Recently, the clinic encountered several patients with heart disease, including those after coronary stenting, they feel that the stent implantation has been more than a year, and is now very stable, long-term use of “Western medicine” side effects (in fact, in their bodies have not appeared obvious side effects), and would like to stop the Western medicines, replaced by what they feel that “They want to stop taking western medicines and replace them with Chinese medicines that they feel have fewer side effects. We would like to tell you clearly that this practice is very dangerous and we strongly oppose it! After the diagnosis of coronary artery disease, whether or not stent implantation, must need to take a series of drugs. Including anti-platelet drugs, lipid regulation and stabilization of plaque drugs, at least 3-4 kinds. Patients after the prescription of drugs, pick up the instructions, which must be written all over the adverse effects of drugs, which is why the patients will have Western drugs “hurt the liver and kidneys” feeling. Because, all written in the manual it. So why are the adverse effects of these drugs written in such detail? First of all, it is clear that most of the drugs have to be metabolized by the liver or kidneys, because these two organs are metabolizing organs themselves. Metabolized by the liver and kidneys does not mean that it will harm liver function and kidney function. A qualified drug on the market, which has gone through a variety of toxicology, pharmacokinetics and other aspects of the study, but also after at least four phases of clinical trials, first applied to animals, and only later in the population. During the use of the drug, clearly occurring and drug-related adverse reactions are written on the instructions. Even if the rate of occurrence in the population is 1 in 10,000, this adverse reaction will be written, but for the vast majority of people, this adverse reaction will hardly occur. During the course of the drug’s use, the instructions are also constantly updated with different versions that add to the list of possible adverse reactions. Therefore, just because a drug has more adverse reactions written about it does not mean that the drug is unsafe, but on the contrary that there is more clinical evidence for the drug. It is also important to weigh the relationship between drug efficacy and adverse reactions. For patients with coronary artery disease, antiplatelet drugs, lipid-lowering drugs, etc. have been clinically studied for decades, and it has become clear that they have a tremendous effect on patients’ heart disease. Long-term use can significantly reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events and reduce patient rehospitalization and mortality rates. A very small number of these patients may also experience some side effects, such as bleeding and liver impairment. However, in the overall population, the benefits of these drugs far outweigh the risks, then we cannot just stop using them. Traditional Chinese medicine is our traditional medicine and also falls under the category of empirical medicine. They often lack large-scale clinical trials as evidence of drug efficacy. We can try proprietary Chinese medicines as a supplement to “Western” medicines, but it is not recommended as the only medicine for heart patients at this time. At present, there are quite a lot of pCms for heart disease on the market, take out the manual and read it, it is written “adverse reactions are not yet clear”, these “not yet clear” does not mean that it does not have side effects, in fact, hides a huge risk. In the past, there were patients who took “Coronary Heart Shuhuo Pills” for a long period of time, due to the Chinese medicine ingredients in it, resulting in renal impairment, or even the occurrence of uremia. We strongly recommend that if you have been determined to have heart disease, especially coronary heart disease, you must follow the doctor’s instructions to regulate the use of drugs. You should never stop taking the medication because of “choking” and stop taking the medication when you see an adverse reaction on the instruction manual that will most likely not happen to you. It is also recommended that you take pCms with caution and follow the advice of your pharmacist.