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Eastern medicine, which often comes in the form of herbal mixtures, has been around for hundreds of years. These types of Chinese medications can look and work differently from medications that are approved in other countries. Due to the differences in expertise, Chinese herbal medications are not regulated tightly. Now, according to researchers from Australia, one Chinese herbal medication could cause heart health problems.

In this report written by emergency medicine trainees Dr. Angelly Martinez and Dr. Nicky Dobos from the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, emergency medicine trainee Dr. Joe-Anthony Rotella, and emergency physician Dr. Shaun Greene from Austin Health, the team detailed one case study.

They reported that a female patient sought out treatment for back pain from a Chinese herbal medication practitioner located in Melbourne. She was prescribed an herbal remedy known as aconite, which is a class of plant that is also called wolfsbane or devil's helmet. The patient was instructed to boil the mixture for 45 minutes before drinking. She boiled it for 30 minutes only. Immediately after ingestion, the woman experienced facial tingling and numbness. She then had nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain roughly half an hour later.

Upon arrival at the emergency department, she had clear signs of severe cardiovascular toxicity and needed to be placed in the intensive care unit.

"Aconite poisoning is not a toxicological condition that many Australian doctors would be aware of and has not been described in Australian peer reviewed medical literature for over 20 years," said Dr, Shaun Greene in a news release. "Regulatory agencies should enact measures to ensure patients are provided with accurate advice regarding safe use of Chinese herbal medicine."

The most common forms of herbal medications that include aconite are "Chuan Wu" and "Fu Zi." These two remedies along with "Cao Wu" are typically prescribed to help improve people's general circulation while reducing musculoskeletal pain.

The study was published in the journal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medicine Australasia.