Case ReportToxic Hepatitis Induced by Gymnema sylvestre, a Natural Remedy for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Section snippets
CASE REPORTS
A 60-year-old female florist was admitted with complaints of weakness, fatigue, jaundice, loss of appetite and weight loss. Her personal history revealed glaucoma treated with acetazolamide for the past 2 years and diabetes mellitus type 2 treated with life style modification until 17 days before admission, when she started taking an over-the-counter G sylvestre remedy in the form of tea, consumed 3 times a day. The patient stated that her symptoms had begun on the seventh day of G sylvestre
DISCUSSION
We report a case of hepatotoxicity caused by a “natural” over-the-counter remedy for diabetes mellitus. All the factors suspected to be responsible for hepatitis and disturbed liver function tests, such as viral agents, autoimmune disease, cholelithiasis, storage diseases such as Wilson disease, hemochromatosis and endocrine diseases such as hypo- and hyperthyroidism were excluded by the patients’ history, physical examination, laboratory tests and liver biopsy. This and the typical temporal
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