ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Plants have been used by humans since the ancient times, for eating, for clothing and for curing illnesses. The noxious effects of many medicinal plants are still ignored, mainly during pregnancy. OBJECTIVE: To identify the use of medicinal plants (MP) in pregnant women in primary care medicine. METHODS: A descriptive, prospective study was carried out in 300 pregnant women from two primary care clinics. They were interviewed to identify the use of MP, the age of the pregnancy which MP were more used with and the medical indication for its use. RESULTS: The most frequent trimester of consumption of MP was the first. The most MP ingested were the Japanese mentha (Mentha arvensis), the linden (Justicia pectoralis), the verbena (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) and the anison (Piper auritum). A high prevalence of consumption of MP did not have medical indication. CONCLUSIONS: The frequent use of MP during pregnancy shows a lack of information about their risks for pregnancy. Several studies of MP showed abortive, teratogenic potential and cytotoxic properties. It is necessary to educate pregnant women to avoid self-medication with MP.
Subject(s)
Phytotherapy/statistics & numerical data , Plants, Medicinal , Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Prospective StudiesABSTRACT
Se realizó un Estudio de Utilización de Medicamentos, descriptivo, retrospectivo, de tipo Estudio de las Consecuencias Prácticas de la Utilización de los Medicamentos, con elementos de Farmacovigilancia, para evaluar la calidad de la terapia anticonceptiva con el implante Norplant en la Consulta de Planificación Familiar del Policlínico Docente Armando García Aspurú, de Santiago de Cuba. El universo de estudio estuvo constituido por todas las pacientes que se implantaron el Norplant en dicha consulta de planificación familiar, y la muestra fue conformada por todas aquellas usuarias que acudieron periódicamente a las consultas de reevaluación, en el tiempo comprendido entre mayo del 2001 a septiembre del 2003. Se excluyeron las usuarias del método anticonceptivo que nunca asistieron a las reconsultas establecidas(AU)
