Kidney yin deficiency often has symptoms of back pain, weak knees, dizziness, tinnitus, loose teeth, hair loss. Men have premature ejaculation, women have scanty or amenorrhea, gonorrhea, insomnia, dry mouth, fever; red cheeks in the afternoon, weight loss, little yellow urine, dry pink tongue, little or no coating on the tongue...

According to Dr. Hung, the use of Oriental medicine often follows the principle of balancing Yin and Yang. Currently, there are many types of functional foods on the market that have the effect of nourishing the kidneys. Whether a kidney tonic is good or bad depends on the medicinal properties of that medicine. If you do not read the medicine carefully, it can cause adverse consequences. Although it is a kidney tonic, if a medicine specifically states that it can cure restlessness and excessive sweating, it is implicitly understood that it is nourishing the kidney yin. If the medicine states that it is good for people with cold hands and feet, it is implicitly understood that it is nourishing the kidney yang.

If a person has kidney yang deficiency, the yin is dominant, and takes a kidney yin tonic, the already cold body will become even colder, and may have severe abdominal pain, diarrhea... If a person has kidney yin deficiency, taking a medicine with kidney yang tonic ingredients will make the already hot body even hotter, for example, a person with high blood pressure may make it even higher.

A common mistake is the problem of understanding kidney disease according to the definition of Western medicine and Eastern medicine. Kidney failure according to Western medicine includes acute kidney failure and chronic kidney failure. Meanwhile, kidney disease according to Eastern medicine is classified according to kidney yin deficiency and kidney yang deficiency. Many people feel pain in the lower back and hips, and have to urinate at night, thinking of kidney failure and taking kidney tonics. Others are diagnosed with kidney failure by Western doctors and seek out Eastern medicine to take.

"If the patient has real kidney failure, the kidney function has declined, taking certain groups of supplements can help the body become healthier but in fact it is not beneficial for kidney disease. Patients who are allergic or have a reaction to a certain group of drugs in traditional medicine can make the kidney failure worse," Dr. Hung analyzed.

Dr. Hung recommends that, depending on the disease and stage, Eastern and Western medicine can be combined in treatment. This requires the consultation of a specialist before treatment.

Some common symptoms associated with kidney disease are changes in urination, swelling, fatigue, itching or rash on the skin, metallic taste in the mouth or breath that smells like ammonia, nausea and vomiting, shallow breathing, feeling cold, dizziness and loss of concentration, pain in the legs or sides...

According toVnExpress